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Although still #1, Google has shown a marked drop in popularity due to searches as inktomi and overture.
I kinda enjoy visiting SEO sites and watching members pull their hair out trying to figure out the alog. Most are now bald...heh heh.
Source:CNN
Did you see this on TV or read it?
If it was an online article, go ahead and post the link.
Sorry.
Yes, please -> post the link to the CNN article! I want to read. Others, obviously, do as well.
After that piece, er, article on BusinessWeek it would be interesting to see if another main stream publication gets a better grasp on the analyitics of it, or if they just get it wrong.
And if it was a TV piece, as Dante mentioned, please give us a recount of the 'salient points'. :) I dont' turn on my TV anymore these days...
If I remember correctly, in summary they stated...
1. Google will have a tough year in 2003 with increasing competition from the likes of AltaVista, Wisenut, Teoma and Fast for search, and Overture for PPC.
2. They are losing ground to Overture which took away some business in Europe or China or something.
3. The portals don't trust them as much anymore since they are aspiring to be their own portal and other portals don't value their Google SERP's as highly anymore.
4. They also made reference to the Yahoo Inktomi buyout jeapordizing Google's position in Yahoo.
Nothing we didn't already know here from reading WBW here every day religiously ;)
<snore>
You know, in that thread about the blogs being blocked in China [webmasterworld.com], the CNN article mentions that within 10 days, Google was no longer blocked in China. Altavista, who was also blocked at the same time, is not mentioned anywhere.
If Google is getting all this *free press* it can only be a good thing, and also show that they are still the benchmark which others are measured against.
Sure, Overture is a big competitor in the CPC space -> didn't they start it, after a fashion? So in that, Google is the underdog.
However, they are the undisputed *king* of search. WiseNut -> a competitor? Please. The number of webmasters that actually admit to getting *any* referrals at all is tiny. Please see the Alternative Search Engine forum [webmasterworld.com] to see just *how many* posts we have about WiseNut. Too few.
As for the Teoma Search engine [teoma.com] you can tell from our WebmasterWorld Teoma forum [webmasterworld.com] that things are heating up. That's great.
But what Teoma needs, is some kind of killer marketing tactics to propel it forward. And as they aren't getting this kind of 'free press' from CNN on Television (search engines...on TV? I can hardly believe it, sometimes) that Google is getting -> Teoma still ain't there yet, either.
So, Yahoo bought INKT.
A spin on this could still be, since they are *still* serving the Google SERP's, that Yahoo did Google a favor, and made a mercy killing out of that doomed business. After all, Yahoo owns what 10% of Google? 15% 5% I've seen all 3 figures running around recently.
Where does that leave us? Oh, Alltheweb search engine forum [webmasterworld.com] where as you can see, they have been getting webmaster attention for a while. They've got the good (and getting better) SERP's, yet, they ain't gettin' no free press like Google is, either.
They could do it. Any of them could, really. But the question is -> will Google sit idly by and watch as their business crumbles, ala Altavista [altavista.com]? I highly doubt that.
Oh, and competition from Altavista? Alta who? :)
How many of us here are responsible for the search engine choices of friends, family, and associates?
If I honestly believed there was a better SE out there, I've got dozens of people I know who'd switch, because I told them about Google.
CNN must be losing it, imho.
Google 'loosing ground to Verity' in the search content feed market,
& 'Overture hampering sales of ads'
...Jan 12, 2003 : 10:07PST
I'm still willing to throw a few $$ if the IPO happends soon...! !
stupid not to at the #1 player...
If you have connections and can get in on the actual IPO level that's one thing. I'd be cautious after market. Google, in the investors minds, has a lot to live up to in terms of top end revenue growth, and they already rule the search world. It won't take much to take away a little steam. Remember in the world of Public companies you need to show growth every quarter. It's "what have you done for me lately?"
A lot of people around here are being blinded by their love of Google. Yahoo is a major player and I'm sure they are sick of Google being everybody's "darling". Look for Yahoo/Ink to make a bigger splash then one might think over the next 2 years. Also, look for Google to try to stretch it's revenues to the max by ads and different areas of their biz. It's not unrealistic to think, in doing so, they may lose a little focus and others (yahoo/ teoma)may quickly catch up to them on Search.
Google will have a tough year in 2003 with increasing competition from the likes of AltaVista, Wisenut, Teoma and Fast for search, and Overture for PPC.
Those other guys have a lot of catching up to do, at least if the referrals I'm getting from Google's competitors are any indication of those search engines' popularity.
Alexa rankings:
Yahoo 1st
Google 5th
Teoma 1692nd
Wisenut 7026th
Alltheweb 266th
Google under threat? It's hardly a tidal wave is it?
It works pretty well for me once ranks get above 10,000. The Alexa rankings above pretty well match our referals.
I agree with you up to a point though. Our site has a very high reading because everyone in the office has Alexa installed and has our page as their default.
I believe the readings I posted above.
I beg to differ. Alexa readings are rough and ready I agree, and are only valid for the surfing habits of techies who use it, but when you get to the top few sites, it cannot be that far out. Are your 300 sites in the Alexa top 10000? If so, then you certainly have better information than me, and I am in no position to argue. I can tell you one thing: A Wisenut reading of under 7000 says something to me, small statistical sample or not.
I also am not sure about your rankings. Sure, google is leader in search, we all know that. But site users, which is measured by Alexa, is a different ball game. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Yahoo is still in the lead, mainly because of their portal offerings.
However, back on topic. Google losing popularity? May be they step by step loose a few booted seo's and webmasters that are black listed ... ;)
I wouldn't have a problem with a balanced popularity. 25% Google, 25% fast, 25% inktomi, 25% rest of the gamers. So the question if Google looses popularity doesn't make me too nervous.
Google losing popularity
Ya could have fooled me!
2,049 56.8% Google
513 14% Yahoo
434 11.8% MSN
411 11.2% Links
109 2.98% AOL
49 1.35% Ask Jeeves
36 1% Bookmarks
29 .8% Netscape.com
21 .59% Altavista
19 .52% Dogpile
I think they are pretty safe for now! ;)
zeus
That article is talking about threats that don't exist, imho."Overture won a series of contracts...including CNN".
Sorry, but as an advertiser CNN is NOT on my list of web properties that I'd like to be listed on.
The interesting thing about that 'series of contracts' that Overture 'won' instead of Google to me, is that CNN is the *only one* that was mentioned here. So the others are likely so small that Overture was only scraping the bottom of the barrel...
Funny read, but I think our group has it right - sure, Google might have some trouble soon - but this article is pitching it all the wrong way.
Money and self interest can't color a news organization's objectivity, can it?
