MSN and LookSmart

The directory results on LookSmart and MSN are different !?!

[theposter]

I might go in for a $2500 submission to L$ for one of my sites. Primarily, because I want to cash in on MSN's traffic. However, I see that the listings on MSN's directory section when u do a search are different from the listings that show up on LookSmart when you do a search on L$.

Whats the deal?

also, when we pay $2500 to L$, is that for just one domain with tons of pages, or do we get to use the campaign for multiple domains?. does it mean that 2 domains = spend $5000?. .....i have sites with close to 50000 pages each.

[skibum]

LookSmart will probbaly come back at you with a proposal that is significantly higher that $2500.00/month. Depending on how much cash you are willing to give them they may charge you setup fees for each URL. It may be possible to split the program between multiple sites, but I don't know for sure.

[egomaniac]

MSN ranks the L$ listings differently than L$ does on their site. They have always done this. Since L$ became a PPC directory, how much money you pay L$ now affects where MSN ranks you.

I know this because I saw a new competitor come into my primary MSN/L$ keyword a couple of months ago. All of a sudden I went from #1 to #8 on MSN, while still being #1 over a L$. My site stayed at #1 over at L$ for a couple of months. Now it is at #2 over at L$, and my competitor is #1 there also. Up until this week, I had not paid L$ any additional $ for the small business PPC program.

Money *really* talks at L$. It directly determines your rankings at MSN (who shares in the L$ revenues). They want the higher budget players at the top of the rankings. That maximizes the revenues for any given search phrase.