By: Burk Pendergrass
Before Google there was Yahoo! Do you remember when Yahoo! was all the rage? Can you replay those catchy "Do you Yahoo!?" ads in the theater of you mind? Was that the good ole days on the world wide web? Well it depends on what the meaning of 'is, is' .... oops, I mean what the definition of 'good' is, and whom you ask.
First, don't be in a big hurry to write Yahoo off. While Google gets about sixty-six percent (66%) of internet search requests, according to some studies it only results in referral about sixty (60) to sixty-five percent (65%)of the time. On the other hand, these days Yahoo gets only about twenty percent (20%) of the search requests but provides a consistent whopping seventy-five percent (75%) referral or click through rate.
There is something to be said for delivering data on point. There may also be something to be said about sheer numbers and monopolies although it may not be quiet as flattering. But it works. Just ask Microsoft. After all, webmasters know we must have traffic and lots of it. We need it for Alexa rankings which effect every facet of our internet presence. We need it for conversion rates. Why worry about targeting traffic when attracting enough flies will assure some land on the glue covered fly trap? Wait! There are still many more that get away which could have been persuaded with proper targeting.
So do you Google or do you Yahoo? Or maybe you use Netscape, AOL, MSN, Safari, Opera or other search engines. Do you know that you use either Google, Yahoo or MSN? And, quiet often most people don't who they are using or why or that they have choices.
Pop up the Netscape Browser or take a virtual trip to netscape.com or aol.com and you will find a disclaimer that they are "enhanced" by Google. Firefox and Opera didn't try to hide anything. The Google search box is prominently identified and incorporated into the top of their internet browsers. The Remote Helpdesk 1 and Computerman Website Design staffs joined the Tennessee Mountain Man in running search tests and comparisons on these and other search engines. Jim Varney kept popping up in the group discussions! Can you say, "heat pump - schmeet pump"?.
Searches on or rather from Google, Netscape, AOL, Firefox, and Opera for specific terms all returned the same items in exactly the same indexing order. Of course paid advertising or paid listings differed on each - more so on some than others. So don't practice the insanity of doing the same thing over and over hoping for different results. To search Nescape, AOL, Firefox, Opera, and Google looking for different results from each is no more than an exercise in insanity unless your only purpose is to see who is paying for first place listings on each. Search one and you have the results from all.
If after the Google search, which is almost impossible to avoid without making conscious choices and input, you find that you need more results or arranged in an order not controlled by the whims of Google, you might want to try the search engines on msn.com and yahoo.com.
Google is swiftly becoming a monopoly much more dangerous than Microsoft. They already control what internet users have access to in China, and they possess the ability to control what the internet delivers to you on demand. At what point does this virtual world stop being the world wide web and become the World according to Microsoft or the World as delivered by Google?
Is Google a good thing or a bad thing? You must decide that. It certainly appears to be a popular and maybe even a somewhat necessary thing.
Do you Google? If you use the internet in almost any capacity, you Google. Google has become so entrenched it is comparable to trying to install a Microsoft operating system without the internet explorer browser. You must know enough to be able to opt out, but you don't have to be held hostage by the Google Page Rank scheme.
Even if you Google little or not at all, you are in the minority and will be more so before any significant changes to popular internet search protocols are implemented. So webmasters must take care to assure that their sites are Google optimized if they want visitors and to do that requires a lot of search and study on the Google website or maybe using a professional like the folks at Computerman Website Design, Makeover and Promotion.
Alright, everybody... now that you know, go Google.
Before Google there was Yahoo! Do you remember when Yahoo! was all the rage? Can you replay those catchy "Do you Yahoo!?" ads in the theater of you mind? Was that the good ole days on the world wide web? Well it depends on what the meaning of 'is, is' .... oops, I mean what the definition of 'good' is, and whom you ask.
First, don't be in a big hurry to write Yahoo off. While Google gets about sixty-six percent (66%) of internet search requests, according to some studies it only results in referral about sixty (60) to sixty-five percent (65%)of the time. On the other hand, these days Yahoo gets only about twenty percent (20%) of the search requests but provides a consistent whopping seventy-five percent (75%) referral or click through rate.
There is something to be said for delivering data on point. There may also be something to be said about sheer numbers and monopolies although it may not be quiet as flattering. But it works. Just ask Microsoft. After all, webmasters know we must have traffic and lots of it. We need it for Alexa rankings which effect every facet of our internet presence. We need it for conversion rates. Why worry about targeting traffic when attracting enough flies will assure some land on the glue covered fly trap? Wait! There are still many more that get away which could have been persuaded with proper targeting.
So do you Google or do you Yahoo? Or maybe you use Netscape, AOL, MSN, Safari, Opera or other search engines. Do you know that you use either Google, Yahoo or MSN? And, quiet often most people don't who they are using or why or that they have choices.
Pop up the Netscape Browser or take a virtual trip to netscape.com or aol.com and you will find a disclaimer that they are "enhanced" by Google. Firefox and Opera didn't try to hide anything. The Google search box is prominently identified and incorporated into the top of their internet browsers. The Remote Helpdesk 1 and Computerman Website Design staffs joined the Tennessee Mountain Man in running search tests and comparisons on these and other search engines. Jim Varney kept popping up in the group discussions! Can you say, "heat pump - schmeet pump"?.
Searches on or rather from Google, Netscape, AOL, Firefox, and Opera for specific terms all returned the same items in exactly the same indexing order. Of course paid advertising or paid listings differed on each - more so on some than others. So don't practice the insanity of doing the same thing over and over hoping for different results. To search Nescape, AOL, Firefox, Opera, and Google looking for different results from each is no more than an exercise in insanity unless your only purpose is to see who is paying for first place listings on each. Search one and you have the results from all.
If after the Google search, which is almost impossible to avoid without making conscious choices and input, you find that you need more results or arranged in an order not controlled by the whims of Google, you might want to try the search engines on msn.com and yahoo.com.
Google is swiftly becoming a monopoly much more dangerous than Microsoft. They already control what internet users have access to in China, and they possess the ability to control what the internet delivers to you on demand. At what point does this virtual world stop being the world wide web and become the World according to Microsoft or the World as delivered by Google?
Is Google a good thing or a bad thing? You must decide that. It certainly appears to be a popular and maybe even a somewhat necessary thing.
Do you Google? If you use the internet in almost any capacity, you Google. Google has become so entrenched it is comparable to trying to install a Microsoft operating system without the internet explorer browser. You must know enough to be able to opt out, but you don't have to be held hostage by the Google Page Rank scheme.
Even if you Google little or not at all, you are in the minority and will be more so before any significant changes to popular internet search protocols are implemented. So webmasters must take care to assure that their sites are Google optimized if they want visitors and to do that requires a lot of search and study on the Google website or maybe using a professional like the folks at Computerman Website Design, Makeover and Promotion.
Alright, everybody... now that you know, go Google.
