WebFinder Search

New pay per click - WebFinder Search

[Legin]

I received a call this afternoon from Thomson Directories about their new pay per click search engine "WebFinder" that will be providing pay per click searches to freeserve and altavista although the sales man was unsure if it was just altavista.co.uk or worldwide.

It site is at [webfinder.com...]

Has anyone heard of it and what are your thoughts.

[nicebloke]

Yes it's been discussed elsewhere.

At the moment looks like their own PPC system with Ink.

There is talk of geo-targetting and some deal with Streetmap but not sure when that's supposed to be happening. I've seen one referal so far.

[Legin]

They did say that it is going live with altavista in the next few days and that there would be logo's next to each ad

[webdiversity]

Well they will have a tough market to crack, the critical mass of Google, Overture and Espotting will make entry to the market for any new player difficult.

If it's Thomsons I'd want it to be UK only, in fact I'd want it to be UK only for everyone.

I'm not convinced the market needs or can cope with another "player"

[nicebloke]

Oh and welcome to WebmasterWorld Legin.

[Legin]

Thanks. Actually I've been using Webmaster World for some time but have never needed to post as all my questions had already been covered. :)

[engine]

Legin, welcome out of lurking mode.

When this first went online the SERPs were a mess, however, it seems a little tidier now they've got the hang of it.

>I'm not convinced the market needs or can cope with another "player"

Ditto.

[richardb]

Hi All

Yeap I got pestered too.

This may be a mistake (sorry didn't listen very closely) the rep was just going though the "carefully" rehearsed speach but they want £150 to set-up your account! Can anyone confirm that?

Last year they wanted £60 for a link in the directory -- a total waste of money, (I think they have dropped that this year) maybe worth it as a PPC but not as a subscription.

Rich

[Legin]

Depends on which service you get:

Full service
An Account Manager will help you set up your account and suggest appropriate keywords for your products and services.
We will visit your site and review titles and descriptions for each of these keywords, or even write them for you.
£250 + VAT includes annual account management and £100 of credits in your online click-through account.

Self service
You register, set up and manage your own account online, without the assistance of an account manager.
You choose keywords for your main products and services and write titles and descriptions for each of these keywords.
£99 + VAT covers the administration fee and £50 of credits in your online click-through account.

I certainly wouldn't bother with the full service. Am wating to see if its worth paying for the self service option.

[webdiversity]

So even on a self serve they will keep the difference between £99 and £50..... so £49 for what?

Would love to know the people advising them on that set up.

It's almost like the arrogance of being one of the two main paper directories makes them think that they can march in and do what they like in the online world.

Loo at how poorly Bidsmart did and you will see the barrier to entry being extremely high.

If it's £49 I'm not even going to bother, bound to be poor value.

[webdiversity]

Sorry to post again, but just noticed on their site that it states :

2003 will also see results from WebFinder.com appearing on these sites:

and proceeds to list Freeserve, Alta Vista etc..

Overture are bound to have the prime spots on Freeserve and AV, so what they going to get? Oh, and when, 2003 has just started, December 31st?

[richardb]

Yeap that confirms it.

This is Thompson's second attempt to find a foot hold from brick to clicks. Looks like they have some poor senior IT managers -- save your money go for the free text only listing and be happy.

Rich

[DeCal]

i've just signed up with webfinder. The sales guy told me that they are signing up with 2 other 'MAJOR' search engines next week but at the current time they are unable to disclose their details. Does anyone have any insider info on this?
What 2 'MAJOR' engines are they?

[redlion]

AltaVista just got bought by Overture. Can't see the WebFinder deal lasting long now.

[webmasterworld.com...]

[lloyd]

Redlion - is your statement about Overture buying out AltaVista true. Because I have not read about this anywhere else. Or is it just a rumour.

[engine]

lloyd, follow that link above and you'll see the story. ;-)