Search Trends - Search Engine Marketing

Ask Jeeves unleashed a Japanese version of their search engine.

An Article from News.com

From the press Release:
"Free advertising worth $5,000,000 tends to get attention. That's why Tygo.com hit the Internet today with an unusual marketing approach that matches its unusual advertising model Tygo.com has been in development for several years and in recent months has been building a massive database of web sites from which its state-of-the-are Aservers bring up original search results in seconds. Tygo.com may have similarities to Google or Yahoo but the differences are quite significant. The firm is giving away $5,000,000 in advertising through its Flat Rate Placement program to introduce advertisers to its new advertising model. Tygo.com is the only major search engine with a flat, predictable rate for keyword advertising. Flat Rate Placement is designed to attract advertisers tired of limited affordable keywords and the costly problem of click fraud. Tygo.com is giving out Prepaid Advertising Cards worth $250 in Flat Rate Placement to 20,000 advertisers at various Internet, media, and business-related trade shows."

The concept of giving away "free advertising money" isn't really new. There are hundreds of 2nd and 3rd-tier PPC search engines doing that every day. The unique concept with Tygo is their flat-rate pricing. The closest thing I can think of is Yahoo's category sponsorships, which very few people see now that Yahoo hides its category results. It will be interesting to see if Tygo can actually get users, and if they will continue to offer flat-rate pricing at the same low rates. I assume they will create a tiered pricing scale with higher prices for more popular keywords.

Read the press release

Visit Tygo

Yahoo follows in the blogging foosteps of Google with a blog of their own: ysearchblog.com

The long-anticipated Google IPO finally happened. Share price rose significantly in the first day of trading. Read more from CNET News.com

MSN has apparently completed their search engine preview/beta test for now. They have posted the following message at the test site:

Thank you very much to all of those that tried our service and sent us feedback. We will make improvements based on the suggestions we received. Once we are ready, we will release another preview of our new algorithmic search engine.

See for yourself

Quick links to some great Olympic info - from SearchEngineWatch - An Olympic Selection of Search Resources

A Report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals that 84% of Internet users have used search engines. Of those search engine users, 87% say they find the information they are looking for most of the time when they search. This is significant because it shows that there are over 100 million search engine users in the U.S. - most of whom find what they're looking for. My lingering question is: Who are the 16% who say they've never used a search engine? People who use email only? I'm surprised there are that many people who haven't used a search engine. I wonder if they've used one, but didn't even realize it. Or, maybe they didn't understand the question. Regardless, it's an intersesting report of search engine usage.

Data Memo on Search Engines - Pew Internet & American Life

Everyone knows search marketing is all the rage right now. Paid search spending is expected to double in size by 2009 according to a report by Jupiter Research.

Search Spend to Double by 2009

I personally think Looksmart delivers a lot of junk traffic, but I got an email from Looksmart telling about a few new features. So, in case anyone cares, here's what they said in the email:

Dear LookListings Advertiser:

We're pleased to introduce a new report to help you monitor and manage your LookListings campaigns: the Budget and CPC Performance Report.

This new report will give you an at-a-glance view of how the Budgets and CPCs you've set for your keyword-targeted listings impact their performance, and what specific steps you can take to make them work even better.

The Budget and CPC Performance Report will be emailed to you automatically once a month in the middle of your billing period. If you maintain multiple LookListings accounts, you will receive a separate report for each account.

What's in the Budget and CPC Performance Report?

1. Position scorecard: Find out what position your listings are appearing in. Learn whether you need to raise or lower your CPCs to get the positions you want for your keywords. If you've set the CPC for a keyword below the minimum bid (resulting in little or no traffic), this feature will show you that as well.

2. Budget forecast: Will your campaign run out of budget too early in the month, causing your listings to be pulled down prematurely and costing you valuable traffic? Or will a portion of your budget go unspent this month? This feature will help you determine the right level of funding for your campaign to meet your traffic goals.


Keep an eye out. You will begin receiving the Budget and CPC Performance Report at the next mid-point of your account's billing period. If you'd prefer not to receive this report, you have the option to turn off all account-related emails. To do so, log in to view your email preferences and deselect the "Account" checkbox.

Thanks for your continued business,

Your LookListings Team

LookSmart LookListings

I got an email from Google today asking me to try contextual ads again. I guess they sent the email to people who at one time tried contextual ads but are currently opted out of it. They're even offering a rebate if you give it a shot. They're trying to prove that their new smart pricing makes it more cost-efficient and worth your ad dollars.

You can see their little mini-site pushing the promotion here: Contextual Advertising: Special offer

Keep in mind that you can't simply click on that link to get the rebate. You have to be one of those selected to participate. (So if you're already spending a lot on contextual advertising, you probably won't get this emial).

Here's an excerpt:
"From Aug. 4, 2004, to Sept. 30, 2004, you can receive up to $1500 in AdWords credit when you place one or more of your AdWords campaigns into our extensive content network. This special promotion is offered to a selected number of AdWords advertisers and cannot be forwarded or transferred to other individuals."

Check your email for a similar message from Google. You can't get the free money if you're not "qualified" but I'm sure they sent out a ton of these messages to try to drum up more contextual advertising business.

I didn't make it to SES this time around, so I'll post links to a few of the interesting reports from the Conference on other Search Engine marketing sites. Like this one: Search Engine Marketing and Branding Challenges

As the IPO day draws near, Google has launched a website where potential IPO bidders can register - www.ipo.google.com

You can review the Prospectus and request a bidder ID from this site after you enter your zip code and state. Even if you don't end up buying any shares of IPO stock, you can get some interesting insight into the company by reading the prospectus. I didn't read the whole thing, but looked at a few sections including the management presentation which is interesting because you get to see Google's opinion about itself.