Is it just smart marketing at Google?

[SlowMove]

I seem to be getting better results with Yahoo search, but Google is still better at selling their product. I don't know why Yahoo and msn insist on using something like "search.buy-this-or-that-site.com" instead of something simple like "new-url.com" for marketing purposes. I think most people associate the old urls with spammy sites that try to sell everything.

[The_Expert]

That's because Google etc are using brand advertising, and don't need to 'launch' their company any more.

So a new url for additional services like www.froogle.com is no longer required to 'sell' themselves, as people know the brand inside out.

Well, you won't forget Google will you? They just need to make an assocation with the name Google and people will work out what it is and who owns it.

Smaller engines need to make it very clear, who they are, as they need to establish themselves in the market place. Google doesn't need to beg lol.

you say Google and people reply "of course Google is great" or something like that.