AOL dropping out of Inktomi = quality traffic now finished?

Anyone else noticed a drop in sales?

[Callanish]

Anticipating the loss of the Inktomi feed through to AOL, I've been buying more Inktomi listings, to keep up the my total traffic.

This has worked, but what I didn't anticipate was the staggering drop off in sales from about the same amount of traffic.

It appears that the AOL component of the Inktomi traffic was much more valuable than I had realised.

Anyone else seeing the same thing?

To make things worse, last month I was hit with a Google PR0, for unknown reasons, so I'm not even getting any AOL traffic that way.

Callanish

[Brett_Tabke]

Ya, the traffic from AOL is a different critter. MSN should be able to make up the difference if you play hard over there. I've found and heard most find similarities in roi from aol to msn.

[stcrim]

Our sales are stable - may be a difference in what's being sold...

hmmmmmmmmmm

-s-

[littleman]

I have to say that I am experiencing the situation from the opposite perspective. I have site with god google listings and I am experiencing very good sales from the AOL traffic.

Perhaps you should work the google angle more instead of pouring more money into inktomi.

[Callanish]

>Perhaps you should work the google angle more instead of pouring more money into inktomi.

Believe me, I would like to get traffic from Google, but as its new index settles down after the latest update and my PR0 penalty remains in place I have no choice but to pursue other options.

Like many other webmasters who have posted their stories about losing their Google rank in these forums, I have no idea why I have been penalised - I don't use cloaking or doorway pages or other tricks, I don't use position checking software, I don't have multiple interlinked domains etc. Just a simple, straightforward site which had PR5 until May...

I have emailed Google with no response - they seem to be an arbitrary court with no right of appeal allowed.

Rather than throw away two year's work and start again I have to resort to the pay for spidering engines, since PPC doesn't work due to the nature of my site....

Callanish

[minnapple]

Your search engine strategies need to be as diversified as your investment strategies.

There are fragile buyer/vendor alliances that can change and tip the scale at any time. The buyer's themselves are in a market that is less than stable.

Buy outs and shareholders demands can change the landscape in short order.

You need to keep your eyes, ears, and your mind open. If you are prepared, when major shifts occur, you will come out ahead of the pack.