makemetop - 7:29 am on Sep 1, 2000 (gmt 0)

tigger

I think you've hit the nail on the head. If the average site owner pays for a listing they will want to appear! The semantics of ranking algos etc are a complete mystery to them - its 'I've paid my money - and my site (which may be at #19547) isn't listed - I want my money back'!

Also they will be passing the buck to the portals (I assume) through whom you submit the site who will then get the flack from irate subscribers. They are going to have to pull some mighty good PR out of the bag to convince the average site owner how they will benefit.

On the up side, I think it will be good for us if the price is right. It should eradicate most blatant spam and (provided we build the charge in to our SEO costs) will make us look good by getting our clients listed quickly and regularly.

So, I view this as a bad thing for the surfer looking for relevent content from the entire web and for the average site owner who will get little for their money - but a possible bonus for professionals in the SEO industry. People pay us for getting decent placements in SEs so this is just another cost to add in to the bill!

Now, will existing customers pay the extra? In the short term I doubt it. Mine are pretty dissillusioned with all the Inktomi portals and being asked to pay when there is no guarantee that their previous rankings will be restored and they have seen mega-traffic/revenue drops because Inktomi has been playing with their DB is adding insult to injury!