Re: GoTo Policy Change

From: Kyle Yamnitz <Kyle_at_EdScope.com>
Date: Tue 20 Mar 2001 05:21:22 -0600

ADRIAN FUNNELL <afunnell_at_gobeyond.com> WROTE:

>I would have to disagree here on a couple of these points.
>While I think the GoTo Policy change may effect some,
>If your advertising model is based on $.01 visitors
>and you can't afford to pay more then that, then this
>is not a viable revenue source and you must seek others.

Internet advertising has been a very successful revenue
source for me, and continues to be even despite the
current slump.

>If you're revenue model is only profitable at acquiring
>visitors at under $.05, you need to improve your
>conversion percentage, or you will not last on the Web.

That is simply untrue. I don't sell anything - I don't
have a conversion percentage. I will last long on the web
(have been around since 1996 with nothing but growth from
then until now - growth in terms of user base and income).
The current slump has evened things out, but it is still
very profitable. I have no debts, low costs, and good
income. I can live without the 1 cent visitors. They
just add a few dollars each month (0.5% of my traffic
comes from GoTo.com). Links coming into my site,
listings in regular search engines, the educational
banner exchange program that I run, and all the repeat
users would continue to support my site.

>I'm sure this has upset a lot of people who we're paying
>under $.05 a click for qualified visitors, but I think
>this will improve the quality of the search results as
>those big companies who bought thousands of unrelated
>words at $.01 will now have to carefully consider what
>words they will buy.

Unrelated words aren't allowed by GoTo. My "daycare
lesson plans" keyword bid was not allowed because I
provide lesson plans mostly for K-12 teachers (although
there are a few daycare lesson plans that GoTo was
unable to locate). Thus, the change will not improve
the quality of the search service. The majority of
the listings that will be eliminated will be from
small businesses that can't afford to continue with
GoTo.

Granted, GoTo is not perfect with blocking unrelated
words, but the unrelated words I see are already at
high bids. Search on "music lesson plans" and you will
find eBay as the number one bidder at 5 cents. The rate
change won't get rid of them! :)

>Therefore words without any specific commercial value
>will actually draw relevant results.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean here, but the 100+
keywords that I have listed with GoTo are all
appropriate to my content, but do not have "commercial
value" - i.e., few places sell "teacher resources." Or
maybe I misunderstood what you meant here.

>Finally, remember almost all of the other search engines
>are FREE! goto http://www.searchenginewatch.com learn
>how to increase your rankings in all of the major search
>engines. The cost here is time, not money.

Right, that's what the small business owners will
have to focus on. Many businesses like my own won't be
able to afford listing with GoTo. I do that now as a
supplement to the rest of my listings on the regular
search engines. Take care,

        --Kyle Yamnitz
          EdScope, L.L.C.
          Expanding the Scope of Education:
                http://www.EdScope.com



Received on Tue Mar 20 2001 - 05:21:22 CST