MSN now shows GoTo results

[toolman]

Sad but true...will it ever end?

[Marcia]

I just saw them for the first time. Featured first, sponsored second, directory third, then the ink.

So at this point, the LS listings are devalued a bit less than the Ink ones are. Featured prices are negotiated with a rep. So it's descending value.

[Brett_Tabke]

They announced it was going live yesterday:
[searchengineworld.com...]

[kris]

This is getting ridiculous! Now everywhere you go, you are going to see the same results. I don't think it will last. If I were the money grubbing CEO of Yahoo or MSN I would develop my own PPC. But I am not, I am an SEO who had better start looking for another line of work!

[backus]

It's a vicious circle, they'll burn each other out. People will see the same results over and over, companies with money with try and out-bid each other to the point where it gets too expensive. Eventually it'll all go back to square one, the real search engine. It's an evolution thing which has happened/is happening way too fast. Overture will get rich quickly then what?

[tigger]

>Eventually it'll all go back to square one

I don't think so far too much money now involved.

>MSN I would develop my own PPC

Lets hope it's more a PFI, but it has to be on the cards for this year.

[toolman]

If you want to see the true colors of M$ search for a hotel in your city.....no monopolistic practices there.....just good ole friendly competition brought to the top by Expedia.com

[grnidone]

So...why did this happen? Not Goto feeding MSN, but the whole pay to rank thing in general. I've seen it happen over the last two years, but I have not figured out why it would behoove the SE's to do it.

It does not necessarily improve rankings. It could, but there is no guarantee.

Did it happen because there is big money in it for search engines? How does MSN and all the others benefit from using Goto results?

Or did this happen because big corporations were frustrated at not ranking well in search rankings so they pressured search engines by saying "Look, we'll pay you if you rank us well in the SERPs.."?

I can't figure it out.

<added>Hey look...my 1200th post.. :)</added>

[Mike_Mackin]

2 facts

In the third quarter of 2001, Overture facilitated more than 338 million paid introductions.

Average price per paid introduction on a worldwide basis was $0.21

[toolman]

So what are you saying Mackin? That money makes the world go 'round? ;)

I don't believe it can sustain itself (the goto model) in the long run the way it is now. Paid results will be with us but not presented as they are today.

[litmania]

They're all begging for Overture's $$$s now, but they don't realise that their short-term grab for PPC dollars is allowing Google to get even bigger than it already is (anybody got any stats. on people using Google/growth rate please?)

Plus with most of the directories having become little more than shopping portals (I wrote to AskJeeves asking them to consider my content packed non-commercial site and got an autoresponder message back saying they are no longer considering free submissions), there is potential for less greedy directories and portals to gain market share.

As net users become more savvy they'll realise which search engines are dominated by 'Sponsored Listings' and will avoid them like the plague.