Anyone hear of cometsystems?

google clone,affiliate,search,cometcursor

[FoodPlaces]

I've recently been finding hits coming to our site via cometsystems.com - so far, today 5% of my hits are coming via them. The oddity is their results are relabelled Google results - with minor exceptions.

Though the caches of the pages are the same, they provide the cache date - which on the same pages, Google does not.

Check this out for instance:
[search2.cometsystems.com...]

Compared to this

[google.com...]

The other exception is it seems they drop some of the related listings that get indented, making their quantities less.

They even include DMOZ category info and Description: info identical to Google.

Does anyone know who they are? Are they legit or just stealing google's work? They are looking for affiliates for a few things they market. Are they even worth looking into?

- Rob

[edited by: FoodPlaces at 10:30 pm (utc) on Dec. 30, 2002]

[atadams]

tick...tick...tick...

[cornwall]

Rob

You can check out who they are at

[searchengineworld.com...]

and just inputting their URL

[FoodPlaces]

Hi Cornwall,

I found out who they are, but it still doesnt explain what they do. Even massive Google affiliates (ie: ones with lots of money in theory or on paper, and lots of traffic) like Yahoo, label their search as enhanced by google or powered by google or something...

- Rob

[bobmark]

I get a bit of traffic from them too. I think it is mostly from their quasi toolbar add-on.
They've been around for a few years and, at least in the past - I don't know for sure about now - would do an auto install of their cursor/toolbar thingy from some, presumably affiliate, sites.

[cornwall]

Rob

You probably need to remove that search URL before a moderator does, and try to phrase the query in the abstract - cos of Terms of Service on the boards

That Google search page on the company site is not accessible off the public pages of that company. My guess would be that they had bought the technology for internal use, but I am no expert in what they sell for Intranet use.

[Total Paranoia]

I have also noticed hits from them over the last few months.

I have never really taken much notice of it and just assumed they used google results.

[brotherhood of LAN]

They've been mentioned a few times here already at WW.

First one from the site search
[webmasterworld.com...]

there are a few in the search, I can't remember if one goes head to toe on what cometsystems is, nonetheless, it isnt "much" ;)

[Powdork]

Nice link BOL. I've been getting comet systems hits for quite awhile. I never noticed the date on the archived copy because my layers screw with their page or something. I should go validate i guess.