Newsletter ArchiveSUBJECTs:End of the Line? - Someone Must Pay The Internet 800 Directory - http://www.inter800.com The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter This issue is for Friday, January 11, 2002 Table of Contents 01. End of the Line? 02. Someone Must Pay *01 End of the Line? A couple of major changes have taken place in the search engine world recently and I'm going to discuss a few of them. First on the docket is Excite. As most now know, Excite filed for bankruptcy last year. The portal/search engine properties were purchased by InfoSpace. The biggest change brought about by this transition is that in December, InfoSpace replaced the Excite crawler with listings provided by Overture and, to a lesser degree, Inktomi. Overture, formerly goto.com, is a pay-for-placement site that displays listings based on the amount of money they are willing to pay each time the web link of their listing is clicked. Unlike searches conducted at the Overture.com web site, there is nothing that distinguishes paid listings from non-paid listings. To see a clearer example of how this works, conduct a search in Excite for "toll free directory". If you conduct the same search in Overture, you'll see eerily similar results. The problem is, Excite users are used to receiving search engine results they believe to be generated from an objective database selected by an objective algorithm, but now they're receiving paid ads in disguise. I'm not opposed to paid listings, but I think they should be clearly marked as such. When you perform a search, it would be nice to know if the results you receive are objective information or marketing copy. Next up is Northern Light. On January 16th, Northern Light will close its search engine to the public. The company is closing its search engine to focus on their enterprise customers. In a nutshell, the advertising revenues generated were not sufficient to offset the costs of operating the search engine. Yahoo Now Charging Annual Listing Fee Another dramatic change takes place in Yahoo. Yahoo is now requiring that new sites seeking to be listed in its commercial areas pay an annual listing fee of $299 (or $600 for adult sites). Previously, the fee had been a one-time charge. Essentially, the change transforms Yahoo from being a web guide to an online yellow pages. >From yahoo.com: The current fee for Yahoo! Express for initial consideration in the Directory is a NON-REFUNDABLE fee of US $299.00 applicable for each web site submitted that does not include adult content and/or services. If you are submitting a site offering adult content and/or services, the applicable fee for initial consideration in the Directory is a NON-REFUNDABLE FEE of US $600.00. All adult sites must be submitted to the most appropriate category under Business and Economy/Shopping and Services/Sex. You acknowledge that the payment of this fee is for consideration of your site AND DOES NOT IN ANY WAY GUARANTEE THAT YOUR SITE WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE DIRECTORY. Your payment only guarantees that Yahoo! will consider and respond to your request within seven business days, by either accepting or not accepting your site. You expressly agree to pay to Yahoo! such fee whether or not your site is accepted or denied inclusion in the Directory. If your web site is accepted for inclusion in the commercial Directory as part of Yahoo! Express on or after December 28, 2001, then your web site's continued inclusion in the Directory will be subject to additional review each year and you agree that your credit card will be charged the Recurring Annual Fee. Subject to Section 1.3 above, the current applicable Recurring Annual Fee is US $299 for web sites which do not offer adult content and/or services and is US $600 for web sites which do offer adult content and/or services. If Yahoo is unable to successfully charge your card or if the charge is refused, your site will be removed. IT IS THE APPLICANT'S RESPONSBILITY TO KEEP CREDIT CARD INFORMATION CURRENT. 2.5 NOTHING IN THIS AGREEMENT OBLIGATES YAHOO! TO LIST, LINK TO, ACCEPT OR OTHERWISE HOST YOUR SITE ANYWHERE ON YAHOO! OR IN THE DIRECTORY. IN ADDITION, IF YOUR SITE IS ACCEPTED, NOTHING IN THIS AGREEMENT OBLIGATES YAHOO! TO PLACE YOUR SITE WITHIN A SPECIFIC CATEGORY OR SUBCATEGORY OF THE DIRECTORY, OR TO PROVIDE ANY COMMENTS OR ANNOTATIONS WITH THE LISTING OF YOUR SITE. If you already have a listing in Yahoo!, you don't need to worry. The recurring charge is only for new submissions. The transformation of the web over the past five years has been alarming, yet subtle. Search engines that once refused to accept money for placement or positioning, now demand it. Businesses that saw the web as an inexpensive advertising alternative are now finding they must pay if they want their web sites to be found by searching consumers. Here at the Internet 800 Directory, we recognized years ago that targeted advertising as the result of a key word search would be far more effective than the shotgun approach of hanging banner ads on the tops of popular sites, so we're not surprised to see the direction many of the search engines are now taking. Unlike TV or radio, online ads can be avoided without abandoning the content, so the traditional "display this in front of thousands of people and some are sure to be interested" approach simply doesn't work effectively. Conversely, serving up web sites that provide a service or product that a consumer is actively searching for is highly effective. While all of this makes great sense, the smaller businesses that relied on the search engines to provide free traffic to their sites are now in peril. I fear that soon, all web sites listed within a search engine will have to pay to be there, much like the printed Yellow Pages. As is true with most things in this country, the biggest companies with the most money will garner the most attention and continue to grow, while smaller businesses will have to work harder than ever to maintain any semblance of competitive balance. In short, it appears that the free ride is nearly over. I am very interested in hearing your opinions on this subject. Do you care if search engine results are paid or non-paid listings? Should search engines differentiate between the two? How do you feel about the current trend of charging for placement or positioning within a search engine? Please email me your comments, thoughts or opinions. George Paul The Internet 800 Directory 800-299-1879 george@gotollfree.com We’re Talkin’ Serious” Bone Suckin’ Sauce ! Winner: “Battle Of The Sauces.” Created in true western North Carolina style. Tomato based all-natural, sweetened with honey and molasses. Order your Box of six today for $39.99 +s/h. Toll-Free 1-800-446-0947 or online http://www.BoneSuckin.com *02 Someone Must Pay After reading George’s article, I felt compelled to respond to some of the questions raised by it. The Internet 800 Directory provides toll free numbers to Internet users. If someone is looking for a toll free number online, we want to help him or her find it. These millions of surfers looking for toll free numbers are provided this information for free. The cost of providing this service is a long way from being free. The companies that purchase advertising cover the expense of providing our service. We do currently accept free listings; this is to make our information more complete. If John Q Surfer is looking for a specific company’s toll free number, our goal is to provide them with that number. If they find what they're looking for, they will keep returning to our site as a valuable resource. However if they aren’t looking for a particular company and are not sure whom they want to call, then it’s our advertisers we want them calling. When we started six years ago , we were not funded with millions of dollars. We've had to cover all of our expenses from the very start. The fact that well funded search engines are starting to charge is not a surprise to me. Somebody has to pay the bills! If you want to use a search engine for free, you should expect that company to have some way to pay for providing you that service. The other option is you, the search engine user, pays to cover the expense of the service. We are starting to witness a growth in this area, but it still not very popular with most Internet users. I think it’s important to remember that nothing online is really free. Somebody is paying the bill. If you would like to pass on your ideas on how our readers might improve their business send them to me (Chuck Arning) at chuck@inter800.com Vegas Vacation has the best rates on Las Vegas Hotel Rooms. Don't make a reservation without calling us first! Call 800-637-6442 or visit our ad in the Internet 800 Directory: http://inter800.com/02281174.htm Banners? Pay-per-click? Why not target your market with links or information placed in relevant content? The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter offers direct access to business people who are interested buyers. Advertising: Information on how to sponsor this publication: Call 800-299-1879 Thanks for taking to time to review our newsletter for this week. If you know of anyone that might benefit from receiving this newsletter, send them to (http://www.inter800.com/news800/ ) where they can subscribe. 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