Blogger.com and using it.

I've now been using blogger.com for some time now and I've enjoyed this Google offspring. The interface is easy and I think the templates they let you use look good. I often forget this great free service even though I use it everyday, thanks Google.

This really started out as an experiment for me but as I keep anyone who reads this informed, I keep myself informed even more. Think about that if you have a subject that you're passionate about and use this great, free blog. Yes, Google scares me a little with some of the data they're collecting on all of us, but if it's not used in a malevolent way, then it's not as bad as it could be.

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Finding a local website

As I've stated before, there are a lot of smaller players looking to breakout as another good search engine. In this case it's a website called pinpointpages.com or better known in the media as findlocalwebsites.com. They're trying to capture some of the market that Yahoo or Google is trying get with local search. This one is focused on delivering local websites because they say that people go online, but many times still want to find a local company. It makes some sense as Yahoo is doing the same thing. The local ad dollars are so huge, that it's hard for anyone to ignore. Even if this small website can get only 1% of traffic for people trying to find something local, they would be set for life. I guess that's the bottom line. Yellow pages advertising has been untouchable for years on end, now that is no longer the case as people find it easier to locate a local business online.

They still must put together partnerships so people will use the service and the yellow pages people won't take any of this lying down. It's a whole new world of competition. Be aware that these small players are just that, small, very small in some cases. Yahoo or Google doesn't have much to worry at this time, but the fact that other choices are springing up to fill real market gaps is encouraging.

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Tech news press releases, worthless 98% of the time.

Have you ever wondered why there is so much tech news when really it isn't news at all? Of course, we all have. We're a world with almost too many news portals and sources so they must find ways to fill up the space they have or they will look irrelevant.

It's all about the world of press releases. What I've noticed in looking for relevant news items or things that might reflect a trend in the search engines, is that there is a proliferation of non-news press releases. This is what is now keeping the news engines humming, that's what causes us also to want something more substantial. It's a lot of fluff and it keeps coming. I wish there was a way to eliminate press release information. It's really not news 98% of the time.

That's why I don't try to include every stinkiing little news item that I could in this blog, because so much is really not news. I'm trying to choose news items that have a trend about them. It's those trends that can shake things up and are the real news item. When I have an opinion, it's usually best voiced on something that is changing in search, that's how I feel a good discussion can occur.

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Now that the IPO is over, now what Google?

I think it's interesting that Google had such hype over the IPO and all that needed to be cleaned up before it happened. There were court settlements, the magazine interview which I'm not sure if that's still being looked into and all the housekeeping chores to get it ready. I think what's been missing is something geewhiz to come out of Google in a while. There hasn't been anything new except for some beta try of G-mail. This is usually what happens when a company goes public with such fanfare. I believe that it's such a distraction that a lot of what got them there in the first place is forgotten. Now that they're publically traded, look for changes in the style of how they do things. They been held up as a loose company, creative and I think for some time that's been true. Those days might be over and every creative act will be looked upon as how the profit picture would be. Because of that, creativity will probably go down. I hope it doesn't happen.

Don't get me wrong, I like Google. They've done more for search than anyone up to now. It's just that I hope that the creativity that got them here, won't be squashed in the future. I'm waiting for Google's upgraded or desktop search. That would be interesting!

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Google Zeitgiest - nothing new, just interesting

I don't know if you've ever checked out Google's Zeitgeist which is simply a page of compiled search trends. Well, it may not be the exact trends, rather what people have been searching for a lot and Google posts it. I like the differences between multiple countries, it shows that what we in America search for isn't always what people in other places are looking for.

I think it's fascinating that certain things seem to have a universal appeal such as Britney Spears, Maria Sharapova or Spiderman. And after thinking about this for some time I'm coming to the conclusion that search engine results of the most popular searches reveal much about what we are as a society or culture worldwide. It's these things that are casual searches, the things that are on people's minds and have a mild interest in. I believe that these results are lucid or dreamlike. They don't reflect reality, but an interest in the culture. Spiderman, for instance has been a search across many countries. It's this casual search result that really has no value, it's just the combined musings of many people.

That's where I think that mass numbers of people finding a website that features Spiderman is worthless. If you have banner ads or something to sell, you probably have a low number of people buying or generating interest in something else you feature there. It's only an idle curiousity, so it's not effective for anything other than featuring people or things that are famous for being famous.

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Linux KDE search development

I'm not a Linux user, but I've tried it and the KDE interface is nice. Now, there are some folks developing a Google-like search engine for the KDE desktop for Linux. It's a good idea but once again it's another of these upstart search engine things that is going to try to make a splash. I grant you that Linux isn't a great reach like Microsoft's XP, but perhaps it can get people to be thinking differently about search, that it doesn't have to be one of the big three to develop it. Maybe they will be able to port it to the XP desktop, who knows.

It's interesting to watch what these smaller players are doing as I think they offer real insight as to what search will look like even before the majors do.

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Personalization in search, new opportunities

I was reading an article today from a respected expert on search personalization and what that will do for website promotion. He was under the impression that privacy won't really be compromised and that it might signal the death of the ability to search optimize your website. I think that he was wrong on both counts.

Privacy is becoming such an issue with so many people. Don't you know of someone who has had credit card theft or ID theft or their computer spied on? Sure you do! Because of that raised awareness, the privacy issue will be a major part of upcoming search technology. This is one reason the new search technology of desktop or personalized search may fail for some search companies. It's a fact, that if you want to personalize search for someone, then by default you must gather or track some information about their habits. There is no way to personalize anything without that information. Your privacy will be compromised and could potentially be used against you. Do you know that anyone who has the Google Toolbar installed right now can gather information on searches and keeps a record? Get real people. This is where the search engines are going, personalized search means compromised privacy. So this respected author, who I think is a good guy and knowledgable, is wrong.

As far as making a site rank higher on the search engines, it won't be an end to it, it will simply transform into another process or method. That will never be able to be totally shut out. Search engines depend on relevancy, and as long as people are developing relevant websites, then they will continue to be found. It will just be in a new way.

I've been in another industry where the latest technology is going to replace the current stuff and make it obsolete. Every time we here the same mantra of this is going to be it and we'll be out on the street. It's never happened. The only thing that has happened is that it has enhanced our offering and we change to absorb it. It makes life even better and we get more sales every time. Don't think that you won't be able to promote your website, you will. You will never be at the mercy of some huge corporation that chooses you over someone else.

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Why do the new search changes matter?

There is so much press regarding search these days and how it applies to how we use the internet. More importantly, how do these upcoming changes apply to those of us who maintain and promote websites? Does the idea of personalized search scare you?

No one really knows what effect this new kind of search paradigm will have on search results right now. Even though Microsoft came out with a new search preview, it didn't reveal anything regarding the aspects of personal search. There wasn't anything really new. If I was a betting man, I think I would put my money on Yahoo as the first company to have this available for people very soon. I'm anxious to try this new kind of search because it may change everything in regards to search marketing.

Why does it all matter? Well, if you're making a living providing a good service for people online, then yes, it does matter. For websites where not much is happening, it won't make a difference. I believe there is a possibility of new marketing strategies as a result of these changes. It could make a new way of marketing that no one has thought about, and that's almost a certainty.

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More of the same with desktop search

Here's an article which explains once again, the desktop search fury that is about to break. It's about the big boys and the small fry. Either way, there is a rush to get this kind of search technology on people's computers thinking that the one who is first to the market will be in the best position. To some extent, that's true. There is a lot of movement in this area right now and the next few months should be interesting.

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A proliferation of new search engines, let the games begin!

As I've stated before, there will be an avalanche of new search engines trying to compete for the searcher and online advertiser. It's a large market that does offer a lot of opportunity for search technology companies to make a go of it. Here's a good article about it.

There really isn't anything new except for a new wrinkle here and there over the standard search engines. There are niche search engines, deep web search engines (Dipsie) and paid ads engines. It can get a little confusing and it will continue to be so for the near future and the search engine wars heat up.

What everybody realized is that there is a great pool of advertising money out there that websites are quite willing to spend. Make no mistake about it, that's what's driving the whole search model. It's not about some altruistic sense of the internet helping people, it's all about the cash. I remember in about 1990 or 91, there were many educational, research and non-profit types that bemoaned the commercialization of the internet. It was a hot topic and many disagreed on either side. The question has been long since settled. Even Google which started as an elevated, enlightened alternative that had more of a non-profit feel is all about the dollars. That's the way it goes.

It's going to be interesting to watch this trend as see where the areas of opportunity are for those of us who live and die on what the search engines do. I for one, would like more choices, so I welcome the trend and see what falls out.

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Customer satisfaction for e-business, search.

Customer satisfaction has always been an issue with any kind of e-business and this new article talks about some of that.

Once again, surveys and statistics lie depending on what you're looking for. In this case it looks like they're asking people generally are you more satisfied or how do you rate satisfaction. In general, the level of satisfaction went up. They conclude that online business and search engines are improving the customer satisfaction figures by delivering better service. Well, duh. But when they talk about this, it's almost as if they talk about it like it was in a vacuum. The reason for this kind of improvement is because of increased competition pure and simple. When there is more competition, then things improve or a company slags and dies. I wish that government understood this concept or public school systems which have lost any sense of the competitiveness or die concept. It's funny how we all believe in the market, in it's ability to reward good business and weed out the bad ones, but we still treat these improvements as some kind of voluntary effort by companies. How silly. If there wasn't any competition, then we would have mediocre e-business, no one tries hard or is pushed when they don't have to, it's human nature. Look at the former communist bloc to see how that experiment worked!

Anyway as they look at search engines, Google still tops them all in customer satisfaction, but we all know there's room for improvement there and potential opportunities for startup search engines too.

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Search, what people look for.

With so much talk about the search engines and how they do what they do, there's been a loss of focus that the person searching is the most important. What I'm trying to say is that the actual search is what really matters, not how some search engine indexes sites that might be found by that search criteria.

Life's real simple, when people go to the web, they're usually not just going there to look at stuff generally, that early novelty is gone. They're going there to find something very specific and they ant to find it. In fact, when people do a search, they will go through a lot of results relating to how desperate they are to find the information they want. I think we can get lost in the statistics on search in general, but what really matters are the everyday person who is trying to find something.

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The one to watch is Yahoo.

After all the hype of the Google IPO which I still don't believe is worth even the $85 per share they reduced it to, the company to look at in the future is really Yahoo. Yahoo has excellent corporate leadership that wouldn't bungle things they way Google did pre-IPO.

It really doesn't matter what they trade at today, the only thing that matters is which one is more poised for the future or search. That's Yahoo. They have some great technology and all the pieces are in place. Soon, I'm sure they will launch a desktop search. You know they really have it all, a portal, e-mail, a following, a good share of the search market, money, it just seems that they are poised for the next big bounce, but they must position themselves against Google. They should be running an ad campaign that tells people how much more relevant their results are compared to Google, which I believe they are. Try it for yourself, you'll see what I mean.

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Another search engine with an MLM twist

It's so bizarre to see all sorts of search engines coming out of the woodwork. It's not that these are any different than any others, but they are weirder. The latest that I found is called PoleJumper.com and it taks about relevant searches with an algorithm created by 16 smart people. The real twist is that it's a pyramid scheme where you contribute $100 and then they put you in a rotation and as other people contribute the same money, you get more money. It's a form of a chain letter and represents some of the most detestable tactics which is an MLM scheme. There just is no shame in MLM land. I know what happened and how it must have been started, guys that like MLM said what vehicle can we use that would be pervasive and uscker a lot of people in? Search engine? Why not? They've tried everything else. I'm wondering if the government is going to shut this one down! Maybe they can't, but with something called PoleJumper....

By the way, the search results are not bad, so maybe there is more to it. I would guess they're grabbing those results from someone else though. They look like they are pulling from DMOZ too. I tho

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A new search engine to rival Google?

In an endless stream of opportunity, another search engine is on the horizon. It's called anoox.com. It's not out for public use yet. When you try to do a search, you get an oops page and says things will be up and running later this year.

This search engine is a little different because it outright claims that it's results will be more accurate than Google or Yahoo. Judging from some of the results that one can get from either search engine, that might be right. With the lack of true relevant results as some of the search engines have been desperate to refine, this will be the time for opportunity for the next big thing. Why do I say that? Well, it's when the major players are saying that a desktop complete search is on the horizon, that means that the paradigm of search will be changing. That allows for a new category for someone to be first in. Right now there is no one in that category, let alone leading it. That's where the opportunity lies. If someone can sneak into this category of search that everyone is touting, then they can be considered the first, therefore the leader.

I don't think this is what anoox.com is attempting though. They seem to be approaching this as a better mousetrap model. They are saying that there will be a 1 man 1 vote model for any keyword. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it must have something to do with popularity. Here's a page that explains why they feel they will have the best search results. They're also talking about a not-for-profit model on the business which they claim will make ads much cheaper.

No matter what they do, the trend you'll be seeing is more and more small players trying to breakout during this time of search confusion. I think there will be more mumbo jumbo tossed about than there ever was regarding search.

It's fun to watch but it also means that there are changes coming for anyone who is involved in search or is looking to find something on the web.

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No surprise, Google is reducing price per share.

It's no surprise that Google is reducing it's projected share price down to $85 to $95.

With all the bad publicity, I can see this happening. But not even that is the main reason. It's because the IPO itself is causing people to lose some confidence in Google. The company was so positively a place that was different, a place where fertile minds were going. But the truth is, there are just like any other company that needs to turn a profit, not some weird corporate utopia. I think a lot of investors are takiing a second look at the actual value and with all the competition, will it still be like it is today?

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84% of Americans online using search

Search engines are used by 84% of Americans that are online. Obviously, that's what's going on. People go online a good portion of their time to find something. There are not as many casual surfers as there was at the beginning. Do you remember those stories about people who were on the computer constantly? They were on 24 hours just visiting sites for who knows what reason. I think the novelty of the internet has worn off for a lot of people and they are finally getting settled down using it as a tool. It's a tool to find things or information that you're looking for. It's that simple. With the proliferation of good search engines with more to come, this trend will stay very high. It will be interesting when people are able to do a more personalized search which everyone is talking about these days. Imagine creating an algorithm for searches based on your likes and dislike or what you actually do on your computer.

I wonder how many of these searches are for idle curiosity or for actual information seeking. And I'm talking about the quality of the searching, not just the raw numbers. The raw numbers mean that about 3.9 billion searches were done by Americans in June. Big deal, show me what were the basic needs behind those searches or the motivations, that's what would be interesting. After all, it's the motives that really matter even more than trying to prove the internet is really pervasive. I think that issue was settles a few years ago.

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People satisfied with search?

Here's an article that talks about people and how they feel about their search experience. People seem to have a level of satisfaction with Google bringing in the most popular good results. The article does talk about that there is still a lack of loyalty for a search engine, especially if a company really builds a better mouse trap. I think there is no way to predict what search will be like 5 years from now and who will be the major search entity. I'm betting that it won't be Google anymore. As they go public they will lose some of the zeal, although they will have financial backing.

I think there will be a darkhorse to come out of the field of players that we don't know too well yet or at all! This is because they will have a simple, relevant overall search that will be percieved as the new leader. The major three won't be such in 5 years, no way. It's just not the way technology moves. It moves over in waves as people try to catch the previous wave.

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I'm seeing conflicting information for online advertising. An article published a few weeks ago states that paid ad revenues will be going down. I just read something else that shows a greater trend toward more online paid advertising. I'm thinking that the trend upward is probably where it's going to go as more business goes online and believes that this is the only way they can get listed high.

It's sad that search marketing may be completely based on paid ads which is not what the search engines wanted altogether. They want relevant results, but because they have bastardized their offering with an influx of ad revenue, they will never be a pure search. It seems as though no one can resist the dollars brought in by ad revenue. This is a lot like Lord Of The Rings, ultimately no one, not even Frodo Baggins could resist the power of the one ring. It would be so refreshing if someone had no pretense and just said "We're all about the dollars man!". At least they would be honest. But to position your search engine as the little guy's buddy is such a joke.

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Small things to watch out for in the future

I'm seeing a trend in which there are some startup search engines that at some point in the future will challenge the big boys. (Here is Kozoru.com) There are a number of them because frankly there are some fairly common indexing techniques that some of these high tech guys all know about. They can create a search engine with just a little capital as long as they have the basic know how. Unlike Google or Yahoo, they don't have the large company issues so they can make changes quickly. Over and over again this has been the pattern in high tech. There is always a startup that can do the same thing for far less or even improve upon an existing bloated model. This was true with hardware, software and now it will become true with search engines.

Look out for some of these small companies in the future and some of the changes that they're driving. The future of search may not belong to who you think it will! I'm all for it. The more competition in this area, the better.

Here is some text on why Kozoru.com for example is trying to do some new search entity from their website:
"For these reasons and hundreds more, we believe it is necessary to start at the beginning and ask some very basic questions about what it is the user wants to accomplish when interacting with a search technology. Doing so has made us realize that a new platform is required, one that must be built from the ground up, with the user at the forefront of consideration. Doing anything less would be creating another search technology and one incapable of solving the problem the user has today; search technology doesn't really work."

Interesting.

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Spam is hindering more than just e-mail

There is a disturbing trend that people are losing confidence in the interent as a place to send messages or to do business online. In this article, it explains some results in a survey and what people can do. From the article, here is the most important piece of information:

"Most troubling was the finding that 27 percent of the 2,000 e-mail users who participated in a Consumer Reports' surveys reported that spam had changed the way they use the Internet. Of that group, 38 percent said they cut down on e-mail usage, and 30 percent said they shopped online less."

If this is the trend, there has to be a concerted effort to help stop spam.

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The depths of search to come.

I found an interesting article which talks about what will be potentially archived and what it would take to make it accessible or searchable. There is so much information to archive or categorize to make it viable for people to search deep.

This is one of the reasons that winning the online search wars is so important to companies like Google, Yahoo or MSN. There are very high stakes in the future and the potential to be on everyone's mind or desktop. In fact, the search engine wars that are happening with web indexing is really small potatoes when it comes to looking at what's coming down the road. There's something all these companies know which is beyond what those of us think right now. There are vast storehouses of information and accessing that, controlling it is the holy grail of search for the 21st century.

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Google settles with Yahoo.

Google has settled with Yahoo over a patent infringement. It gives Yahoo 2.7 million shares of Google stock over what Yahoo owns currently. It figures to be worth about $300 million dollars. Of course, this was going to be a sticking point in the IPO if this wasn't settled. I don't think it matters. The opening share price around $120 is way overvalued. When you look at it compared to other companies doing basically the same thing, it's overpriced. Look at Yahoo today, it sits at $25/share. Yahoo has so much more potential than Google, that the IPO is becoming a joke. I would like to know what dummies are buying it at the opening price thinking it will go up. These people are lacking sense. People, this price is coming to come down and I think dramatically.

It must drive the Google guys crazy that they must give Yahoo shares who do and will directly compete with them. They obviously feel that this is a small price to pay to clean things up. The more and more about Google that's revealed to all of the great unwashed, the less and less impressive they become. They're acting just like any other company.

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Google's IPO another interesting view

I found this article about Google's IPO which has been different from many of the others I've read.

It talks about the phony attitude with Google. A company that has had a unique work environment which has a moralistic core. There is also some talk that it's really not about search anymore, but advertising. That's certainly where a lot of the revenue comes from these days. The author claims that it's old fashioned greed which is causing people to think twice about investing in the Google IPO. This could just be a theory, but one wonders what mass amounts of money all of a sudden does to people.

I think the Google IPO is priced way too high and when it comes down to a level that is more in line with other search engine's stock price, like Yahoo, then it might be time to invest. I think that Google going public will ultimately ruin it as it is no longer completely in the hands of the founders and their will.

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Paid ad revenues may slow down

It's being reported that paid ad revenue with the search engines may slow down in the next couple of years. The artcile mentions maturing but I think I know why this is slowing down. It's real simple, people aren't getting the return on investment that they want. With ad bidding being the online model, the prices per click are too high for the sales they are producing. Here's the deal, when someone pays $3-$10 per click they better be getting sales often. If the revenue is high and the profict is high then, and only then would it make sense to pay such high values.

There are other ways to beat that game of an endless spiral of bidding. It's interesting that the one thing search engines claim not to care that much about is the very thing that floats their boat!

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The Yahoo toolbar scans for spyware

I think that this is probably one of the most useful aspects of a toolbar I've seen yet. The ability to scan for spyware makes the Yahoo toolbar actually valuable. From the article:

"After scanning for this type of software, the Yahoo toolbar lists the programs it found, categorizes them, provides information on them and gives recommendations on which ones are potentially malicious and harmful and should definitely be removed, and which ones should be further evaluated. The scanning software is provided through a partnership with Pest Patrol Inc."

When you can get a toolbar to rid your machine of the most intrusive spyware, it will reduce the need for running programs like Adaware or others like it. It sound convenient. I've gotten so much spyware lately installing toolbars I didn't want, or adding other programs in the background, I welcome this addition for people who do a lot of surfing.

This gives Yahoo even more credibility in the future search engine wars. I think they're out ahead of even Google with more relevant results and things like spyware scanning that really are a value add for the end user. Of course, the rest of the Yahoo portal items are available there too which can be a plus or minus depending if you like portal shortcuts.

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A lot of people aren't satisfied with search results

According to a new survey by Harris and MSN, there is a 29% group of people that don't find what they're searching for. This figure just blows me away. They have other stats in the article but none is more telling than this one. Some of the stats mention what women search as opposed to men and all that good stuff. But the low satisfaction of 30% of searchers is astounding. From the article:

"Internet users are generally satisfied with search results, but there is room for improvement. Greater than one-quarter (29 percent) of survey respondents said they only sometimes or rarely find what they want, and 30 percent indicated that they are somewhat or not very satisfied by searches."

What is it that leads to such inability to find what you want? Is it the search engines themselves? Are people just using the wrong search term? Or is what they're looking for so obscure that it really hasn't made it to the web yet. A lot of people think that the web should have everything listed even things that they can't find anywhere. Now this is not always the case. I think there are high expectations of searchers who think they should be able to find some piece of information and then don't. I'm sure that's what make this percentage so high. This is why it's not only who delivers search results in a new way first, that wins. It will always be based on relevancy, and that will be the final determining factor of who is first from either Google, Yahoo or MSN.

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Yahoo is trying to get a jump on desktop search

Here is an article that claims that Yahoo is trying to get a jump on desktop search over MSN. Here is a significant quote from the article:

"Yahoo is developing a similar tool (desktop search) but plans to take its capabilities a step further, according to a person familiar with the plan. In addition to letting users search their local mail and hard drive, Yahoo's tool will extend the search to include personal files stored at its online services, such as email, calendar, and picture hosting, the person says. Among the key benefits of such tools is that users should be able to search through files on their desktops much faster and more thoroughly than they can with the search feature currently in Windows. "The search available in most operating systems is impoverished," says independent analyst Matthew Berk."

These are interesting times and the race is one for desktop search!

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Google personalized search

Google Labs has a personalized search beta. It's interesting in that you out in some parameters that Google keeps as some sort of baseline and then you do your search. There is also a personalization slider on the search results page which changes the search results as you change the settings on the personalization slider. When you start your search, there are just standard results, when you move the slider to the right, it will give you personalized results based on your preferences. An icon appears before the search results that tells you it is a personalized result. Here's a screenshot of the Google personalized beta.

Very interesting to see the results change and I'm going to research this further. There is obviously a range within the algorithm which gives a set of results depending on what you have as your personalized set.

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Yahoo launching a local search engine, what it means.

Yahoo is launching a local search so you can find local business in your area. The search is a beta test right now. I tried it and it has a nice interface and gives relevant information but most of the information is pulled from directories first. It doesn't really have anything to do with how relevant the page is. So far it looks like nothing more than an index of yellow page directories or something like it. This is one of the fears that many local advertisers have as I've stated in previous postings. And it is something for these avenues of advertising should be concerned about. There have been a lot of local directories, but many are incomplete and for right now, Yahoo local search seems to be a regurgitation of information that's already out there. I wonder if they're going to keep the results separate as a local search so that they someday can charge for listings? For right now it doesn't look like it integrates at all with regular Yahoo search which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it.

Here's a message from the Yahoo local team.

Here's another article from another website.

Do you know what this reminds me of? MapQuest. It has the same feel and a lot of the same features only there is a search component to it. It seems to be a synthesis of other ideas which is brought together by Yahoo technology.

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More local search news

I think it's significant that local search is coming closer and closer. AskJeeves.com has also partnered with another company do deliver local search results. The point is that these search engines are not interested in helping local business, they're interested in the local ad money that could be spent with each individual search engine. This is similar to what happened some time ago to the travel industry, where online business took away local travel agent potential. Just like that, local yellow pages, local newspaper ads and that kind of promotion will be diverted to online search. It only makes sense, how much easier it is to find something online. But just like travel agencies, it won't completely destroy them, but it will take out a chunk of revenue over the next few years.

Search keeps changing and many of us watch carefully what's coming next. What's important to remember is that these companies are looking for revenue streams like never before. If you're part of an industry that could be a target to gain revenue from, it will eventually be done. When the tech bubble burst in 1999, many venture capitalists were no longer impressed with fictional future results. Shareholders and VC's want the revenue now or with a very short period of time. This local search is one of the biggest potential sources of revenue ever, perhaps up to 100 billion dollars!

Be looking for an improved local Google search very soon.

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IceRocket.com - a new type of search

There's a new search engine called IceRocket.com and it has a search function that works great through e-mail. This is especially true if you have a PDA. You simply e-mail search@icerocket.com with the search terms you're looking for and it e-mails you back the results. It's a nice way to handle it figuring how clumsy it can be to do a search with a PDA. Whether you're connected or syncing, it looks like a good way to deal with searching. This can also be done with news@ or pics@ for news items or pictures.

It doesn't seem like such a big deal and it's so simple. I wonder why this hasn't been done before. It might have to do with how the search results come back and how many of the results you want in an e-mail. It doesn't say what search is powering it, but it could be some kind of meta-search engine. The one thing I hate about every new search that comes online now all look like the Google interface or something similar. This one is no different. What I do like about IceRocket.com is the results page. It gives you thumbnails of the websites it found and does so pretty quickly.

I just found out some information from their website:
" IceRocket uses innovative metasearch technology to search the Internet's top search engines, including WiseNut, Yahoo, MSN, Teoma, Altavista, Alltheweb, Lycos, and many more. " Although the search is nothing really new as far as results go, it does have the e-mail feature and the thumbnails which are a small plus over the regular search engines. No ads too.

One other thing I like is the news search. It doesn't give you a paragraph but just links which makes it easier to go through the items more quickly.

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What people are searching for....

Here's an article that MSN-Harris put out as to what we're searching for online. It's interesting to see what people are searching for in general. These stats don't really get down to the heart of the matter as to what people are doing to find information specifically. I think that is the more interesting statistic, not what they're searching for. What is more important to most people who care is how they search for info. If you know that, then it is much easier to get them the information they want when they want it.

It would be nice if an organization that does this kind of research would do a survey asking about the mechanics of the search that people do. These kind of general stats don't tell us how many searches people do, how they use search terms or what cuases them to arrive at a website conclusion. Of course, these would be harder for a survey to determine. I'll be posting something on this on my website. It will be a survey that total what people are doing when they search for some information online.

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