Re: Search engine promotions

From: John Gaskill <gm_at_info-central-usa.com>
Date: Wed 21 Feb 2001 11:58:52 -0600

ROB FRANKEL <rob_at_robfrankel.com> WROTE:

>I have always had a problem with paid search engines.
>I mean, maybe they work, but they seem to run counter
>to the whole web culture. The idea of technology
>managing the web has -- at least this far -- been
>about massive computing power reducing search times.
>That's a content story.

Paid search engines must work, up to a point, or formerly
unpaid search engines would not be adopting the model,
and many advertisers would not being paying for a higher
ranking, repetitively.

Here is why:

Web sites willing to pay for placement need high
quality content to justify increased traffic or they
suffer the consequences.

Search engine users understand that paid placements
are advertisements. As such they are less
enthusiastically greeted as "search results." But
if the explanation displayed with the link seems
close to what the searcher seeks they will try it.

Here's the rub, sites with low grade content or
content not consistent with their listing placement
will be rejected after a brief visit. Just as
advertising accelerates the destruction of a
deficient product or service, the same can be said
for increased traffic to a deficient web site. The
effect for the site operator is the same as for
offline advertisers buying ads in the wrong media
-- wasted resources.

>Paying for placement, in my view, opens the doors for
>fraud and imbalance. There's nothing to prevent
>ranking from becoming a "who can pay most for top
>placement", which means anyone can buy their way to
>the top.

Search engines have to be careful about selling their
souls for a few shekels. The reason is simple -- competition.

If Jane or John Q. Searcher experiences too many
episodes of bum search results from a search engine,
s/he drops that engine as "unreliable" and looks for
another source of reliable results. The incentive
for the engine is accuracy.

>If you extend that scenario, it's only a matter of time
>until the big money buys whatever they can, rendering
>the entire search engine useless and ultimately, a
>failure.

>That's what it looks like through my telescope, anyway.

Search engines which allow themselves to become
useless may not be dinosaurs, but may suffer the same fates.

And in the process, make way for smaller more nimble
species to take over the territory.

My $ 0.02 on this subject.

Regards all,

John Gaskill
gm_at_info-central-usa.com



Received on Wed Feb 21 2001 - 11:58:52 CST