Wisenut relaunch - Bigger impact than we think

MSN Japan and Wisenut relationship?

[whats up skip]

A few of us have been discussing some recent changes to MSN Japan

[webmasterworld.com...]

Bottom line - Wisenut may be supplying additional results to MSN Japan.

If this is right, then the impact of Wisenut could be far reaching particularly if it goes throughout the MSN network of sites.

[jeremy goodrich]

That's very true.

And when you consider the implications of Looksmart owning such nice tech, and the fact that they just extended their deal with domestic MSN, and INK (the only other real partner competing for US MSN) I'd say Wisenut does look on the up and up these days.

However, I do believe that Wisenut had the deal with Lycos Japan before they were purchased by Looksmart, so until we see some deals go down, Wisenut has a long way to go to step up distribution or market share in the US market.

[bill]

Also keep in mind that Japan is a very different market...Just because BT LookSmart has something going with MSN Japan doesn't mean that this deal will carry over to global markets. LookSmart Japan still sells directory listings and while they've had a PPC of sorts available you'd have to be Sherlock Holmes to find it on their site ;). Although the names may be the same the players don't always play the game the same here.

That said, I really like the Japanese WiseNut implementation on Lycos. I had thought that they would catch on and give Google a run for their money, but so far they really haven't gained much ground. Unfortunate really.