The Axandra newsletter archive - 12 August 2003
Welcome to a new issue of the Search Engine Facts newsletter.

This week, we're looking into pay per click (PPC) search engines and we're telling you about Google's newest service.

Table of contents:

We hope that you enjoy this issue and that it helps you to get more out of your web site. Please pass this newsletter on to your friends.

Best regards,
Andre Voget, Johannes Selbach, Axandra CEO

1. Does advertising in PPC search engines really work?
Maybe you've considered using pay per click (PPC) search engines to promote your web site on the Internet. PPC search engines are search engines that allow you to bid for a special position on their result pages. You pay a certain amount for every click your listing receives.

The site PayPerClickSearchEngines.com lists more than 500 pay per click search engines, however, there are only three big PPC engines that are worth your time and effort:

1. Overture

    Overture is the biggest and most important PPC search engine worldwide. Overture listings appear on Yahoo, Lycos, AltaVista, InfoSpace, MSN Search and on many smaller sites.

    Overture has recently introduced it's "Content Match" program. When someone visits a site like MSN and views content pages (such as articles), Overture will provide relevant listings on the same page.

2. Espotting/FindWhat

    Espotting is the biggest European pay per click search engine provider. They have local search engines in all important European countries. Espotting listings appear on the European versions of Yahoo, Lycos, AskJeeves, AllTheWeb and many other major European search engines.

    Espotting is going to merge with the US search engine FindWhat later this year.

3. Kanoodle

    Kanoodle is smaller than Overture or Espotting, but with 14,000 customers, it's still larger than most other pay per click search engines. Kanoodle listings appear on CNet, HotBar, Galaxy and many other smaller sites.

    The bids on Kanoodle are not as expensive as on the other two PPC search engines. In addition, Kanoodle doesn't require an initial deposit but they give you US$5 for free so that you can test their search engine risk-free.

But does it make sense to advertise on these search engines?

It all comes down to your visitor/sales conversion rate and the price of your products. To determine the usefulness of bidding on pay per click search engines, you must constantly monitor your bids. Only then you can know if PPC advertising works for your site.

Pay per click advertising can quickly become very expensive, for example the current top bid for the search term "data recovery" on Overture is US$5.15. That means that the advertiser pays US5.15 every time a web surfer clicks on his listing. For 100 visitors, that advertiser pays US$515.00. If these visitors don't become customers, it's wasted money.

Advertising your web site on PPC search engines can contribute to your web site promotion campaign. However, you should take care that you don't pay too much per click and that you get a positive return on investment.

A recent study from Consumer WebWatch showed that web surfers prefer non-paid listings. For this reason, high rankings in search engines still matter and they cost less, too.

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2. Search engine news of the week
Google offers news alert service

    "Search giant Google Inc. has introduced a free alert feature in its news section, allowing users to monitor a topic and receive e-mail notifications when news stories on that topic appear."



Google ads a threat to eBay trademark?

    "In the past month, eBay sent a letter to Google requesting it to refuse to sell search-related ads that use eBay's trademarked name, including variations and phrases.

    According to company spokesman Kevin Pursglove, eBay requested the action 'so that third-party advertisers do not abuse the intellectual property of the company.'"



Google backtracks on AdSense changes

    "In an abrupt about-face, Google [...] told small publishers in its contextual advertising program that it would not impose new features that, just earlier in the day, it contended would make their ad space more valuable.

    After a brewing revolt among its small-publisher clientele, Google said it would no longer display 'related searches' links on ads carried by publishers in its self- service contextual ad program [...] The changes were in place less than 24 hours. "



Germany's biggest ISP drops Overture in favor of Google

    T-Online.de, the portal site of Germany's biggest ISP, is now displaying paid Google results. The contract with Overture has been terminated because T-Online sees Yahoo as a direct competitor in Germany and Overture belongs to Yahoo since last month.



Search engine newslets

    "Google AdSense now lets you pick the color scheme for your ads. 'We understand that maintaining the quality of your website means having control over the way it looks.'" reports Aaron Swartz in his Google weblog.

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3. Articles of the week
"Searching for the personal touch"

    "A stealth start-up out of Stanford University is hoping to raise the heat on one of the toughest problems in Web search--and possibly out-Google Google in the process.

    Kaltix was formed in recent months by three members of Stanford's PageRank team--a research group created to advance the mathematical algorithm developed by Google co- founder and Stanford alum Larry Page that cemented Google's fame."



"Google faces heavyweight challenge"

    "In five mind-blowing years, Google has blossomed from a nerdy college experiment to a mainstream sensation so ubiquitous that its goofy name is now synonymous with looking things up. [...] Ironically, Page, 30, and Brin, 29, may not have started Google if not for the advice of Yahoo co-founder David Filo, another former Stanford student."



"Yahoo! Stalked Overture for Over a Year"

    "Internet giant Yahoo! Inc. so prized Overture Services Inc. that it stalked the online search engine for more than a year, overcoming early resistance to prevail with a takeover offer [...] Microsoft has indicated it will reassess its relationship with Overture after the Yahoo deal is done."



Rumors: "The Search Engine Endgame: Yahoogle?"

    "It's only a matter of time. After all, with Yahoo scooping up Overture, and every smaller search engine on the face of the earth already consumed by a larger player, it appears that the immovable object and the irresistible force will have to come together at some point."

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4. Recommended resources
How to get high rankings without paying per click

    According to a recent Consumer WebWatch study, web surfers prefer unpaid search engine listings. These listings are more like unbiased recommendations while pay per click listings are more like normal ads.

    If you want to get on the first result page for your keywords, make sure that your web pages are optimized for high search engine rankings.

    You can use the software program IBP to compare your own web pages with pages that currently have a top 10 ranking for your important keywords.

    Find out how to change your pages to get a similar ranking.

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5. Previous articles

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