Inktomi vs. All The Web vs. Alta Vista?

If you were Yahoo...what would you use...

[kanetrain]

Let's keep it simple. Yahoo's moving away from Google results soon. They own Ink, ATW and AV... all have PFI, and all are decent engines for different reasons. If you were making the decision for Yahoo... and you were trying to return the most relevant results, what engine would you use for Yahoo search? Rank them in order...

Here's my picks:

1. AltaVista
2. Alltheweb
3. Inktomi

[worker]

Actually, I was referring to the manipulation of metatags. If you take a step back and look at what an engine is reviewing to determine if a page is relevant, engines that rely on metatags are gifting control of relevance to the webmaster (to some extent). I spoke with an Ink guru about optimization a few days ago, and he recommended that I take a lot of the words off my page and put them in the metatags. He felt that the terms on the page were 'stuffed', but he didn't think it was a problem if they were in the metatags. This immediately points out that you can stuff terms into the metatags and Ink. will consider them. This guy knows Ink., so I think his comments are pretty valid.
So, again, I ask, can a search engine that utilizes metatags within its ranking equations deliver quality results? The more value given to the metatags, the more likely there is manipulation of their search results by webmasters looking to boost their sites. It seems inevitable that the SE's would have to de-value metatags. If so, they would have to rely on the same types of things as Google (hopefully).

[spaidermen]

Sorry, I don't get it. What you say has nothing to do with meta search engines. It's inktomi easy to manipulate, so what? On the contrary I would say that indeed a meta-se is LESS easy to manipulate since you have to manpulate 3 engines for the same keyword instead that a single one.

[worker]

When I originally wrote 'meta engines', it was a mistype. I meant to write about engines that rely on metatags, like Ink.

Sorry for the confusion.

I maintain that reliance on metatags opens up manipulation of search results, which de-values the results.

I hope that Yahoo unveils an eye opening new type of Search that somehow ranks sites based on themed sites and inbound links and on-page factors...like Google.

As it stands now, I don't think Yahoo can risk going live with Ink., ATW, or AV. None of them provide quality Search results on a consistent basis.

[spaidermen]

I hope that Yahoo unveils an eye opening new type of Search that somehow ranks sites based on themed sites and inbound links and on-page factors...like Google.

Or like Teoma

[makemetop]

INK pays very little attention to the keyword metatag - not none, but very little (except with Trusted Feeds). So little, in fact, that I mostly don't use it anymore. Does it effect rankings if I leave them out? No, except in highly competitive areas where it makes a marginal difference. Does it effect rankings if I put them in? See above.

Anyone who says that INK is highly influenced by the keyword metatag for their rankings and you should take words off the page and put them in the tag is talking piffle IMHO!

As for the subject of the thread, I would prefer:

a) ATW
b) INK
c) AV

[Bobby]

A few weeks ago I decided to do an in depth test to see which search engine was the best in terms of providing relevant results pertaining to a search query.

My conclusion was that Altavista by far provides the best quality results.

However, Alltheweb and Google have much more depth so obscure searches are better performed there.

Google's speed in returning results is a real advantage, but ATW is a close second.

In any case I'd rather see Inktomi powering Yahoo! because it's the only one I feel I have a grasp on as far as optimizing is concerned. It's sort of like google in this respect, pretty easy to understand what it likes. Altavista and ATW are mysteries to me.

[Kbug44]

I like

Ink
Altavista
ATW

I just checked and AllTheWeb has some results pulling up for a client's site who has not changed their front page or other pages within the site for at least 2 1/2 years. Funny!

From the search engine conference, I got the impression from the Yahoo speakers that they were developing Inktomi and focusing on that search engine more...

Interesting thought though...