Did MSN drop Looksmart?

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Did MSN drop Looksmart?

No looksmart "web directory" results showing..

cheater copperpot

10:32 am on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

MSN isnt showing the looksmart "directory results" right now as the default search results. They have overture and then go right into "web pages" which looks like to me a mix of inktomi and google?!? Im confused, anyone know whats going on? I am used to decent traffic form looksmart/MSN..

angiolo

11:18 am on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

I don't think so, I still get WEB DIRECTORY SITES.

caine

11:26 am on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

No. I can still see LS program results coming up in MSN, as off yesterday.

tennismaster

2:42 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

I have to agree with Cheater, for our keywords the `web directory` results have disappeared, and only `web pages`
results are showing.

I have emailed looksmart, but no reply yet.

cheater copperpot

8:13 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

MSN has totally stopped showing Looksmart listings for most of the results, the serps look like google and inktomi? is this not a big deal with anyone else? I get over 100 uniques a day from MSN through looksmart and now im getting nothing? whats goin on with this?

The one word terms seem to be returning looksmart results, any search of 2 or more terms returns "web sites". If anyone wants any specifics they can sticky me.

cheater copperpot

8:53 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

can i get some input on this situation from some of you gurus, I am dying today with no MSN traffic, and those inktomi results are total garbage.. Please, ANYONE know whats up with this?

tennismaster

9:08 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

Cheater Copperpot,

Have you contacted Looksmart?

I know they do take some time to reply sometimes.

We have not had any reply from them as yet.

Seems to me most people join Looksmart for better ranking
on MSN, so if they have dropped Looksmart results, they are
going to suffer badly.

Hopefully it is just a short term glitch.

cheater copperpot

9:14 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

I have not tried to contact them. Please keep me/us updated in this thread if you hear any information from them. Thanks....

jeremy goodrich

9:16 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

A guy in my office was saying that many of Look$mart's listings had disappeared from MSN today, as well.

Since LS is getting the bulk of their revenue from MSN, and Overture listings generally have a higher CPC, the question is - why hasn't MSN made the 'right' move already / and dropped them?

I keep expecting it to happen...perhaps this is the beginning?

skibum

9:23 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

No changes seen here (eastern US).

cheater copperpot

9:23 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

so you think they may go to FULL overture listings? All i know is the results showing now may be the ugliest results I have ever seen on any search engine, absolute spam fest.

I am also in the east US and see the changes, try 2 or more word search terms, the generic 1 word terms still seem to be going to LS

rcjordan

9:32 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

>try 2 or more word search terms

I did (geographic) --still LS.

Conard

9:43 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

I just tried 7, 2-3 word terms from the east coast. All had LS, some many pages of LS.

jeremy goodrich

9:44 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

Coming from the bay area, california - listings were different earlier. Perhaps they (MSN) are doing some geo targetted testing?...

cheater copperpot

9:49 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

hmm, seems like its only the therms in my niche, along with a few others. I just tried about 20 random searches and got the directory results, why me? bummer

MikeKay

9:50 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

Yes - I'm seeing these results, what a joke! Looks like many of the 2 word searches aren't showing nearly as many LS listings as normal. A few LS listings still show up but I can see that 3 of my websites can no longer be found in Web Directory Sites. Quite a few top 10 listings that now don't show up - looks like some glitch - I don't think they have the full LS feed.

tennismaster

9:55 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

I have done some more searches on my keywords and all
but one are showing `web pages` and no `web directory`
results.

It does look like some sort of glitch.

cheater copperpot

9:56 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

I hope so, i just find it a little too wierd that all the sites i have in one certain niche are not showing up... crossing my fingers

jeremy goodrich

10:28 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

Remember -> if MSN sneezes, LookSmart had best come up with some other way to make $$$. Cause that's the only thing they got going, revenue wise...

cheater copperpot

10:37 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

agreed, I wouldnt even consider looksmart without MSN. The unfortunate thing is i paid them $400 in submission fees (8 sites) over that last few months or so, and my sites arent showing in MSN right now so my traffic is almost nil.

kevinpate

10:55 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

on a kw1 kw2 search, web directory at msn had 15 returns
and the NFP site I deal with was #3 :)

using kw1 kw2 kw3, the NFP site was the sole return
under web directory (seems to be a right fair combo, as it should since 1+2+3 is the name of the NFP)

using kw4 kw5 kw6, no web directory appears but the
site shows up under web sites as #1, so I'm not gonna grumble

Brad

11:05 pm on Feb 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

I did a bunch of searches and could not bring up "Web directory" results at all. I finally did a search for a really high traffic term and got Web Directory results, but they had no L$ redirects on the URL's. I'm near Chicago.

johnser

12:28 am on Feb 5, 2003 (gmt 0)

Am seeing loads of "Web Directorys" in MSN UK listings

cheater copperpot

12:47 am on Feb 5, 2003 (gmt 0)

does Looksmart have customer service phone #? I sure can seem to find one..

webguybri

12:48 am on Feb 5, 2003 (gmt 0)

We have over 2000 url's with looksmart/msn. I talked to my rep today and he said MSN is having a glitch with their system that displays the looksmart urls. They are hoping [praying] msn gets it fixed asap. It will be back to normal soon.

tennismaster

1:14 am on Feb 5, 2003 (gmt 0)

Just had a reply from Looksmart,
as the last post says it appears there is
a glitch and they are aware of it,
and are working to fix it ASAP.

rfgdxm1

5:39 am on Feb 5, 2003 (gmt 0)

Must be fixed. My Looksmart listed site's (via Zeal) are coming up as they should on MSN.

mansterfred

6:02 am on Feb 5, 2003 (gmt 0)

I was having a problem about 2 weeks ago. The L$ people told me MSN was having a problem. My Site was not showing up in the web directory. L$ told me to wait a bit as MSN was rewriting some code. They also looked at my listing and made some changes. As of today we are everywhere with heavy traffic.

Not sure but I think the title of your listing is now somehow used in the search.

Site used to be
XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Sire now
XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX-keyword1,keyword2 and keyword3

That is the only relevant change I can see that L$ made to my listing.

cheater copperpot

6:41 am on Feb 5, 2003 (gmt 0)

It seems that all is back to normal now =)

Napoleon

8:44 am on Feb 7, 2003 (gmt 0)

I wonder if it was a glitch or a test. Equivalent changes on Yahoo are usually considered tests.

Hopefully it was indeed the latter: the demise of L$ would really make my day/week.

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