So yes, YPN Blog site opens finally. Yeah, yippee! But wait, they are beta and getting an invite is worthless. But wait, there is more. No one advertises on it. And wait, even more breaking news, their contextual ads are not so contextual, but wait the big news is, they don't pay squat compared to Google Adsense. Would I love it if Yahoo and MSN opened up their doors for business on contextual ads. Of course! If anything I am upset at how slow they are which is allowing Google more and more room to dominate. Domination at this level by one entity is bad for all of us on so many levels. OK, I am done ranting.
Google is Dropping Pages from Many Sites. It is true and no one knows what is going on. It has been seen on many sites running OSCommerce / Ecommerce, but certainly not limited to them. On many of my own sites I am seeing a huge drop from 25,000 to 500 pages. This is typical where 25k to 200k sites are dropping down to 300 - 500 pages. This is quite frustrating and here I thought Big Daddy was done, things were stable and life was good. But that is FAR from the case. It is a vicious cycle Google is making us all live thru. If you wish to learn more I recommend checking out WebMasterWorld Google Search News. I will post once I know more, thats for sure. For now, its time to buckle our damn seat belt and go for another bumpy ride.
Yahoo announced on their blog that they have updated the index and explained that is why some sites saw slurp visiting their sites a lot more. I was wondering why I was being hit on some sites 15,000+ times a day. A bit crazy, but this explains it some.
GOOGLE CONTINUES TO INCREASE SEARCH ENGINE
MARKET SHARE
comScore
Reports Slowdown in Overall U.S. Search Activity
RESTON, Va., Feb. 28, 2006
- comScore Networks today
released its monthly qSearch analysis of activity across competitive search
engines. In January 2006, Google reinforced its status as market leader of the
U.S. search market with a 41.4 percent
share of all searches submitted, up more than 6 share points versus year ago.
Yahoo! maintained the #2 spot in the ranking with 28.7 percent share of all
searches, while MSN ranked third capturing 13.7 percent of all online
searches.
Total
Internet Searches and Share of Online Searches by Engine January 2006 vs.
January 2005 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore qSearch
Searches Jan-05 (Billions)
Searches Jan-06 (Billions)
%
Change
Total
Internet Searches
4.95
5.48
10.7%
Share
of Searches by Engine
Jan-05
%
Jan-06
%
Share Point Change
+/-
Google
Sites
35.1%
41.4%
+6.3
Yahoo!
Sites
31.8%
28.7%
-3.1
MSN-Microsoft
Sites
16.0%
13.7%
-2.3
Time
Warner Network
9.6%
7.9%
-1.7
Ask
Jeeves
5.1%
5.6%
+0.5
Additional findings from
the January monthly analysis include:
Americans conducted 5.48 billion searches online in January, up 11
percent from the previous year. While this growth is still strong, it reflects
a substantial slowdown from the 42 percent surge seen in January 2005 versus the previous year.
Google Sites once again led the group with 2.3 billion searches
followed by Yahoo! Sites (1.6 billion searches), MSN-Microsoft Sites (752.5
million searches), Time Warner (432.6 million searches), and Ask Jeeves (307.3 million searches).
• Google Sites won top honors in share of tool bar search,
capturing 49.5 percent of all tool bar searches, while Yahoo! Sites secured 45.5 percent.
"This report provides evidence that the growth in the U.S.
Search market is slowing," commented Dr. Magid Abraham, President and CEO of comScore Networks. "The good news for
search companies is that the utilization
of search queries for advertising purposes continues to increase. In December
2005, 57.2 percent of search query results included a sponsored advertisement,
up from 49.1 percent a year earlier. Additionally, the international
search market continues to be strong, with a growth rate of 34 percent based on
comScore's December 2005 international data. As a result, search revenue growth
will significantly outpace search query growth. At the same time the slowdown in
the overall growth rates is unmistakable."
For more information
on comScore
qSearch, please e-mail or call (650) 244-5412.
About comScore Media Metrix
comScore Media Metrix, a division of comScore
Networks, provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report - with unmatched accuracy - details of
online media usage, visitor demographics
and online buying power for the home, work and university audiences across
local U.S. markets and across the globe. comScore Media Metrix continues the
tradition of quality and innovation established by
its Media Metrix syndicated
Internet ratings - long recognized as the currency in online media measurement
among financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers -
while drawing upon comScore's advanced
technologies to address important new industry requirements. All comScore Media
Metrix syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling
methodologies.
About comScore Networks
comScore Networks
provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This
capability is based on a
massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore
explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction
behavior, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also
participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary
technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior
and attitudes. comScore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and
competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics
that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by global leaders such as
AOL, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, MBNA,
Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Orbitz.
For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.