Bigmouthmedia search engine news: trends-stats

The continuing evolution of web analytics

Fri, 09 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Web Analytics has been around since the first script was written to present raw log data from servers (logfiles) in a more accessible and readable way. This allowed webmasters to collect, analyse and report information about the users of their websites. Soon after, counters became popular on all sorts of sites desperate to show off their popularity but often showing their lack of it.

Snappily named internet company WebSideStory started out providing counters to porn sites. Every time the counter was downloaded, it increased in number, showing how many people had visited that page. This idea was developed and a small, 1 pixel gif image with a piece of Javascript could be added to the page, allowing WebSideStory to extract loads of data remotely and process it into something more manageable for their customers. Adding Javascript to a page is still used to collect analytics data although there are now various other methods and combinations of methods.

The two main methods of collecting data, logfile analysis and page tagging, both have their faults and if not managed correctly can lead to inaccuracies in the data. The effort and cost involved in setting up and running data collecting systems is generally a factor in choosing the most suitable system. Debate was fierce in the late nineties about which method was best and the deciding factor in that battle was economics.

WebTrends became the sexy web analytic package of 1995 by taking information from logfiles and using pretty graphs and charts to display the information in a more business friendly way. It was an idea copied by many, and by the year 2000 web analytics had become a major industry. Three main players, all of whom used web logs, looked like dominating the market for the foreseeable future; WebTrends, Accrue and NetGenesis. Companies using page tagging, such as WebSideStory and Coremetrics, looked resigned to serving the lower end of the market.

Then something unexpected happened. In 2001, recession hit. The market for web analytics decreased and bigger companies such as NetGenesis and Accrue were hardest hit. CEO's couldn't see the value in spending large amounts of money on expensive web analytics packages and many smaller companies either went out of business or were bought up by other companies. The companies who generally fared best were ones providing analytics using page tagging. Firms who were cutting back due to the recession were happier paying an ongoing fee than a large one-off for their software.

By 2005 the main players in the market had become Coremetrics, Omniture, Webtrends and WebSideStory. Then in 2005 Google entered the maturing market and shook it up, big time. Google purchased web analytics company Urchin and shortly after, released Google Analytics as a free service. The software was not without its faults but it brought web analytics to many companies who could not previously afford them or simply didn't want to pay. It is not as powerful as many alternatives but it is easy to use, intuitive and most importantly, free. The lack of certain functions mean it may not be suitable for top-end websites but it has been immensely popular from the most basic websites to the sites of blue chip companies.

In 2006, Microsoft entered the market with Microsoft Gatineau after buying DeepMetrix Corporation. This product has been criticised for its $5 sign up fee and is still in beta status. It has not really made any big waves in the market, yet.

In 2006 WebSideStory merged with Visual Sciences and was purchased in 2007 by Omniture, leaving only three major analytics forces plus Google and Microsoft in the mix.

So what does the future hold? Big news in the world of analytics recently has been Yahoo's entry into the marketplace with their purchase of IndexTools.

Yahoo have announced that IndexTools will, like Google Analytics, be available at no cost. The big difference between the two services being that IndexTools is a more complex platform with functionality usually found on more expensive tools such as Omniture and WebTrends. Can these products really compete with IndexTools using their current business model?

It is possible that in these reportedly lean economic times, history could repeat itself with companies deserting Omniture, WebTrends and the rest in favour of something similar but cheaper. In fact, something free.

The reaction from Google and the other big companies will be interesting to witness. Google has continually added functionality to GA in the last few years and it's possible we'll see big upgrades sometime in the future to compete with IndexTools.

The possible future takeover of Yahoo by Microsoft will obviously play a large part in Microsoft's future strategy in this area too. It's difficult to imagine Microsoft not getting involved in a big way, either through their Gatineau project or taking over Yahoo.

One thing is for certain, the analytics landscape is continually evolving and it looks like the big boys are taking over. It's going to be very difficult for companies to survive by charging the amounts they currently do without finding something extra to give their clients. With Google, Yahoo and Microsoft all providing their analytics packages at no cost ot the user, it could be a rough ride ahead for some companies if the economy continues to slow down.

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Microsoft's failed takeover bid for Yahoo!: trends and implications

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

If you have an internet connection and spend any time at all browsing the headlines, then you must have heard about Microsoft's plan to buyout Yahoo!. When the news first got out in early February 2008, it shook the very foundations of the Search world.

Yahoo! was one of the first search engines to pioneer and dominate the search market following its incorporation on March 1, 1995 - before which Yahoo! was essentially a couple of guys who wanted to keep track of their interests online.

The reasons for Microsoft's intended buyout were obvious: eliminate the competition and expand in order to effectively compete in the search market - and with $44 billion on the table, popular search engine Yahoo! seemed like a logical choice, especially with Google breathing down the necks of both parties.

Microsoft's offer had many implications, both internal - in the shape of products and services offered - and external. in terms of market trends and stock prices. When the news of the bid was first released, following the departure of Yahoo!'s former CEO, Terry Semel, Yahoo!'s stock prices went through the roof, with a jump from $19.18 per share to $28.38 in one day.

After this time, the stock started fluctuating wildly in anticipation of Yahoo!'s decision (or lack thereof), and ending with a dive from $28.67 to $24.37 per share.

During this period, Yahoo!'s technical search team was very busy with new gadgets and functionalities, and new products streamed out of Yahoo!'s labs. In recent months there have been many beta releases and functionalities, some very interesting, others predicted to have no more than a short life span.

All Yahoo!'s new functionalities can be found on Yahoo!'s Search Blog. One of the most interesting innovations has been the recent shift towards an open search infrastructure (project code: SearchMonkey), which enables third parties to build and present their own customised search result entries.

Other fascinating developments are the extension of Search Assist to countries other than the US, and the introduction of SearchScan, which looks out for browser exploits, dangerous downloads and unsolicited email within its returned search results.

It seems that Microsoft's offer may have helped Yahoo!'s period of creativity to flourish - by giving them the impetus to show their fighting spirit. Or perhaps Yahoo!'s developments would have been progressing just as efficiently without the deal hanging over their heads - either way, the long-term effect of the failure of the Yahoo!-Microsoft deal on the search pioneer's stock prices will be key to deciding the path it will take in months to come.

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Facebook - sucking the talent out of Google?

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Yesterday saw another senior Googler depart to take on a new challenge at the darling of the social media world, Facebook. From vice president of global communications and public affairs at Google, Elliot Schrage, has been put in charge of communications, government relations and corporate marketing for Facebook.

With this, Google's third high level departure of the year so far and the second to Facebook, there are murmurs that there is a brain drain occurring at the search giant's core. Before 2008, only three senior executives had left their posts, one of whom remains at the company as his successor has yet to be found. The official Google response references their "deep management bench", but just how deep does it go and what if this departure rate remains, or worse, what if it increases?

While many will discard the brain drain theory straight off, the other half of this story must also be considered. Facebook is now seen by some (VentureBeat, Forbes, USA Today & John McCrea to name but a few) as the hottest company in Silicon Valley, a title until recently reserved exclusively for the search engine from Mountain View. This shift is bolstered by the recent international increase in social network usage and the inevitable talk of money making potential, but only time will tell if this moniker sticks.

Maybe the grass is greener in Palo Alto, maybe Google is too comfortable with it's dominance of search and internet advertising, no one can say for sure. What is clear is that despite the rumours of social networking sites losing momentum and impending implosion in the sector, they are still able to attract the big guns of the internet business age to their ranks. This is however, unlikely to seriously affect Google in the long run with its market value continuing to grow as its market share does.

But it would surely be foolish to discount Facebook's potential to wrest the title from Google in the future. Another recent high level hiring was Gideon Yu, formerly YouTube's chief financial officer, and subsequent Google-to-Facebook transfers from Ethan Beard and Benjamin Ling. All that can be said for now is that social networking is an area of great potential in internet usage and advertising, a fact not lost on Zuckerberg and co.

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Where do searchers go after leaving Ask UK?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

With the Microsoft-Yahoo-Google tangle dominating search headlines for the last two months, it's been a quiet time for Ask.

The exit of then CEO Jim Lanzone in January was followed by a change in direction from the search engine, which has aimed to concentrate on appealing to and retaining its most loyal followers.

However, recent research by comScore has revealed that Ask's new strategy might not be working as well as it hopes - at least in the UK. According to the figures, Google receives more traffic from users leaving Ask UK than eBay and Microsoft sites, its two closest rivals, combined. March's figures from comScore show that YouTube, Google Search, Blogger properties and Google Maps are highly ranked outgoing traffic sites.

ComScore's Media Metrix "outgoing traffic losses" report indicates the web properties that users browse after visiting Ask UK. The top outgoing traffic sites are dominated by search engines, social networks and portals.

1. Google Sites
2. eBay
3. Microsoft Sites
4. Ask Network
5. Yahoo! Sites
6. BBC Sites
7. Facebook
8. Bebo
9. Wikipedia Sites
10. Yellow Book Network

The combined top ten accounts for nearly 30% of Ask UK's outgoing traffic losses - and the outgoing top ten is a near mirror image of the incoming top ten.

1. Google Sites
2. Microsoft Sites
3. eBay
4. Ask Network
5. Yahoo! Sites
6. BBC Sites
7. AOL
8. Facebook
9. Virgin Media
10. Amazon Sites

ComScore's incoming and outgoing traffic rankings include traffic generated by click through activity, but also takes into account users entering new addresses in their browser bar or selecting bookmarks.

Ask's current CEO is Jim Safka, who also runs IAC's investment arm Primal Ventures. In March, bigmouthmedia reported on Ask's change of direction, through which it hopes to gain the patronage of women searching for information on entertainment and health.

At the time, Charlene Li - an analyst for Forrester Research - (perhaps prophetically) claimed: "It's a smart move. I still think Ask has great technology but it's just really hard to fight against Google."

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Ladies love Yahoo's Buzz more

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Yahoo Buzz was launched late in February 2008 as a social news and meme tracking site. Through Buzz, Yahoo works with hand selected publishers to feed stories to the community and then allows the community to vote for the stories which should make the headlines.

The most popular stories may make it onto Yahoo's homepage - potentially a generator of formidable traffic - and, as a result, publishers are queuing up to be included by the site.

The fact that publishers need to have prior approval from Yahoo before their stories appear is the main differentiator between Yahoo Buzz and well-established social news sites like Digg and Reddit. To some, this aspect of Yahoo Buzz may lend it a strong degree of legitimacy, while others might see it as a site that takes away the variety and unpredictability that make social news sites like Digg so popular.

Nevertheless, comScore's Media Metrix has figures for Yahoo Buzz's performance in March, which reveal that the new site is already a strong competitor to Conde Nast's Reddit.com - an impressive achievement in its first two months of existence. According to the statistics, Digg clocked up 1, 617 000 visits in March, Reddit pulled in 54, 000 and Yahoo Buzz made 43, 000.

The demographic analysis of visitors reveals the true differences between Digg and Yahoo Buzz. Digg is largely a male dominated site with female visitors making up only a quarter of the audience. Yahoo Buzz, on the other hand, is roughly evenly split between male and female visitors.

Moreover, Yahoo Buzz does particularly well in engaging its visitors. The average amount of time spent on Yahoo Buzz per visit is much higher than that of either Reddit or Digg. Women spend the most time on Yahoo Buzz with an average visit length of 1.7 minutes. This is nearly six times longer than the 0.3 minutes men tend to spend on Reddit.

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Yahoo! earnings beat expectations

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

As predicted by several search industry analysts, Yahoo! has revealed that its earnings for the first quarter of this year beat expectations.

The search engine provider reported net revenue of $1.35 billion, slightly ahead of initial estimates of $1.32 billion and 14 per cent higher than the $1.18 billion it made during the same period last year.

Commenting on the results, Jerry Yang, Yahoo! co-founder and chief executive officer, said: "This quarter's solid performance underscores the fact that we are executing on that plan.

"Yahoo! is beginning to realise the benefits of the very substantial and deliberate long-term investments we've made to capitalise on the opportunities ahead in display and to recapture momentum in search."

He went on to say that, not only does the search engine provider have a "unique franchise" and industry-leading technology, but it also benefits from the "dedication and professionalism" of its team.

Mr Yang added that the success of the financial quarter is indicative of how well the personnel at Yahoo! can perform under challenging circumstances.

However, the earnings report did not get a positive reaction from investors. Indeed, its shares fell in value following the announcement.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Paul Meeks, an analysts with family investment firm LR Burtschy & Co, said: "[Yahoo!] needed to show fabulous results and these are good results. I don't know if they're what's necessary to prove to investors they can go it alone."

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Yahoo!'s earnings 'to face scrutiny'

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Search engine provider Yahoo! is expected to come under intense scrutiny when it announces its first-quarter earnings, the Wall Street Journal reports.

According to the publication, the announcement, which will be made tomorrow (April 22nd), will be an opportunity for the firm to demonstrate it is worth more than rival company Microsoft is bidding for it.

Microsoft has set a deadline for discussions for April 26th, two days after it releases its own three-monthly earnings.

Analysts anticipate that Yahoo! will meet its modest financial projections, which it confirmed earlier this month.

The firm predicted first-quarter revenue of between $1.68 billion and $1.84 billion. This compares to $1.67 billion a year earlier.

According to Jeffrey Lindsay, an internet analyst with wealth management company Sanford C Bernstein, Yahoo! is likely to deliver in terms of its projected earnings due to its desire to avoid a Microsoft takeover unless the offer is raised.

He stated: "In any internet business, you can pull the stops out in any one or two quarters. [Yahoo! would] be very crazy not to."

Last week, rival search engine provider Google announced revenue of $5.19 billion for the first three months of 2008. This figure exceeded the expectations of investors who were concerned about the search giant's financial status following the publication of comScore figures that suggested the company's click-through rates had increased by only two per cent compared with last year.

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Google ranked top in world's most powerful brands

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Internet giant Google has topped a poll of the world's most powerful brands.

According to research firm Millward Brown's annual top 100 global brand power list, the search engine provider has an estimated value of $86 billion.

Meanwhile, competitor Microsoft came fourth in the list, with its brand value said to stand at $70.89 billion.

The figures are derived from a combination of balance sheet values and consumer sentiment.

Commenting on the findings, Peter Walshe, global account director at Millward Brown, stated: "Google's rank has been driven by fantastic financial performance and equity value," the Guardian reports.

The news will be welcomed by Google, which recently announced impressive first quarter revenue results.

Last week, the search engine provider reported revenue of $5.19 billion for the first three months of 2008, a sum which significantly exceeded the expectations of the majority of investors.

The top five positions remained unchanged year-on-year, with each of the five companies achieving growth of at least 15 per cent compared to 2007.

Meanwhile, the top 100 brands combined have increased in estimated value by 21 per cent over the past two years to reach $1.94 trillion.

Brands in emerging Asian markets, such as China, were also reported to have achieved success compared to those in more established Asian countries.

Indeed, the top Chinese brands had risen in estimated value by 51 per cent this year, compared to just seven per cent in Japan and Korea.

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Google revenue exceeds investors' expectations

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Internet giant Google has exceeded the expectations of investors, reporting revenue of $5.19 billion for the first three months of 2008.

This figure is 42 per cent higher than the search engine provider reported in the first quarter of last year.

Commenting on the impressive results, Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, said: "Our ongoing innovation in search, ads and apps helped drive healthy growth globally across our product lines, yielding another strong quarter for Google."

He added that, as the firm integrates DoubleClick into its ad platform, new ways to improve the experiences of users and increase value for advertisers and publishers open up.

Mr Schmidt continued: "Also, while exercising operational discipline, we continue to explore opportunities that add value to users everywhere and to Google in the long-term."

As a result of Google's announcement, shares in the company rose sharply in after-hours trading, increasing by more than 17 per cent.

Investors had been concerned after a report by research firm comScore recently suggested that click-through rates on Google had increased by only two per cent compared with last year.

Responding to the positive results in light of Wall Street fears, Rob Sanderson, an analyst with American Technology Research, stated that "there was a lot of smoke and not much fire", the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

He added that investors were "very much relieved" when Google posted its figures.

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Online video viewing 'exploding' in UK

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The online video market is seeing significant expansion in the UK.

This is according to research firm comScore, which has released statistics suggesting that marketers can now benefit from better advertising opportunities as a result of an increase in the number of people viewing online videos.

It said that 87 per cent of the total UK online population viewed a video over the internet in December, equivalent to nearly 28.7 million people.

Just over three million videos in total were viewed by these web users during the month, with each viewer watching about 108 clips on average.

Google sites were found to be the most popular among web users in all countries for online video viewing, with websites owned by the BBC, Microsoft and Yahoo! also proving to be among the most common sources of internet clips for UK web users.

Internationally, Canada saw the highest proportion of its online population view an online video in December, although the US had the highest number of unique viewers at nearly 124.4 million.

"Recent years have seen an explosion in online video viewing, not just in the US but globally, representing a robust online advertising opportunity for marketers," commented Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore.

A growing number of online properties are expanding into internet videos as their popularity increases, with Yahoo!-owned photo-sharing site Flickr most recently adding the capability to upload video clips for certain paying members and to view them for all registered users.

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