Search Engine News Blog - September 2002 Archives
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Search engine news web log for September 2002. For more recent search engine news, go to our Daily Search Engine News Blog.
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16 September 2002 >> Because we are in the middle of moving our head office from Australia to New Zealand and sneaking in a few days off in-between, there will be no blog updates for the next 2 weeks :-( But rest assured, we will be back up and running the first week of October. Thanks for your patience. 13 September 2002 >> FAST reports that they are now searching Flash content via their AllTheWeb site, making it the first major search engine to do so. The ability to search Flash will also be passed on to FAST's portal partners InfoSpace, Lycos, Tiscali, and T-Online. While significant, it is doubtful this will change the way SEO's optimize Flash-based sites in the short term, because it doesn't apply to the regular SERP's. At the moment, the only way to search Flash content on FAST sites is by choosing the Advanced Search link and manually selecting Flash embedded content as part of your search, a feature that everyday searchers will be less likely to use. Meanwhile, a search for search engine optimization reveals a surprising number of SEO firms that use Flash on their home page.
>> As secretly as it appeared, the Chinese Government's block on Google has now been lifted. The block on AltaVista apparently remains intact, courtesy of the Great Firewall of China.
>> My recent article on Rising Above the SEO Reputation was kindly posted on Chris Riding's SEO Support Forums yesterday and it has already attracted some interesting comments from self-proclaimed search king, Bob Massa. Some of his points are interesting, if a little off-topic. But I particularly disagree with his comment: "Any person who takes money to place a client in the top of a search engine under a specific set of keywords is being paid for one purpose. To identify and capitalize on the weaknesses of a third party's business, (such as a search engine), without that third parties permission and to the detriment of the client's competition... Show me the one person who has permission from any major search service to manipulate it's results and I will retract everything I've said about ethical SEOs". I am yet to organize my thoughts and formulate a proper response, but off the top of my head, I don't "manipulate" the results of search engines. Neither do I capitalize on the weakness of search engines. Instead I capitalize on their strength - on their ability to pin-point relevant content out of the masses of web pages, using their own technology and advice to enable my client's relevant content to be found more easily. By doing so, I am assisting the search engines to meet their own objective: matching search queries with highly targeted, relevant, intelligent results. Got an opinion? Feel free to jump in to the commentary at any time (-; 12 September 2002 InfoSpider Alarms AltaVista Customers I have two clients who utilize AltaVista's paid inclusion service to ensure their URL's are indexed regularly. Yesterday, within one hour of spending USD126 on renewals for the service, InfoSpider sent me an alarming Express Inclusion URL Status Update Report. No URL was able to be spidered and each URL had been given the following status: Excluded for AltaVista discretionary reason (1200). Looking this up on the InfoSpider FAQ page, I noticed they had recently added a new "technical" reason to the items that may cause URL blocking. This new reason was listed as: the web design techniques found on the page or site indicate that the Subscriber is attempting to manipulate search results (spam). This set off alarm bells, making me wonder aloud if AltaVista were discriminating against search engine optimization companies, particularly given their recent disdainful comments against SEO's. Confused and annoyed I sent InfoSpider an email, demanding an explanation. Then I discovered I wasn't alone - people in the ihelpyou services search engine forums were complaining they had received the same message. Well today I received an apologetic email from InfoSpider with the following message: Please disregard your recent AltaVista Express Status report. The URL Status message: "Excluded for AltaVista discretionary reason (1200)" was sent out in error due to a technical issue we had with the reporting system. It does NOT mean your URL was in fact excluded. The report is FALSE. Many clients received this inaccurate report and we are investigating the cause.We apologize for alarming you. While this is a relief, the whole incident left a bad taste in my mouth. Whether this was the fault of InfoSpider or the search engine itself, this is just another mark against AltaVista in my bad book. I had thought they were turning themselves around, but if technical hitches like these keep dogging the system, nobody will trust them at all and they will fail in their attempts to win back users. Get your act together AltaVista.
>> Remember back on the 3rd of this month when China blocked access to Google but Google results were still available via Yahoo.com? Well it seems as though China have closed that door as well. Today it is being reported that parts of Yahoo! are now banned to Internet users in China. Apparently Web sites that incorporate Google search technology in their own sites have also been blocked. The most prominent example so far is the U.S.-based Yahoo! On September 9, even Yahoo's own directory search results were blocked, but this has since been lifted. Ironically, Yahoo! Mail and Groups appear to be unaffected and the Chinese-language version of Yahoo! appears to be fully accessible. 11 September 2002 >> Today we take a moment to remember.
>> Apparently Google Answers is making a small fortune in exchange for doing the homework of school children.
Google turned four this week and Search Day reminds us the original name of the search engine was actually BackRub. However Google Inc. was established on September 7, 1998. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin hired Craig Silverstein as their first employee and set up shop in a friend's garage (as is all the rage in the valley). Even back then, Google was handling 10,000 search queries every day. Those of you keen on revisiting the past can flashback to see how Google looked in 1998. 10 September 2002 >> NetRegister are up to their old tricks again - sending out false domain expiry notices by mail to .com.au domain holders in Australia. This time they employed the use of scare tactics by mentioning the recent downfall of another registrar Internet Name Group which has been forced into voluntary administration. The letter recommends domain holders switch providers to NetRegister (for a very large fee), to avoid loss of domain names. But they fail to point out that the letters are being sent to domain holders that do not even use Internet Name Group as their registrar and are in no danger of losing their domain or having their service disrupted. Some domain holders, particularly those less tech-savvy, may be tricked into swapping providers by such misleading advertising. Of course when I emailed NetRegister (using the email address provided on their web site) to complain, loudly, and demand the removal of my postal address from their spam list, my email bounced. Surprise, surprise.
>> The International Herald Tribune reveals that not everyone in China is suffering from the Government's recent decision to ban Google (see below). Apparently local traffic to Google is being directed to Chinese search engines including baidu.com and soseen.com. The amount of extra traffic being driven to these engines is said to be significant. 9 September 2002 Inktomi Forced to Buy Headquarters Last month, we reported that Inktomi may be forced to buy their Foster City headquarters after violating their lease by not maintaining a minimum level of profitability required as part of its rental agreement. SF Gate reports today that this has in fact happened. Inktomi bought the property on August 28 for USD114 million.
>> A page about the importance of HTML validation leads me to a very handy HTML Validation Tool from the team at W3.org.
>> I'm getting very sick of emails from the Google AdWords team informing me that they've made changes to my campaign, yet AGAIN. Those pesky editors are constantly suspending my listings "Pending Revision". This time they have rejected my use of ":" at the end of my ad, claiming I am trying to use my URL as continuation of ad text. Well Duh! Isn't that the point? *sigh* 7 September 2002 >> Last night, over a few drinks with friends, I discovered a rare breed - someone who doesn't like Google (someone other than Daniel Brandt, that is). Fascinated by this revelation, I asked her why. She replied that she finds Google poorly designed, hard to read, with results not clearly describing the sites on offer. So annoying does she find Google that she never uses them to conduct searches. What search engine does she prefer instead? None other than AltaVista. Go figure! 6 September 2002 >> A report from the Wall Street Journal claims that new AOL Chief Jonathan Miller plans to significantly change the way the company structures advertising deals. The report follows revelations that AOL partnered with the beleaguered WorldCom in a large ad deal prior to that firm's spectacular financial collapse.
>> In an article from Media Guardian in the U.K., journalist Oliver Burkeman prophesizes that the Chinese government's decision to block Google this week actually stems from a site link that appears when you conduct a search for the name of China's President Jiang Zemin. In position 14 you get a link for the interactive online game: Slap The Evil Dictator. (It's still there, I just checked). The object of the game is to take out Zemin and destroy his fleet of tanks while avoiding British MP Robin Cook who keeps popping up "spouting crap about an ethical foreign policy". The game (hours of fun for the whole family!) was developed by a British-based site designer called Stewart Morris, whose personal web site is currently unreachable. Perhaps he's currently on the run from the Chinese government?
Meta Search Engine MetaCrawler revealed a new look and some snazzy new features this week. As well as returning results from Google, FAST, Overture, About, Ask Jeeves, FindWhat, LookSmart, Inktomi and SearchHippo, MetaCrawler now utilises InfoSpace's meta-search technology, launched recently at both Excite and WebCrawler. The re-launch of MetaCrawler represents the first integration of Google into the InfoSpace's network. 5 September 2002 >> According to an email from BidRank, Overture's new Match Driver™ Tool has now removed many matching terms from advertiser's accounts, causing much confusion. For example: if you set up your account to include the terms colorado ski resort and ski resort colorado, Overture will remove ski resort colorado from your account. Your listing will still show in the search results for ski resort colorado but only because Match Driver is equating it with the term already in your account. Clear as mud right? The "logic" seems to be that Match Driver™ is more qualified than the advertiser to determine what makes a relevant match. Gee thanks for the vote of confidence Overture.
>> According to this article from FT.com, Google has opened discussions with the Chinese Government, in an attempt to reverse the current block on their site in China.
>> Kerry Packer's eCorp announced yesterday a full year net loss of nearly AUD18 million. Wish I had that type of money to lose. Much of the loss was attributed to eCorp's decision to invest in further MSN services in Australia, deferring nineMSN's targeted profitability from 2002 to the 2004 financial year.
>> The Japanese may soon give us a new reason to wear our sunglasses at night. 4 September 2002 >> Laugh of the Day: According to today's Search Engine Update newsletter (subscriber link only), the Chinese Government has also banned their country's access to AltaVista. It's just that nobody even noticed - LOL!
>> Kim Kraus of Cre8pc.com emailed me today to let me know how much she enjoys this blog. Thanks Kim (pssst the check's in the mail). She also alerted me to her new SEO Forum which has already convinced some of the best known SEO's in the industry to become members and moderators.
>> The controversial Search Engine Marketing Tactics Conference planned for Amsterdam this month has been cancelled, apparently due to lack of interest and funding.
>> This blog thing is apparently catching on in the search engine community. Dozens of new blogs dedicated to search engines are popping up out of nowhere. I think perhaps SEO's are realising that the only way to keep pace with search engine developments is to track them daily. 3 September 2002 >> According to this thread in the ihelpyou services forums, Google will be phasing out their original AdWords program at the end of this month, in favour of AdWords Select which has proved to be more popular and cost effective for most advertisers. The original program was based on a cost per impression system, while AdWords Select is based on the more familiar cost per click.
Chinese Government Blocks Google Reports are appearing all over the web today that the Chinese Government is blocking public access to Google from within the country. According to a local news source, the block has allegedly occurred because "searches could bring up links to pornography, content associated with the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong and information deemed harmful to national security". One article related to the block reminds us that although direct access to Google is prevented, Chinese users can still view Google results via Yahoo.
>> Pandia reports today that AltaVista is no longer indexing the META keywords tag. But apparently the META description tag and title tag continue to be supported.
>> I've just been informed that Internet users in China are already showing defiance of the Chinese Government, by accessing Google via a back door. 2 September 2002 >> Anti-Google campaigner Daniel Brandt is getting more publicity via an article on Alternet.org. Brandt believes Google's PageRank is "tyrannical" and "discriminatory", claiming that the tracking and storing of your search queries gives Google a "window on your state of mind" which could possibly be used by law enforcement agencies. Can you say Conspiracy Theory? The same article mentions Bob Massa from SearchKing and the whole PageRank for sale saga. In the article, Danny Sullivan is quoted as referring to the sale of PageRank as "brazen" and doomed to failure, while Brandt hopes Massa will succeed in subverting PageRank, forcing Google to abandon it altogether. Blog Archives September 2002 Click
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