LBi Netrank: LBi Netrank Newsletter: January 2008

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2008 (12)
2007 (13)
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Search Engine Updates

Google removes feeds from web search results

Google has announced that it is removing RSS and Atom feeds from the main index, with the exception of podcasts. This move should reduce the likelihood of users seeing duplicate search results and should send traffic to the HTML page, which will often contain additional valuable content.

Google merges indices.

Google has announced that it is to merge its supplemental results with the main web results. Whether this means that there will only be one index, or whether there will remain two separate indices but with all artificial divides removed, is unclear.

Visit the LBi Netrank blog for more details.

Yahoo! update.

Yahoo! has published a weather report announcing an algorithm update:

"Over the last few days, we've been rolling out some changes to our crawling, indexing and ranking algorithms. While we expect the update will be completed soon, as you know, throughout this process you may see some ranking changes and page shuffling in the index".

Yahoo! testing del.icio.us integration in the SERPS

The integration of the del.icio.us data shows Yahoo! searchers the number of del.icio.us bookmarks for a result, as well as the most popular tags used.

Google to reset links on expired domains?

In what appears to be a move to prevent the purchasing of used domains in order to exploit their link equity, Google is considering rebooting the links on some expired domains.

Matt Cutts sums things up:

"I'd argue that some expired domains are closer to a bank at one location that goes out of business and becomes a coffee shop. That coffee shop can build up its reputation on its own, but shouldn't automatically get the customers that were showing up hoping to do their banking.

And yes, I do know a Starbucks that used to be a bank. It still has the vault!"

Google demographics revisited

Google is testing demographics-targeting in AdWords using specific site data. This should mean that a user gets adverts which are not only aimed at the context of the content, but also at the likely user persona.

This should allow far better tailoring than the existing demographic targeting, which relies on comScore's metrics.

Acquisitions and Partnerships

Microsoft to buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billion

The biggest story in search at the moment! Microsoft has approached Yahoo! in a bid worth $44.6 billion ($31 per share). Although Microsoft has shown interest in Yahoo! before, this time round the bid looks more likely to materialise as Yahoo! continues to underperform across global markets. Google understandably is against this move calling the bid 'bad for the Internet'. Many privacy groups are also up in arms over the proposal. For more information visit the LBi Netrank blog.

Microsoft acquires Norwegian search engine, Fast Search and Transfer

Microsoft has bought Fast Search and Transfer for a reported $1.23 billion. The deal will give Fast Search and Transfer, which is an enterprise search engine only, bespoke search utilities for its corporate clients, who include UPS and dTAG.

Facebook and Google (and Plaxo) join the Data Portability Group

It has been announced that Facebook, Google and Plaxo have joined the Data Portability Group, the group behind standards such as RSS, OPML, OpenID and RDF.

In related news, Yahoo! and Google-owned Blogger are to adopt OpenID. It is hoped that these moves will lead to greater interoperability between the major web 2.0 sites.

IPA launches Search Group

Largely aimed at SEM and PPC, the newly formed IPA Search Group is being referred to as the British SEMPO. Initially it has issued recommendations on the misuse of trademarks in SEM.

LBi, Netrank’s new parent company, is amongst the founding agencies, which also include Agenda21 and SWI. Chairman Arjo Ghosh said that the group reflected an opportunity to improve standards, develop the understanding of search in marketing, and get better agency representation with media owners.

New Product Launches

Wikia launches

Wikia Search, the new search offering from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales's for-profit company, Wikia inc., is now in alpha. Visit the LBi Netrank blog for more details.

Google Checkout Trends

Google has launched Google Checkout Trends. This new trends service is in labs and shows the trends of actual purchases made through Google Checkout.

iGoogle on your iPhone?

Google has launched a personalised homepage for mobile devices.

HTML 5 draft published

W3C has published an early draft of HTML 5.

As well as the obvious importance to web development, the inclusion of rel=nofollow in the standard has relevance for organic search.

Baidu in Japan

Baidu, which is still the leading search provider in China, has launched a Japanese portal. This is Baidu’s first attempt to operate and increase its market share outside of China.

News and Research

FTC clears DoubleClick purchase

The Google acquisition of DoubleClick has been cleared by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission without conditions.

The FTC said that:

"Thorough analysis of the evidence showed that the companies are not direct competitors in any relevant antitrust market." and "The concerns raised by Google's competitors regarding the integration of these two data sets . . . really amount to a fear that the transaction will lead to Google offering a superior product to its customers for instance, Google's most significant competitors in the ad intermediation market, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Time Warner".

There are still conflicting reports regarding EU approval of the deal.

Nearly 90% of users ignore PPC ads

An AdAge report reveals that 88.5% of users ignore PPC adverts, highlighting the need for organic search strategies.

Visit AdAge for the full Report (PDF document).

Domain tasting a thing of the past?

Following a Dell case earlier in the month, there has been a lot of noise surrounding domain tasting. Domain tasting is the practice of registering domains on a massive scale and keeping them for 5 days, before relinquishing them for a refund. The most commonly presented example has been Network Solutions who were registering any domain searched for using their whois look-up tool, although there are many example of more nefarious behaviour.

Google announced that it was banning ads on any domain less than 5 days old, but almost immediately afterwards ICANN held a Special Meeting, and has elected to remove the deletion fee waiver which was implemented in 2005, since which 95.5% of registered names have been deleted within the grace period.

ICANN describe tasting as:

"The use of the Add Grace Period to test the profitability of a domain name registration. The AGP is a five-day period following the initial registration of a domain name when the registration may be deleted and a credit can be issued to a registrar."

China internet user numbers to exceed that of US

The Chinese government has announced that the country has an internet population of 210 million people, making it likely to surpass the U.S. online community by Q4 this year.

The CNNIC, reported a 53% increase from last year's figure of 137 million. According to the government's Xinhua News Agency, this places China around 5 million behind the United States online, a very credible figure that is in keeping with many US estimates.

China is reporting a penetration of only 16%, so the trend is likely to continue and shape the internet, particularly given the massive early adoption of mobile devices.