Bigmouthmedia search engine news: news-media

Google hints at new ad formats at SES New York

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:00:00 GMT

During a heated Orion Panel at Search Engine Strategies New York Google hinted that the search engine is developing advertising options suited to Universal Search.

Google's Universal Search blends traditional text search results with videos, news, maps and other data. John Battelle noted that Universal Search seemed to break Google's traditional revenue model of driving traffic to websites and monetising the click. In some cases Universal Search result pages offered by Google are the only page a searcher looks at as the searcher has no need to look any further.

In response to direct questioning from Federated Media's Battelle, Google conceded that the search engine had explored advertising options suited to Universal Search. The comments came from Jack Menzel, Google's Product Manager from Universal Search.

Menzel later admitted that he was surprised by statistical analysis provided by comScore. James Lamberti, Senior Vice President of Search and Media at comScore, took the Search Engine Strategies' audience through analysis of over 1.2 billion search queries at Google. ComScore's figures showed that 17% of Google results ended in some aspect of Universal Search being shown. Of the original set of 1.2 billion searches over 220 million search results included one or more video, news, map, weather, stock or image results.

ComScore's data mining revealed that the number of clicks on Google's AdWords reduced whenever an Universal Search element was present on the results page. The panel, moderated by Search Engine Watch's Kevin Ryan, discussed whether this reduction of clicks represented a threat to Google's earnings.

Lyndsay Menzies, from the digital marketing agency bigmouthmedia, explained how Universal Search increased both branding considerations and tracking challenges in search marketing. Menzies noted that a shift in thinking was required from brands previously used to ROI and ROAS only analytic models from their search campaigns. Universal Search is both an opportunity and a threat to brands.

Mike Grehan, co-moderator of the panel, and bigmouthmedia's Menzies noted that the expectations of searchers are changing. Searchers are increasingly familiar with rich interfaces offered by web 2.0 sites and the vanilla "ten blue links" format traditionally offered by Google would begin to disappoint. Universal Search represented Google's efforts in offering the most relevant search results to this generation of searchers.

Taking the audience through a typical e-commerce scenario, Menzies described how a search for a laptop may begin with the user examining pictures of different laptops on Google Universal, then researching via organic results before completing a purchase through an AdWords link.

The debate concluded with comScore revealing that although paid search clicks reduced on Universal Search, conversation rates increased. Google also reminded the audience that the search engine intends to continue to experiment with search results formats.

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Berners-Lee predicts future eclipse of Google

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:00:00 GMT

English developer and creator of the internet Sir Timothy Berners-Lee has predicted that web giant Google may eventually be overtaken as the leading internet brand by a firm that harnesses the potential of next-generation technology.

Mr Berners-Lee, who was responsible for the first successful communication between a client and a server via the internet in 1990, told the Times that current means of searching for pages over the web will be superseded by the technologies involved in the "web of the future".

In times to come, he stated, any pieces of information, including such things as bank statements and photographs, will be able to be linked to each other.

The expert went on to say that, whereas the internet is currently a collection of pages connected by Google and other search engines, in the future it will be connected by a ground-breaking technology referred to as the "semantic web".

The semantic web is a term used to describe the next phase of the internet's development under which web-based connectivity will be built into any piece of data, not just web pages.

Mr Berners-Lee stated: "Using the semantic web, you can build applications that are much more powerful than anything on the regular web."

He added: "Imagine if two completely separate things - your bank statements and your calendar - spoke the same language and could share information with one another. You could drag one on top of the other and a whole bunch of dots would appear showing you when you spent your money."

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AOL to launch at least 12 new websites

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:00:00 GMT

AOL is planning on starting at least a dozen new websites within the next six months, it has been revealed.

According to Bill Wilson, executive vice president of programming at AOL, by the end of this year, the firm may have beaten the 20 to 30 sites it introduced last year.

In a recent interview, Mr Wilson stated: "We want to be sure we are appealing to as many consumers as we can," Bloomberg reports.

He went on to highlight a number of the sites introduced by the firm last year in an attempt to go after niche interests, including Asylum - which is based on a men's lifestyle theme - and music site Spinner.

Mr Wilson would not, however, reveal the details of the new sites currently being planned by AOL.

Commenting on the firm's decision to expand the number of sites it runs, TechCrunch stated: "AOL sites still sit in a fairly healthy fourth place behind Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft.

"If improving their lot means going wide and niche to draw more people to AOL in an endeavour to sell more ads, it has the potential of working."

Recently, Time Warner chief executive officer Jeffrey Bewkes revealed that he is to split AOL's internet access business from the rest of the unit as part of a long-term bid to increase the value of the parent firm.

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Yahoo! Buzz released in beta

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Search engine provider Yahoo! has announced the release of Yahoo! Buzz, an extension to its homepage.

According to a company statement, the addition will open up Yahoo.com by bringing more "buzz-worthy" stories to it, as well as more interesting and relevant content from websites.

Currently in beta, Yahoo! Buzz measures search patterns and consumer votes to identify what it describes as "interesting and timely" videos and stories from both large news sources and niche blogs, giving them primary consideration for placement on Yahoo.com.

Based on their popularity, stories will be awarded a so-called "Buzz Score" and their selection to appear on Yahoo.com will be based on this, in much the same way that Digg users can vote for stories to be placed on the Digg homepage.

Commenting on the development, Jeff Weiner, executive vice president, of Yahoo! network division, stated: "Yahoo! Buzz is a good example of how we are continuing to innovate and open up our key starting points to third party publishers, making Yahoo! more socially and personally relevant for our half a billion consumers."

Meanwhile, Tapan Bhat, vice president of Yahoo!'s front doors and network services, added that the search engine provider is "building on the recent success of the homepage of Yahoo!" and improving on it by combining popular stories with "the wisdom of real people to determine what is most engaging and relevant".

Despite the uncertainty currently surrounding a possible deal with Microsoft, Yahoo! also recently announced the re-launch of its video site, describing the revamped Yahoo! Video as "far ahead of what most sites are offering".

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Tax and politics 'prove popular among US internet users'

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Last month, internet properties concerning tax and politics proved popular among US internet users, new research indicates.

According to figures produced by comScore, January saw significant increases in traffic to such sites, as well as real estate and job-related web pages.

Over the period, the tax category saw a rise in visitors of 202 per cent, with more than 23 million people viewing tax sites. This increase made tax the top-gaining category in January.

IRS.gov was the most popular site, experiencing 12.5 million visitors, while TaxACT saw 5.8 million people view it and H&R Block received a total of 5.3 million visitors.

Meanwhile, with the presidential primaries in full flow in the US, political sites also experienced a boost in popularity, rising by 65 per cent and reaching a total of 13.8 million viewers.

BarackObama.com led the surge, with 2.2 million visitors, while HillaryClinton.com also proved a hit, attracting 1.1 million people.

In addition, web searches for jobs in the US rose by 31 per cent in January, while real estate sites experienced a gain in popularity of 28 per cent.

Commenting on the findings, Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore, stated: "The new year represents a time for Americans to reflect on the past year and plan for the coming year, whether it's searching for a new job, a new residence, or preparing for tax season."

Recently, comScore reported that, during December, retail sites experienced significant growth, with fragrances and cosmetics being named the top-gaining category, climbing 30 per cent over the period.

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Ask launches BigNews in partnership with Digg

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Search engine Ask has launched a news website entitled BigNews in collaboration with community information site Digg.

Digg is one of the web's most popular social bookmarking sites, through which users are able to 'digg' stories they like and share them with other users - a feature on which BigNews capitalises.

Ask's site uses technology described as "the BigFactor" to rank stories based on issues such as impact, quantity of multimedia, freshness and amount of related discussion.

The search engine describes the services as a means of helping internet users locate and track the "most important and most talked about stories in the news".

Through the site, users can monitor stories and follow their progression over time, discover the top videos and the most popular people in the news, and get additional background information on searches, among other things.

It provides category clusters and allows users to browse by "top Diggs" and "no Diggs", while also containing a Blogviews area that highlights the latest posts from selected blogs.

According to Ask, BigNews already has nearly 10,000 news sources available to it.

Promoting its new offering, Ask states: "Do you like finding many viewpoints, not just stories from the wire services? Do you like the idea of a mix of results of videos, images, articles and blogs in one neat package? Do you like more effective search tools to find a specific story of interest? Do you like the idea of knowing which stories people are talking around the water cooler?

"If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, then, we welcome you to Ask BigNews."

A recent post on influential tech blog TechCrunch reported that Digg nearly tripled its user base last year, from just over 750, 000 in December 2006 to 2.7 million in December 2007.

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EA to release free, ad-supported video game

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT

US video game developer and distributor Electronic Arts (EA) has announced it is to release a free online version of new game Battlefield Heroes supported by advertising.

Due to become available over the internet later this year, the release will not be sold in shops.

Battlefield Heroes will be the first of EA's offerings to be free to consumers in the west and marks the firm's first significant attempt to gain access to new sources of ad-driven revenue in the market.

Developed by Swedish firm Dice, the game will generate revenue through ads and micro transactions.

"Online gaming garners a massive audience," stated Gerhard Florin, EA's executive vice president of publishing, Americas-Europe.

"People want to play games in new ways, with easier access that is quick to the fun. With Battlefield Heroes, EA brings its first major franchise to [the US] and Europe with a new distribution model and pricing structure adapted to the evolving way that people play," he added.

The game will be released for the PC as a free download in the summer.

According to the BBC, EA already has a free version of its Fifa game available in South Korea that earns more than $1 million a month through in-game sales.

Speaking to the organisation, Ben Cousins, senior producer at Dice, stated that no adverts would appear in the fictional world itself, but rather on the website and at the "front end" of the game.

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Gates: Microsoft will pit itself against rivals Google and Apple

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Internet and software giant Microsoft will pit itself against rival firms such as Google and Apple, its chairman and co-founder has stated.

In an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Bill Gates admitted that other organisations, such as the aforementioned companies, "do a good job", but went on to say that his firm will still battle to compete with them, Thomson Financial News reports.

In a positive statement about the future of his company, Mr Gates commented: "You have to keep in mind that Microsoft today has more brilliant scientists than ever, more sales than ever, more profit than ever."

During the interview, he also revealed that Microsoft has no intention of producing a device which combines the functions of a mobile phone with those of a music player, like Apple's hugely popular iPhone.

He stated: "We won't do that. In the sector of such smartphones, we are purely concentrating on the software with our program Windows Mobile."

The technology tycoon added that, in the field of mobile phones, "diversity is of much more use" to Microsoft than producing its own device.

Mr Gates was also recently in the news for comments he made at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in the US.

In an address to attendees of the show, he stated that advances in the technology industry and changes in attitude will see the next ten years become the "first true digital decade".

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Yahoo! reaffirms goal to become "indispensable" internet starting point

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Yahoo! has reiterated its goal to become the "internet's indispensable starting point".

Speaking at this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the US, co-founder and chief executive officer of the search engine provider Jerry Yang detailed the firm's plans to deliver the most personally relevant internet experience available to consumers.

This goal has been at the forefront of the company's policy for some time. Indeed, last month, Jeff Weiner, the man in charge of Yahoo!'s network division, stated: "Becoming a starting point for the most consumers on the web has become the mission statement of [this group]."

Addressing an audience yesterday at the CES, Mr Yang stated that Yahoo! intends to focus resources on becoming the "best" point from which to start any search on the web.

He commented: "From the newest to the most experienced user, Yahoo!'s goal is to be the simple starting point for a much richer and more complex world so you can get more out of it.

"Whether you're looking for fun, information, entertainment or social connections, you want to experience everything to the fullest - this is living life with an exclamation point."

To this end, Yahoo! must open up the experience it provides to any device or user, he added.

Mr Yang went on to say that the company is therefore "committed" to creating the richest and best mobile experience for consumers, making it highly personalised to people's individual styles.

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Google developing TVs that display web content

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Search engine provider Google has teamed up with Panasonic to develop televisions that display internet content, it has been announced.

Set to be launched this spring, the TVs will enable users to directly browse and view videos from Google-owned video-sharing site YouTube.

They will also allow consumers to view photos on their TVs through Google's photo-sharing service Picasa Web Albums, which will also be available on the devices.

The services will be accessible on Panasonic's new Viera PZ850 series plasma high-definition TVs with Viera Cast.

Toshihiro Sakamoto, president of Panasonic AVC Networks, stated: "This is the first time mainstream consumers will be able to easily enjoy YouTube videos from the living room with the enhanced quality of a fully integrated widescreen TV experience."

He added that the new TVs, complete with virtual one-click access to the internet functions, will "greatly expand" users' entertainment options.

Meanwhile, Steve Chen, co-founder and chief technical officer of YouTube, commented: "We're dedicated to providing users around the world with a great YouTube experience no matter where they are.

"Working with an industry leader like Panasonic will deliver the same great YouTube experience that users have come to expect on their computers."

Panasonic is a brand name for Matsushita Electric Industrial, a manufacturer of consumer electronics. Founded in 1918, the firm now employs more than 260,000 people across the world.

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