Engines to pay for inclusion?

Which engines to place paid inclusions with

[doodledunk]

Hi, We're looking to pay for inclusion on search engines and want to achieve the best coverage. So where should we pay for inclusion.

We've found the following but would love to hear your views on these:

Yahoo (UK)
BT Looksmart
Inktomi
Fast
Ask Jeeves / Teoma
Alta Vista

Do you think that covers most of them?

Cheers!

[Macguru]

Hi doodledunk,

I would not invest long term in Altavista and AllTheWeb. Overture bought them and they will merge by the end of the year. If you have to pick one, choose AllTheWeb. They are cheaper. I cannot say if the idexes will be merged.

I dont know about BT LookSmart, but I would not touch anything LookSmart with a 10 feet pole.

[doodledunk]

Thank Macguru,

But why you say 'NO' to Looksmart?

[Bobby_Davro]

It is also just called "Looksmart UK" now, after BT bailed out.

Looksmart UK still seems like an OK deal to me for the moment. It is a good way into MSN UK.

Just do be prepared for losing your listing in 18 months, and have a limitation of 100 clicks per month, if they follow the PPC model of Looksmart.

[Macguru]

>>But why you say 'NO' to Looksmart?

Let me stress I dont know a bit about BT Looksmart. I can only talk about my own Looksmart experience. This bitter experience was shared by many webmasters.

This company retroactively twisted the rules so many times in the past.

Let me summarise it in my own words.

A few years ago submission fees where at 50 $ US. It was pure heaven then.
Suddenly, it rose to 200 $ , no big deal, fine with me.
Then a few months later it went to 300 $ , herr, OK then, lets pull the plastic.

All in a sudden, some descriptions changed, all good keywords where amputated from descriptions... Some sites could not be found for relevant keywords anymore!

To add insult to injury, big surprise! A new service! Looksmart now offers you to restore your good keywords for 175 $ more!

The last nail in the coffin was around april 2002, when they charged you PPC, else your site is no longuer visible on partner sites like MSN. I think 475 $ is a high set up fee for a second tier PPC service disgised as a directory.

This is why I do not trust this company anymore. It left me so bitter, that I closed all accounts. It's no way to treat customers.