Ho much will Google loose

janeth · 12-11-2003, 12:59 PM

At this time I'm not sure why I would pay $300 to be listed in Yahoo. If Yahoo copies Google then it would just be a waste of money.

But if Yahoo drops Google and starts using MSN then I guess you would need to pay MSN or would you want to pay Yahoo?

But if Google Msn and Yahoo go at it do you think Google will loose a lot of the searches. Maybe from like 85% or whatever it is down in the 40% range.

If this happens when would it happen and how do you think Yahoo would go about dropping Google?

I, Brian · 12-11-2003, 03:21 PM

I guess it depends on how much money you have to start with. If you have a starting budget of a few thousand $$s then a couple of hundred for Yahoo wouldn't make so much of an impact compared to a start-up budget of <$1000 (such as a small webhosting company).

Personally, though, I would consider it a link worth having if deemed an affordable expense. It's not so much the PR worth or anchor text, or the traffic itself, that would be important. It's the fact that Google has Hilltop in it's pocket, and according to Hilltop, the worth of important directory links are of elevated importance. DMOZ is the most relevant for this, though.

As for Yahoo dropping Google - Yahoo bought Inktomi this year, and there is every expectation that Yahoo will realise that investment by replacing its Google results with Inktomi ones in the very near future.

janeth · 12-11-2003, 03:30 PM

So either way the $300.00 is really just for buying a link nothing more?

If they drop Google there just going to copy someone else?

altyfc · 12-11-2003, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janeth

So either way the $300.00 is really just for buying a link nothing more?

If they drop Google there just going to copy someone else?

Maybe a seemingly pedantic point, but it's buying a review for a link, not just buying a link.

Aaron

janeth · 12-11-2003, 05:19 PM

Good point I forgot that the $300.00 is only for them to think about giving you the link.

Marcel · 12-15-2003, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I, Brian

Personally, though, I would consider it a link worth having if deemed an affordable expense. It's not so much the PR worth or anchor text, or the traffic itself, that would be important. It's the fact that Google has Hilltop in it's pocket, and according to Hilltop, the worth of important directory links are of elevated importance.

I think it's still too early to say whether Google, or any other SE for that matter, will rely on any kind of expert system for results. To me this seems just as flawed as Google's infatuation with blogs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by I, Brian

DMOZ is the most relevant for this, though.

DMOZ is a broken piece-of-sh*t directory and the reason why Google still uses its directory results is beyond me. DMOZ is slow, rarely updated and fairly easy to cheat, if you want to. It doesn't justify its own existence.

I, Brian · 12-15-2003, 06:52 AM

My observation is that some extent of an expert system is already in play. That is the simplest explanation as to why directory categories such as DMOZ are suddenly very high for various search terms.

As for criticism of DMOZ - yes, it is a bit knackered - but so many other directories are formed from its data, not least Google. And this is important if Google has indeed implemented Hilltop to any degree.

Marcel · 12-15-2003, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I, Brian

My observation is that some extent of an expert system is already in play. That is the simplest explanation as to why directory categories such as DMOZ are suddenly very high for various search terms.

Yes, I agree with this. The point I was trying to make was that it is still uncertain whether any SE's will rely on any expert system based results long term. I failed to specify the long term part.