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How much longer can MSN continue to use Overture and Inktomi?
ROI strategies should have been developed long ago, PPC is the natural progression of this ad medium and it's not going anywhere (nor should it.) As long as the PPC players keep up the good work reviewing listings and keeping the search relevant we should see a nice mix of good paid listings and the improved general search algos that are being developed (primarily by Google at this point.)
I think what people are not seeing (forest for the trees) is that the good old days of human listing reviews are now feasible again due to the profitability of PPCs for the SEs (we need to remember these guys are running companies and have to make money.) We should see less cases of illogical results, spam and other SEO aggravations now that these guys can afford to staff themselves effectively and develop the tech at a better pace.
If 12 months then surely there would have been another press release at the start of this year?
If 18 months it would have just ended and renewed (and therefore been announced).
Most likely scenario was 2 years(?), in which case things will really play out Espotting-wise at the beginning of next year - both for advertisers (bid amounts/traffic levels drop), and for partners (revenue suffers badly).
It's not a conspiracy theory. Google with Google Adwords is just the logical evolution of a cash-flow system. To say that to understand this is to some how suggest poor SEO is silly.
In regards to ROI, my sentance should have said "NEW" strategy for ROI.
And in regards to human review.... yeah right. I don't think that this increases the chance for human review, added expenses to stockholders, etc.
Internet services up; some seen as possible target by MSN -- Dow Jones :
Interesting.
MS doesn't have any 1st teir acquisition possibilities left, even Ask, LookSmart, & FindWhat can't combined don't compare to what Yahoo has now.
That's too good for 'em.
I reckon their days are numbered (and not just because I actually want to believe that). Even a blind MSN loyalist would surely see now that MSN has to start again and create a whole new and radical search experience.
Layer upon layer of PPC just isn't going to make them a serious competitor for Yahoo/Google. That much is obvious.
If I was a betting man and had to place a bet: They'll dump Looksmart, acquire a proper PPC like FindWhat, and complete their own search engine. And oh yes... it will be MUCH more closely integrated with their browser than anyone wants and will be pushing the boundaries of legality.
I don't get it. What we are seeing here is a HUGE Monopoly in the making. Seems the SEC or whomever oversees this dosn't understand the technology enough to realize it.
If any regulatory authority were going to intervene, they wouldn't have had an opportunity to yet -- so it's too early to make that criticism. This merger will have to be both approved by stockholders and allowed to happen by the feds before it's final.
That said, and with Google's position in the marketplace in mind, I wouldn't expect them to encounter any regulatory obstacles.
Smart move by Yahoo they now hold all the good cards (even a piece of Google).
They should be forced to sell their minority interest back to Google as part of this aquisition. Then we really have a 3-way 600lb Gorrila Battle Royale! ;)
Internet services up; some seen as possible target by MSN -- Dow Jones :
Earlier this morning Looksmart was up bigtime...
So MSN could change their ppc and search providers whenever it wants to.
Internet services up; some seen as possible target by MSN -- Dow Jones :
What about possible targets by Google, as well? Seems to me this might be the start of a real landgrab by the three big players. Sure, MSN will have their eyes on acquisitions. I would think Google has to consider that, too.
Espotting could easily replace Overture for msn.co.uk - with msn.co.uk listings its bid prices would quickly reach overture prices.
Would this be the same if MSN switched from Overture to Findwhat? How does FindWhat bid prices/advertiser numbers compare to Overture?
[edited by: TravelSite at 4:18 pm (utc) on July 14, 2003]
Very true, though it would be a huge mistake if they somehow made putting Yahoo or Google's addresses into the browser not work or not work properly. That would be a very clear cut anti-trust case and make their legal woes compound by leaps and bounds. They could make it easier and more integrated to use MSN, but if people aren't able to type in the other search engines or make a bookmark, they would be really in for it.
IMHO, imaginary (and far-out) scenarios are just a waste of bandwidth.
How does FindWhat bid prices/advertiser numbers compare to Overture
they don't compare. it is night and day. many dont even realize that O makes over double the gross revenue G ADwords generates. that is what having 3+ years in the marketplace prior to G ADwords can do for you. O is a profitable company, quarter over quarter.
when is the last time we saw one profitable internet company purchase another profitable internet company?
can't remember another example.
[edited by: Chicago at 4:55 pm (utc) on July 14, 2003]
Google has it much easier - it simply sells its index and/or adwords to partner sites, while keeping both listed on google.com (directory=odp).
Yahoo is totally disjointed: directory, ppc system, webcrawler technology (several), search engines (altavista/alltheweb) and its portal servies (which alone take some amount of management!).
Does it merge all technogies? Does it merge all search engines? Or does it keep them all seperate? It now owns a vast amount of technology, brands and contracts to deal with.
How does FindWhat bid prices/advertiser numbers compare to Overture
True the bid prices don't compare, but in Montreal in April, Overture and Findwhat were getting drunk in the pub and Overture was noting that Findwhat at that time was worth more than them on teh stockmarket, which was news to me. Maybe Yahoo thought it was just all too cheap too.
[forbes.com...]
Thats a thought ehh?
I think or I "know" yahoo will get rid of that sponsored listing program within the yahoo directory and replace it with ppc.
Yahoo pulls together Ink, Alta, and Fast for PPI and Free index service with common algo and many, many spiders (Yahoo! Index). Overture holds onto the PPC end, and the Yahoo! Human Directory disappears.
Google has competition, as Yahoo now has the only true portal, but a quality search w/o outside sources.
M$ now has to buy up technology to patch together an index and ppc system to compete, so that it does not give money to its direct rivals. This could be a large weakness for M$ and M$N as the quality will not be the same.
For AV and Alltheweb, If not done already, I think that Yahoo should merge the two databases but keep the algorithms they currently have.
I mean AV has a relatively small database correct?
SEM has gotten very interesting. Can't wait to hear all the chatter at the next SES conference. :) Think about how much money they will save by just combining Yahoo and Overture parties...(LMAO).
This makes some sense.
Which makes me wonder about Ask.com. They have good search technology AND they have the infrastructure in place to sell ads. Someone should be talking to them.
Question: Where is the traffic to support this purchase going to come from?
Google is blanketing the web with its Ad Sense service. Overture has something called Contextual Match--but who's really using it? (MSN? Well, MSN, besides other factors, also has a new deal with eBay.) Yahoo is Yahoo, so that's a lot of traffic right there, but is it enough? They need growth, in any case. How is that going to happen?
Doesn't Ask, LookSmart and the others need to do something to drive traffic to their service? (How does Ask compare to G and O?)
Anyway, don't forget eBay. And something is going to happen big in Yellow Pages, too.
