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Can Google keep the dice rolling? YAHOO! said to be playing Google and Ink against each other.
Painful as it might be for YAHOO! to see Google grab marketshare there is no quality comparison between the two - plus YAHOO! can put Adwords in the WebPages section.
I'd fall off my chair if Yahoo didn't renew with Google in some form. Yahoo has to much $$$ to benifit from a Google IPO.
Now that Yahoo is in the ISP market, perhaps this partnership isn't so worthwhile to Yahoo. I don't understand why Google would make an IPO if they are currently doing ok. Their main route is for relevant results, why would they jeopardise this by making an IPO and therefore pressured into making more money later on.
It will be very interesting to see what happens.
just my 2 cents (about 5 cents worth in the US :))
The 5% of Google they own isn't worth giving up the throne as the most popular search destination on the web. And the fact that they signed a multi-year deal with Google's biggest (and only) competitor makes me think that protecting their investment is pretty far down their list of priorites.
If they really didn't think Google was a competitor, they would be running AdWords select right now.
They will now, customized browser and all. How much does the quality of the search affect an ISPs ability to gain market share?
Neither is Google. Yahoo owns 5%-6% of Google. They aren't competitors, they are sub-divisions.
The venture cap ties and the Stanford Comp Sci Alumni Association ties, make Yahoo renewing with Google - a lock.
(never under estimate the bonding power of a frat house kegger).
However the frat marketing is harder to refute.
Kegger Optimization = PR11
:)
INK is a silicon valley company as well. Are their any similar ties between INK and Yahoo?
He also said no firm decision has been made either way. But it is worrying that Yahoo would be seriously considering the Overture and I suspose INK. But I believe it would be death of Yahoo as a trusted source of search results.
Also dont forget Yahoo has gone from being the Internet poster child of reliable postive financial results. It needs to resume making good money. Yahoo may consider selling its soul for the money.
How much does the quality of the search affect an ISPs ability to gain market share?
I would speculate some. I had a friend who dumped AOL because he could never find anything on "their search engine" (never realizing that you can simply use a different one, never mind change your home page.) Every AOL user I know is amazed when I tell them that you can access AOL.COM without being an actual subscriber. In fact, to this day another friend is still convinced that I somehow "messed up" her computer by visiting Yahoo while she was an AOL subscriber. A large amount of people who connect to the Internet via an online service rather than a ISP believe the online service includes everything, including the serps, and sometimes even the actual websites. I've even heard people say that they thought AOL was a "different Internet" than say, CompuServe.
The game has changed, Y! are not going to be paying anybody for backfill search this year it's simply a question of who can pay them the most. Unless Google can bring adwords select into the game ["The results below are provided by the search engine Google and are not controlled by Yahoo" looks like a chink of light to me!], then they will not be able to pay the price.
Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple... But you can bet your life that if OSX ever became a real threat the gloves would come off..
Just because Yahoo owns a small stake in Google doesn't mean they have to stick together through thick and thin.
I'd hope for the sake of the Yahoo shareholders that their CEO is worrying about Yahoo as a whole and not about frat relationships or a small stake in their biggest competitor.
When you look at the stats Yahoo's recent market share slide lines up nicely with their choice to use google. If they're willing to look the other way it's probably a good time to ditch their stock.
....or something like that. (that was from an old psyche book in college... don't remember the Dr's name who said it, but I think it applies... maybe.)
I think Yahoo's impression of itself is largely based on what we, as users, think of it.... and for the large part, I think the public likes it... that makes me think that Yahoo would want to stay safe by not doing anything radical (if they themselves feel on shaky ground.) However, if Yahoo thinks it can give the people what they want for less $ (in long and short terms) they might do that.
I think Teoma doesn't have enough listings to provide backup results on the scale Y! surfers are accustomed... even though I think this is a company that is the *type* of company Y! might choose and eventually might get in there.
Ink is in bad shape.... they are going to offer cheap results. If Y! thinks Ink is financially stable enough to keep things together, they may go back to them, since they have worked with them before, and that is safer than trying some unproven engine.
I think Google is out and whoever fills their shoes is going to have a short contract.
It looks like great strategic game.. Next move is Yahoo's!!
As for me, keeping in mind Yahoo pays attention to PR while sorting their results, that will be logical for them to continue with Google. Also, as for me, if they brake with Google, the shares of Yahoo will go down.. And opposite, if they will continue, the shares should go up- Google is profitable and that means stability for Yahoo!!
Thank you!
Yahoo isn't as interested in making money serving banner ads with search results as they were a few years ago. They are now about expanding the Yahoo experience and being a full online service.
AOL figures that good results will help. I don't see why Yahoo wouldn't agree.
Yahoo couldn't take adwords. Adwords is too new and unstable, and the bids are too low. AOL cut a deal to get great search results, something they need to not lose customers over it. When you're AOL and you make $25/month/customer, somehow the ability to make an extra 10 cents off the search results seems a less important than not losing ANY $25/month users.
I wouldn't rule out Yahoo dropping Google, as they have built Google up as THE search company, but the damage is done. Yahoo isn't making Google disappear and they can't undo the old deal. Sacrificing quality seems like a bad move.
BTW: In your calculations, how much does Yahoo make off paid submissions? How much does the PR boost in Google impact people's willingness to pay money for inclusion that may or may not get enough traffic.
I bet the Overture/Yahoo deal was just too rich for Yahoo to pass up. Goto.com is a MORE mature product than Adwords, and if Yahoo got 60%-70% of the revenue, it's hard to pick newcomer Google.
I expect SOME Google/Yahoo deal to continue, but we shall see. Companies have done dumber things in the past.
Alex
Really, though, when Y! moved to the sub model for their directory they showed people that they don't care about quality results, only cash.
>>Nope.. their overture deal is exclusive..
Well hold the phone now, because it looks like Google is playing around with putting the Sponsored Listings right into the SERPs, clearly marked as such. They're right now showing some new results on www with new directory listings included, that appeared briefly 5 days ago and fell out, and the inclusion of the Sponsored was just reported here in this thread:
[webmasterworld.com...]
Is this an idle experiment? Or could it indicate that Yahoo & Google are renewing and it's being done this way, "sneaking them in" to get around the exclusive deal with Overture? They aren't ads, they're right in there with all the others.
It looks that way to me, because I don't think they'd be doing this otherwise. This would mean that those who aren't ranking at Google could still be appearing in Yahoo Web Pages if they renew, and is even more of a selling point for Google's Sponsored Listings.
Also, according to a certain general consensus with some PPC engines, who have much of a similar format, you cant exactly "blame" google for anything, because they wouldnt be doing anything outside the SE "norm"
Still though, at one time I thought google was revolutionary - a cornerstone of the web. Of course, they still are, but Im sure Im not the only one that can envisage a frameshift in opinion towards google (hope im proved wrong).
All IMO, soon becoming my favourite acronym
BOL's favourite word is going to be IMO, and Google's IMO is soon to be PPC ;)
Google: status quo option; also potential adwords provider; high quality; but Google really is getting to be a threat and it would be a strategic move to dump them... don't buy into this VC ties stuff... Yahoo management are hard-headed enough to see the stake as an investment and nothing more...
Inktomi: Lowest quality of any potential partner; little enthusiasm left in company; formerly dumped by Yahoo, will look bad for Yahoo if they swing back to Ink, IMHO... low probability here
FAST: High quality, not a competitive threat, already integrated well on Lycos. High probability.
Teoma: High quality but Jeeves, Teoma, Direct Hit, etc. are still getting things rolled out. In short, they're not ready for this kind of prime time yet, they're still integrating and building what they have.
Wisenut: Owned by LookSmart; zero probability.
AltaVista: Stranger things have happened. Strong on multimedia search, old industry standard, not a competitive threat. Yahoo could even acquire the whole company and make CMGI shareholders momentarily happy.
Infospace: Maybe Yahoo could use Excite Metasearch. It's like Metacrawler for Dummies with more quiet monetization of search results.
As this list indicates, there is actually STRONG competition in this space and I believe Yahoo can and should be evaluating them all. They would not need to do so if Google weren't a growing and bothersome force for most other companies in this sector... but the fact is Google is getting very powerful, and this fact alone will make Yahoo look hard at alternatives, with FAST being most likely in my opinion.
