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june 2006 search engine news
What's New in Search - June 2006
Google Wants Users to "Co-op"erate
Google has recently launched a new service called
Google Co-op. CEO Eric Schmidt calls the new product
"the most exciting product launch Google has had in
the past year." He adds, "It harnesses the power of
Google's users to structure Google's data and search
results-all without Google having to do anything."
Apparently, Mr. Schmidt is a big fan of free labor.
Google Co-op relies on users to volunteer their time
and effort to organize Google's search results. This
sounds great in theory, but the level of XML sophistication
is beyond what the average user possesses. The reward
for putting time into Co-op comes when a lot of people
subscribe to an individual's Co-op account. If the
subscribers happen to be logged on to their Google
accounts, they will see the volunteer's customized
search results. Seems like a lot of work for a low
probability of a pay off.
Trendy New Search Tool
Google also released a new way to compare the popularity
of search terms over time. Google Trends will display
a chart that tracks the popularity of search terms
over the past two-and-a-half years. There is also
a data table that displays which cities queried the
search term the most. That data is interesting, but
its usefulness is limited because the tool does not
report any actual numbers. Therefore, it only really
allows you to monitor the rise or decline of a search
term's popularity, or to compare the popularity among
multiple search terms.
Yahoo Partners with eBay
Yahoo and eBay recently formed an online partnership.
In the arrangement, Yahoo will become the exclusive
third-party provider of graphical ads for eBay.com,
and the company will also provide search results for
some of eBay's search pages. In return, eBay will
work with Yahoo to make sure the most up-to-date eBay
listings appear in Yahoo search results. Also included
in the deal, eBay's PayPal will become the exclusive
provider of Yahoo's online wallet. Complete implementation
is scheduled for 2007.
New Yahoo Search Marketing Center on the Way
Yahoo announced that some major changes are underway
to improve its advertising center. Yahoo is basing
its decisions on feedback from a range of advertisers,
both large and small, to determine what is working
and what needs improvement. As a result, Yahoo has
planned improvements that include an updated control
panel, faster ad launches, geographical targeting,
and advanced metrics. The improved product is scheduled
to launch later this year.
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