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WebmasterWorld - Brussels, April 1, 2001
The European Commission [europa.eu.int] is now moving swiftly towards a binding directive, that will force search engines to rank official government sites above others for selected keywords. The directive will apply to all engines owned by companies registered in any of the 15 member states [europa.eu.int] and in addition to all engines operating under their national domains, irrespective of legal residence.
A committee under the Directorate General for the Information Society [europa.eu.int] is expected to release a first draft of a white paper later today. WebmasterWorld has been unable to reach Commissioner Erkki Liikanen [europa.eu.int], but sources within the commission indicate that the initiative comes from the Swedish Presidency [eu2001.org], which wants the matter resolved before handing the presidency over to Belgium on July 1st.
We are having a hard time getting any kind of ranking at all for our government sites, says a well placed source within Sweden's Department for Industry, Employment and Communication [naring.regeringen.se]. We simply cannot spend taxpayers' money on expensive search engine optimizers [webmasterworld.com]. All governments seem to have the same problem, so a binding EU directive is likely to gather unanimous support. It is the fastest and most cost effective way to attain high rankings.
But Brussels is less confident about a quick vote. The original idea was that official sites were to get top ranking only for the name of their country in the eleven official languages - e.g. Deutschland, Germany, Tyskland, Allemange etc. Several countries are however pushing for additional targeted keywords, as does the commission itself.
We are spending gigantic amounts on farm subsidies and it is only fair, that the homepage of the Directorate General for Agriculture [europa.eu.int] should have a top ranking for the phrase "farm subsidies", says Mr Saatana Ruotsalainen, spokesman for the directorate. As it is, we are not even in the top 50 for that phrase in Altavista [altavista.com].
The chairman of the Working Group for the Search Engine Rankings Directive - Mrs Efcharistopoli Krastafadopoglou - is concerned that things may get completely out of hand. She denies that Britain has asked for "Baby Leo", but refuses to comment on rumours that France wants to target "gloire" (glory) in all languages and does not want to confirm that Belgium seeks top ranking for "frites" (french fries).
If more than one country wants to target the same keyword, we could end up in endless negotiations, she says. The whole process could take a decade. She is also concerned that Google [google.com], a leading American search engine operating under a dot-com address, cannot be covered by the directive. The current EU chairman, Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson [statsradsberedningen.regeringen.se], is expected to bring the matter up with President George W. Bush [whitehouse.gov] when he attends the European summit in Gothenburg [eu2001.org] June 15-16.
The US State Department [state.gov] is not impressed. We already have top rankings in Google [google.com]. If the Europeans want the same it is going to cost them, a senior official told WebmasterWorld. The United States [50states.com] has lots of beef and bananas that we want to sell on European markets. And that's just for starters. We're talking major concessions here, he concluded.
More [europa.eu.int]
Very old tradition in your country by the looks of it:
[kirchenweb.at...]
What I found particularly interesting is that you found Belgium and 'frites' strange, but not France and 'glory'.
Btw: Congratulations. I see you just made it to preferred mamber. Hang on in there and you will soon be a senior and get a star on your shoulder.
These monday mornings the guard is down and Rencke's posts are usually valid.
Didn't get it until french fries and glory came up.
Good one!
Ack! LOL... aren't kids grand? My BF's kids aren't allowed in the kitchen alone. Hope your day improved after that! :)
We've had lots of reporters here since Day 1. The pay is lousy. When did you last see as paycheck from WmW? Me, neither.
Making note to self: Remember to be nice and polite to heini.
