Looksmart pulling out of UK

Going going...gone.

[The Corking Rooster]

News just released that following MSN dumping Looksmart they will be closing their UK offices and exiting the UK market - other LS country offices remain unaffected

[Graham]

Further information regarding this can be found at: http://llama.looksmart.co.uk/email/faq.html

Its unfortunate that people are going to loose their jobs, but from the amount of traffic that we were being sent it will be no sad loss!

[Receptional]

Just opened my emails to see one from LS

As you know, MSN has decided not to renew its partnership with LookSmart as of 15th January 2004. Given the magnitude of the decision, we've since been reviewing our UK operations to determine our options for 2004.

But as usual, people have beaten me to WebmasterWorld!

Just goes to show the danger of having a business model relying on one channel to market. Reinforces the recent Florida wakeup call experienced by many with their own business models I guess.

I'd just like to say thanks to they guys at UK Looksmart and their predecessor BTLooksmart - mainly for not trying to do all the annoying things that the US version did and for battling against the odds so valiantly and with such a good sense of humour.

I guess LS won't want any Search engine optimisation now though will you?

End of an era.

[sem4u]

It is sad that some people will lose their jobs, but it will be the start of a whole new MSN search...if and when they drop Ink.

[Shak]

shame :(

Looksmart had some very good people in the UK.

Shak

[IanTurner]

I can only reiterate that I think that the UK Looksmart people have always done a good job and been honest with their customers.

Just sorry for all those affected by the uphevals.

[running scared]

Ditto - good luck to them

[Tor]

Looksmart had some very good people in the UK.

Then surely they will have no problems getting interesting work elsewhere. ;)

[Gmorgan]

Funnily enough I was going to submit to the UK directory this morning.

Any news on whether or not they will keep the directory as it is, with the UK seperate, or mix it together with the world one?

[Crush]

Sounds very different to the US conterparts. Everybody was there to twist the knife M$ announced they are dropping them.

[Terrier]

It does seem they are very different, I have nothing but good words to say about the looksmart UK staff and operation, they have always been most helpful.

I would like to wish them all good luck.

[Shak]

another press story about the parent co:

[biz.yahoo.com...]

Shak

[Receptional]

Then surely they will have no problems getting interesting work elsewhere. ;)

They know where I live :)

[DaveN]

another article : [netimperative.com...]

Good luck guys, Just unfortunate you got painted with the same brush as the .com

DaveN

[curly_clare]

So do you guys think MSN will use another provider for their directory lisitings or implement their own? Will they still base thier web listings on inktomi? Waht the devil is going to happen?

[DaveN]

curly_clare : MSN use Overture for the sponsored listings at present, my guess and it's a guess once they have got their own spider working correctly ;) they will use some form of inhouse PPC/PFI with an overture mixer.

DaveN

[curly_clare]

I think your right, I'm trying to talk to a friend I know who works at MSN - I need to know for whom i should start optimising my sites for..inktomi or google! Inktomi may be on its way out aswell if MSN dumps them.

[gmoney68]

Spoke to Looksmart today.

They are still accepting new accounts, although, will stop billing for clicks after 15 Jan.

Listings will continue to be displayed on MSN until they (MSN) decide to stop serving them (this may not be until they deliver their new PPC system in June'ish).

[Shak]

gmoney68,

welcome to webmasterworld.

you may well be correct, but Inktomi aint even started to kick ass yet, and clare you should be optimising for the user in any case :)

Shak

[DaveN]

curly_clare

Inktomi are just starting to become a major player, the SE world just get ready, thats all I would say.

DaveN

[nakulgoyal]

Yes. It seems they will probably use Overture. Chances of inhouse seem to be less, but you never know.

[dougs]

Good luck to the staff at Looksmart, they were always good and helpful to us also.

Doug

[kanetrain]

Gesh...sounds like they should have closed the US offices and left the UK ones opened.
Or maybe just bring the UK employees over here to run the US offices. I've had nothing but bad experiences with the US offices.

[sidyadav]

Brett and all mods:
Seen anybody from Looksmart lurking around at WebmasterWorld?

Tell them I said best of luck to them ;)

Its pretty sad that they had to close their offices in UK, but then again, it was no use for Australasian users ;)

Sid

[worker]

I'm sorry about the people in the Looksmart UK offices, but the Pay-for-Inclusion model doesn't make sense. It limits the selection of results to only those sites that pay. Since the sites that pay are not necessarily the best sites, Search Engines that rely on that model will slowly lose visitors who aren't impressed by lackluster search results. No matter how much you pay for inclusion, it isn't worth it if no one uses the search engine.
I hope that Inktomi is able to learn from Google and change their model, and their algorythm. It would be great if Inktomi and MSN were able to muster a semi-competitive threat to Google. Competition is good for everyone involved.
Unfortunately, as long as Ink continues to deliver the type of results currently in place, they will never be a significant player, regardless of their portal partner/owner.

[Fiver_321]

good

[webdiversity]

Several CV's have hit my desk already, make for impressive reading, and no recruitment fees!

People that understand the whole paid arena rarely leave, probably because loyalty prevails, and even in the demise a lot of dignity and pride still prevails (meaning they still want us to pay our bills!)

Every cloud has a silver lining. The BT/Looksmart split took place last Christmas and it seemed like deja vu talking to members of staff who survived last year and now have to deal with the same thing again, this year.

At least now their hands have been dealt, and they can look forward to next year, in a more stable and secure environment. I can't see work being that hard to find for good people in a buoyant sector, the fact that Looksmart were at such long arm's length and never got behind the team in the UK was really sad. Unlike others, we had a very good level of traffic and this is a real shame not to have Looksmart UK any more.

[tictoc]

...LookSmart Signs New Sponsored Search Partners
SearchFeed, myGeek and ABCSearch to Distribute New Bid-For-Placement Search Product...

Their stock has taken a beating since MSN but they keep surviving off a few new sources of income.