Pandia Search Engine Weblog August 2004

(August 30 2004) Here at Pandia we do our best to keep track of good search engine oriented resources on the web, and you will find quite a few of them in the left hand column of this page.

However, this is the first time we can present you with an Internet talk radio show devoted to search engines and search engine marketing. It is American, of course, and is part of the wsRadio.com network.

Search Engine Radio, which was launched in May, is mainly based on interviews with experts from the search engine marketing environment. We enjoyed, for instance, an interview with Pandia guest writer Andy Beal very much. Among other guests that have been visiting the show are the founder of PR Web, David McInnis, and John Battelle, co-founder of Wired Magazine.

The show goes on the air every Tuesday, at 9 AM Pacific time. However, many of the previous shows are available online, so even time-zone confused Europeans may get to listen to the program.

Search Engine Radio is hosted by Brad Fallon, founder of SEO Research, LLC. During each show, you can communicate with Fallo, his guests, and other listeners in the separate chat room.

The accompanying site has a clean and user friendly interface that is easy to navigate. The discussion forum does not show much activity, but that is not to be expected. The sound quality may vary -- these are phone interviews -- but the conversations are both interesting and informative. However, be prepared for a few irrelevant radio ads before you get to the real messages.

New discussion search engine from Lycos

(August 27 2004) Lycos has launched a new search engine for online discussion forums.

Lycos Discussion Search-- which is in its beta test stage -- allows you to search and retrieve information from millions of discussion threads and conversations taking place on the World Wide Web.

Pandia has more on the new Lycos search engine for discussion forums.

New KDE search tool for Linux

(August 27 2004) As reported below a large number of search engine and software companies are now trying to develop "total search" solution, with a common interface for all search needs, Web search and local file search.

The Linux community would not like to be left out. The developers of the Linux desktop environment KDE -- which is an windows like graphic interface that is put on top of the text based Linux operative system -- will now add a Google-style search feature to their version of Linux.

The next version of KDE is likely to be released within the next 18 months, and it will probably include the new feature.

KDE to include Google-type desktop search
KDE Home Page

Yahoo! launches its own blog

(August 19 2004) The Yahoo! search technology team has launched their own blog, which will give "a look inside the world of search from the people of Yahoo!"

Now, that will be interesting. In just a few months Yahoo! has managed to merge several strong search engine development teams (from Inktomi, AltaVista and AlltheWeb), added new services (including local search and a toolbar), bought the Kelkoo comparison shopping search engine and become a serious challenger to almighty Google.

Jeff Weiner of Yahoo! writes that the Yahoo! search blog is "designed to provide a window into what our team is thinking and doing, in their own words (and maybe some guest bloggers as well)." Don't expect to read about too many company secrets, though. There will also be new product introductions, updates and "exclusive betas".

MSN search engine preview gone

(August 18 2004) The MSN preview of its new search engine is no longer there.

Any attempt to access the service is met with a friendly message thanking "all of those that tried our service and sent us feedback." MSN will use the test as a basis for further development and release another tech preview at a later time.

The new search engine is expected to be replacing the current Yahoo!-powered search service late this year

Google's IPO delayed

(August 18 update August 19 2004) Google's IPO or public sale of stock has been delayed. The company still lacks the final approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The delay may be caused by the increased workload caused by this process.

Google seems to have messed up the IPO pretty bad. It could be because of lack of experience. It could be because of weak advisers, or it could be that someone, somewhere, is not listening to what the advisers have to say.

In July the company announced that it had issued more than 23 million shares to buy back unregistered shares, which is a big no-no in the world of trading. This month Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, gave an interview with Playboy, which is in violation of the "quiet period" surrounding an IPO.

That being said, the popularity of Google and its strong innovation record will probably lead to a large number of interested buyers.

UPDATE: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has now declared effective Google's registration statement for its initial public offering. The shares could start to trade today, Thursday. Moreover, Google has announced that the price per share will be US$ 85.00, a bit lower than originally planned.

Google IPO - Notice of request to have the registration statement declared effective
Bloomberg: Google Stock Sale Delayed as SEC Doesn't Act on IPO
Playboy Interview
More headlines on the Google IPO from the Pandia Newsfinder.

News search engine Topix.net gets even better

(August 15 2004) Recently the news search service Topix.net was upgraded with several new features like email alerts and (according to them) better relevance ranking.

Read what Lars Våge has to say about the Topix.net news search engine in this month's issue of the Pandia Post.

Kozoru wants to give relevant answers to your questions

(August 15 2004) John Flowers, the founder of the Kozoru search engine, feels that the search engines of today work by the hypothesis “more is better”. Kozoru, on the other hand, will have the motto “correct is better”. They want to answer natural language questions, like Ask Jeeves did once.

Lars Iselid has more on the new search engine.

Google settles dispute with Yahoo!

(August 10 2004) The pay-per-click search engine giant has never been very happy with Google's alternative AdWords service. Overture has claimed that the technology Google uses to serve its text ads is in violation of Overture patents.

It is unclear whether Overture would have been able to win this conflict. Google, however, is taking no chances, given that its IPO is coming up. Google will issue some 2.7 million extra shares to Yahoo Inc., the owner of Overture, to get the issue out of the way.

All depending on the share price, this number of shares could equal some US$ 260 million to US$ 290 million. In return Google will license a patent from Yahoo!

Yahoo News: Google to Pay Yahoo to Settle Patent Dispute
The Street: Yahoo! Gets Bigger Stake in Google
Webmaster World discussion
Danny Sullivan on the original lawsuit.

Yahoo! to develop desktop search tool

(August 6 2004) Microsoft is doing it, Google is doing it, Apple is doing it. Now also Yahoo! is preparing a "total search" desktop appliance merging the search capabilities of their search engine with at tool aimed at finding files, emails and documents on your own computer and network.

All of these companies believe that they need to control your desktop in order to keep you as a searcher, because in the end one search form is all you need. We are not so sure about that. The success of Google proves that a large number of searchers is willing to use several services if that's what it takes to get relevant, high quality, search results.

Yahoo! will apparently also let you use the desktop search tool to search its personalized online services, including e-mail, calendar, and picture hosting. You can rest assured that the other actors will deliver similar features. Google is developing GMail and has bought an online photo service. Apple already has its combination of iLife software and .mac online services, and they can all be reached by using next year's Spotlight search tool.

Microsoft's desktop tool may also be ready next year, although the total integration of search and operative system will have to wait until the next incarnation of Windows, Longhorn, which is expected in 2006. Yahoo! has not indicated when their tool will be ready.

See also InfoWorld: Yahoo to take on Microsoft in desktop search. See also Pandia's article on The Google Puffin desktop appliance.

Yahoo! expands local search

(August 5 2004) In March Yahoo! added a new feature to its Yahoo! Maps site. Yahoo! Maps lets you search for maps over specific geographical areas and is especially useful for finding your way around in cities.

A "Web Search" link allows users to search for additional information regarding a particular shop, office, cinema etc.

That service is still there, but Yahoo! has gone one step further by adding a regular local search search engine for the U.S. and Canada. They have a somewhat similar service at the Australian Yahoo! site.

There are two search forms, one for your regular search query and one for entering the geographical destination (city, state, US zip-code). There is a"Save Locations" feature that makes Yahoo! remember where you live. There is also a link to Yahoo's Maps site that brings up maps of the places listed in the results.

Yahoo! Local Search is not a finished product, but this beta version certainly looks promising,

New version of Webposition Gold

(August 5 2004) Today the search engine submission software Webposition Gold is reborn in its third incarnation. Although, to call it submission software is like calling a modern PC a pocket calculator.

Read about the new version of this search engine optimization software, which also includes Wordtracker keyword analysis.

Please note: The links on archived search engine news pages will not be updated!

Search Engine News Weblog Archive August 2004

Yes, it's Search Engine Radio!