Links to this week's topics from search engine forums across the web.
Gigablast Inventor Interview
INDN.org
"Can the likes of Matt Wells seriously compete in today's marketplace, with the big boys who have hundreds of Ph.D.'s working on their engines, and Microsoft and IBM coming right along in the development tubes?"
SEO [search engine optimization” and Reciprocal Links, How Many Links are Needed?
High Rankings Forum
"...Google makes heavy use of hypertextual information consisting of link structure and link (anchor) text. Google also uses proximity and font information. As for link text, we are experimenting with using text surrounding links in addition to the link text itself."
ODP Spam Handling Suggestion
Best Practices Forum
"Someone reading this thread might come away with the notion that the directory doesn't have tools for dealing with spam. That is not the case. There are some good and effective tools for dealing with spam available to editors. But suggestions of better ways, and examples of other ways, to combat spam are always welcome."
Google Backlinks and PageRank Should Be Abolished
Webmaster World
"I think Google is killing their results by allowing webmasters to inspect the back links of their competitors. What about PageRank? This is just a fantasy that has absolutely no relevance to anything. Why is it displayed, and why are webmasters doing monkey tricks to artificially increase theirs?"
Link Popularity Improvement Methods
Best Practices Forums
"I suggest discussing link popularity improvement methods, EXCEPT for reciprocal links exchange. Please suggest and comment."
Microsoft Goes After Google
Webmaster World
"Google has the simpler name, but the masses buy computers with pre-installed software. [Microsoft” with a search box on the desktop could easily trump a brand name. Joe or Jane fires up the computer, and there's the search box, no recalling brand names, no changing default page, it'll just be there."
What is Everyone so Scared of?
Cre8asite Forums
"I charge by the hour. Unless I have a real good reason to believe that an hour spent on a small PPC [pay per click” is going to attain better ROI [return on investment” than an hour spent on fine-tuning an Overture or Google campaign then I'm not going to do it."
Microsoft Throwing Its Weight Behind Web Search
Best Practices Forum
"I suspect that Microsoft's main thrust with search will be integrating it with the OS [operating system”, browser & desktop environment. I think the web-based side of it (MSN) is less important."
Search Engine Forums Spotlight courtesy Search Engine Guide.
SearchDay Week in Review
A Conversation With Gigablast's Matt Wells
SearchDay, Sept. 25, 2003
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3080321
Most major search engines rely on an army of hundreds of people to create and maintain their services. Not Gigablast -- it's a high-quality search engine built and operated by sole proprietor Matt Wells.
How Can Google's Gold Be Inktomi's Spam?
SearchDay, Sept. 24, 2003
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3067191
While there are some universal guidelines about search engine spam, each major engine has policies that can occasionally appear out of sync with others.
Yahoo Launches New Product Search
SearchDay, Sept. 23, 2003
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3081551
Yahoo's new product search engine combines the best aspects of the company's existing shopping platform with new advanced search features, including product information gathered from the entire web.
Dealtime Relaunches as Shopping.com
SearchDay, Sept. 22, 2003
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3080171
Shopping search and product review site Dealtime officially changed its name today to Shopping.com, marking another milestone in the fascinating journey of a storied domain name.
Search Headlines
NOTE: Article links often change. In case of a bad link, use the publication's search facility, which most have, and search for the headline.
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