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July 20, 2006

July 20, 2006

Google Announces Great Second Quarter Results

Google just announced their second quarter results for this year.

Google reported revenues of $2.46 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, an increase of 77% compared to the second quarter of 2005 and an increase of 9% compared to the first quarter of 2006. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs, or TAC. In the second quarter of 2006, TAC totaled $785 million, or 32% of advertising revenues.

News.com reports that Google beat Wall Street's expectations with this release. A transcript of the earnings call is here.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 4:52 PM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: July 20, 2006

Below, a recap of stories posted today to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with other items we've spotted but not blogged separately:

From The SEW Blog...

  • Windows Live Local Worth Another Look
    Windows Live Local debuted with a splash with most attention focused on its spectacular "birds eye" aerial imagery. Since then, Microsoft has worked to improve the service, improving the user interface and adding unique features not found in other local search services. SEW correspondent Greg Sterling puts Windows Live Local through its paces in today's SearchDay article, A Closer Look at Windows Live Local....
  • Daily SearchCast, July 20, 2006: Amnesty International Raps Search Engines On Censorship; Currency Exchange Rates In Google AdWords Kept Secret; Microsoft To Allow More Search Default Choice & More!
    Today's search podcast covers Amnesty International calling on searchers to lobby Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to stop censoring in China; Microsoft to allow manufacturers more choice in search defaults; why does Google consider exchange rates in AdWords a secret?; Google behind in indexing a changed site and more! Tune-in by listening to this MP3 file, listening via WebmasterRadio at 11:30am Eastern and repeated at 2pm Eastern Tuesday through Friday, via our Odeo channel or through iTunes via this link (or use alternative iTunes instructions explained here) or though our Yahoo Podcasts channel. Need more help tuning in live or finding...
  • Ask.com Adds RSS Smart Answers
    The Ask.com blog announced a new feature to its Smart Answers line up today. For example, if you do a search on se roundtable an abbreviation of my blogs name, you will get RSS feed results at the top from my blog. The Ask blog says that the initial list of sites included "was selected based on the most popular feeds chosen by our users in Bloglines."...
  • Google Labs Launches Accessible Web Search
    Google has launched Google Accessible Search, a stripped down version of the Google search results page. The design was created to make it easier and more effective for the blind and visually impaired. The results are a bit different, tailored to the visually impaired, to show more accessible pages in the results. Google told me how this actually works,...
  • Mid-July 2006 Search News Recap Posted
    If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month....
  • Google Scholar Trademark Case Settled Out Of Court
    News.com reports that Google and American Chemical Society trademark case has been settled out of court. The case was brought up against Google for using the name "Scholar," when American Chemical Society has a similar product named "ACS’s SciFinder Scholar." The case was dropped and each side will pay their own legal fees. No other details were provided and both sides have confidentiality clauses....
  • Google Won't Reveal Details Of AdWords Exchange Rates
    I spotted an interesting thread which I then followed up on today at the Search Engine Roundtable which shows that Google won't reveal the source of the exchange rate they use. So if you are an international AdWords customer and you pay in your local currency, and you want to know why the exchange rate is so poor, you are out of luck. The AdWords representative states: "the product managers are not willing to discuss the former at this time as part of protecting the whole." And Threadwatch notes Google also claims it can't give this information out for "competitive...
  • Amnesty International Asking Users To Pressure Google, Yahoo & Microsoft Over China Policies
    BBC News reports that Amnesty International is urging users of Google, Yahoo and MSN in the UK to email the search engines opposing the way each operates in China. Amnesty International says that the search engines are aiding the censorship. The search engines say that Chinese users are more well off then they were prior. More on the Amnesty campaign can be found here from the organization....
  • Microsoft Says Vista & Other Operating Systems Will Allow Search Engine Choice
    News from News.com and Reuters that Microsoft said, they will adopt a "voluntary principle" that will allow the manufacturers of the computers to decide which search engine the operating system should default to. News.com describes this as Microsoft wanting to "bolstering choice and competition" in the market place. Wise move by Microsoft? I think so. Take a look back at Google & Dell partnership, IE7 defaulting to MSN Search and read this. Too funny, but smart on Microsoft's part, IMO....
  • Motorola To Add Yahoo Go for Mobile On Phones
    Reuters reports that Yahoo and Motorola have teamed up. The Yahoo Go for Mobile service will be added to many new Motorola phones. The multi-year deal sets Motorola to add this Yahoo service on new mid-priced and high-end Motorola phones. No specific models numbers were provided....
  • Google Behind Others, Again, Catching TagJag's New Name
    SEOMoz reports that Google is once again behind the 8-ball when it comes to picking up a domain name switch. Chris Pirillo's TagJag site was originally named Gada.be but was 301 redirected several weeks ago. Yahoo and MSN Search both display the site for a search on the name, TagJag.com, but Google shows nothing. Like we said before, Google had similar issues when Techmeme changed their name....
  • Lycos Powered By Windows Live & Retriever Directory
    It's been a long time since I've looked at Lycos, given how far it has slipped in the search world. Someone asked me about it today, so I took a look -- and what's this at the bottom of the page? "Portions powered by Windows Live."...
  • ApartmentRatings.com: 'What The Neighbors Pay'
    Apartment locator ApartmentRatings.com has introduced a new service it calls "What The Neighbors Pay." As co-founder and CEO Jeremy Bencken describes it, "It's not quite 'Zillow for renters.'" Regardless, it offers helpful pricing information, benchmarking individual apartment rates vs. averages in the area....
  • Can IAC's Pronto Shopping Search Compete?
    IAC, parent of search engine Ask.com, has had a shopping search tool for some time, in the form of Pronto, a downloadable application. Recently, IAC created a web-based version of Pronto, which has some useful features—but it joins a crowded field with hundreds of other players. SEW correspondent Brian Smith takes a look at Pronto and muses about the challenges it faces in today's SearchDay article, Up Close with IAC's Pronto Shopping Search....

Headlines & News From Elsewhere

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:23 PM | Permalink

Windows Live Local Worth Another Look

Windows Live Local debuted with a splash with most attention focused on its spectacular "birds eye" aerial imagery. Since then, Microsoft has worked to improve the service, improving the user interface and adding unique features not found in other local search services. SEW correspondent Greg Sterling puts Windows Live Local through its paces in today's SearchDay article, A Closer Look at Windows Live Local.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 2:20 PM | Permalink

Daily SearchCast, July 20, 2006: Amnesty International Raps Search Engines On Censorship; Currency Exchange Rates In Google AdWords Kept Secret; Microsoft To Allow More Search Default Choice & More!

Today's search podcast covers Amnesty International calling on searchers to lobby Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to stop censoring in China; Microsoft to allow manufacturers more choice in search defaults; why does Google consider exchange rates in AdWords a secret?; Google behind in indexing a changed site and more!

Tune-in by listening to this MP3 file, listening via WebmasterRadio at 11:30am Eastern and repeated at 2pm Eastern Tuesday through Friday, via our Odeo channel or through iTunes via this link (or use alternative iTunes instructions explained here) or though our Yahoo Podcasts channel. Need more help tuning in live or finding the chat room? See the Daily SearchCast FAQ.

Below are links to items discussed:

  • Amnesty International Asking Users To Pressure Google, Yahoo & Microsoft Over China Policies
    BBC News reports that Amnesty International is urging users of Google, Yahoo and MSN in the UK to email the search engines opposing the way each operates in China. Amnesty International says that the search engines are aiding the censorship. The search engines say that Chinese users are more well off then they were prior. More on the Amnesty campaign can be found here from the organization....
  • Microsoft Says Vista & Other Operating Systems Will Allow Search Engine Choice
    News from News.com and Reuters that Microsoft said, they will adopt a "voluntary principle" that will allow the manufacturers of the computers to decide which search engine the operating system should default to. News.com describes this as Microsoft wanting to "bolstering choice and competition" in the market place. Wise move by Microsoft? I think so. Take a look back at Google & Dell partnership, IE7 defaulting to MSN Search and read this. Too funny, but smart on Microsoft's part, IMO....
  • Google Scholar Trademark Case Settled Out Of Court
    News.com reports that Google and American Chemical Society trademark case has been settled out of court. The case was brought up against Google for using the name "Scholar," when American Chemical Society has a similar product named "ACS’s SciFinder Scholar." The case was dropped and each side will pay their own legal fees. No other details were provided and both sides have confidentiality clauses....
  • Google Won't Reveal Details Of AdWords Exchange Rates
    I spotted an interesting thread which I then followed up on today at the Search Engine Roundtable which shows that Google won't reveal the source of the exchange rate they use. So if you are an international AdWords customer and you pay in your local currency, and you want to know why the exchange rate is so poor, you are out of luck. The AdWords representative states: "the product managers are not willing to discuss the former at this time as part of protecting the whole." And Threadwatch notes Google also claims it can't give this information out for "competitive...
  • Google Behind Others, Again, Catching TagJag's New Name
    SEOMoz reports that Google is once again behind the 8-ball when it comes to picking up a domain name switch. Chris Pirillo's TagJag site was originally named Gada.be but was 301 redirected several weeks ago. Yahoo and MSN Search both display the site for a search on the name, TagJag.com, but Google shows nothing. Like we said before, Google had similar issues when Techmeme changed their name....
  • Motorola To Add Yahoo Go for Mobile On Phones
    Reuters reports that Yahoo and Motorola have teamed up. The Yahoo Go for Mobile service will be added to many new Motorola phones. The multi-year deal sets Motorola to add this Yahoo service on new mid-priced and high-end Motorola phones. No specific models numbers were provided....
  • Swapping My Treo 700W For The UTStarcom XV6700
  • Orange SPV M3100
  • Can IAC's Pronto Shopping Search Compete?
    IAC, parent of search engine Ask.com, has had a shopping search tool for some time, in the form of Pronto, a downloadable application. Recently, IAC created a web-based version of Pronto, which has some useful features—but it joins a crowded field with hundreds of other players. SEW correspondent Brian Smith takes a look at Pronto and muses about the challenges it faces in today's SearchDay article, Up Close with IAC's Pronto Shopping Search....
  • ApartmentRatings.com: 'What The Neighbors Pay'
    Apartment locator ApartmentRatings.com has introduced a new service it calls "What The Neighbors Pay." As co-founder and CEO Jeremy Bencken describes it, "It's not quite 'Zillow for renters.'" Regardless, it offers helpful pricing information, benchmarking individual apartment rates vs. averages in the area....
  • Lycos Powered By Windows Live & Retriever Directory
    It's been a long time since I've looked at Lycos, given how far it has slipped in the search world. Someone asked me about it today, so I took a look -- and what's this at the bottom of the page? "Portions powered by Windows Live."...

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:16 PM | Permalink

Ask.com Adds RSS Smart Answers

The Ask.com blog announced a new feature to its Smart Answers line up today. For example, if you do a search on se roundtable an abbreviation of my blogs name, you will get RSS feed results at the top from my blog. The Ask blog says that the initial list of sites included "was selected based on the most popular feeds chosen by our users in Bloglines."

Currently, I am not sure why it does not work for the query Search Engine Roundtable when it works for the abbreviated version. Note that it does work well for Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Watch Blog but it does not pull the SEW blog RSS feed, it pulls the SearchDay feed.

Here is a screen capture of the first query:

rss-smart-answer.png

More details at the Ask Blog.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 1:56 PM | Permalink

Google Labs Launches Accessible Web Search

Google has launched Google Accessible Search, a stripped down version of the Google search results page that also serves up results to sites deemed more accessible to those who are visually impaired.

The design was created to make it easier and more effective for the blind and visually impaired. The results are a bit different, tailored to the visually impaired, to show more accessible pages in the results. Google told me how this actually works:

Google Accessible Search looks at a number of signals by examining the HTML markup found on a web page. It tends to favor pages that degrade gracefully—pages with few visual distractions and pages that are likely to render well with images turned off. Google Accessible Search is built on Google Co-op's technology, which improves search results based on specialized interests.

It is also important to note that Google Accessible Search is currently ad free, conduct a search for ipod and you'll see no ads.

Matt Bailey has his take on this new Google product at his Accessibility Blog.

Postscript From Danny: While I love the new offering, it's still disappointing that Google didn't provide an easy way to increase font sizes in the way that Big.com does.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 1:09 PM | Permalink

Mid-July 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:13 PM | Permalink

Google Scholar Trademark Case Settled Out Of Court

News.com reports that Google and American Chemical Society trademark case has been settled out of court. The case was brought up against Google for using the name "Scholar," when American Chemical Society has a similar product named "ACS’s SciFinder Scholar." The case was dropped and each side will pay their own legal fees. No other details were provided and both sides have confidentiality clauses.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:42 AM | Permalink

Google Won't Reveal Details Of AdWords Exchange Rates

I spotted an interesting thread which I then followed up on today at the Search Engine Roundtable which shows that Google won't reveal the source of the exchange rate they use. So if you are an international AdWords customer and you pay in your local currency, and you want to know why the exchange rate is so poor, you are out of luck. The AdWords representative states: "the product managers are not willing to discuss the former at this time as part of protecting the whole." And Threadwatch notes Google also claims it can't give this information out for "competitive reasons."

The AdWords representative does offer a solution that may be viable for some advertisers but not many:

Open a second account in your local currency. Replicate an Ad Group from your existing account in the new account, and pause it in the USD account. Once a billing cycle or two hits, you should have a good idea whether the currency exchange will be in your favor and if your bank really is charging your an exorbitant rate.

Well, why isn't this good for everyone? Because this will delete any history you have with those campaigns. Any quality score you earned will be lost and you will have to start from scratch.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:32 AM | Permalink

Amnesty International Asking Users To Pressure Google, Yahoo & Microsoft Over China Policies

BBC News reports that Amnesty International is urging users of Google, Yahoo and MSN in the UK to email the search engines opposing the way each operates in China. Amnesty International says that the search engines are aiding the censorship. The search engines say that Chinese users are more well off then they were prior. More on the Amnesty campaign can be found here from the organization.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:24 AM | Permalink

Microsoft Says Vista & Other Operating Systems Will Allow Search Engine Choice

News from News.com and Reuters that Microsoft said, they will adopt a "voluntary principle" that will allow the manufacturers of the computers to decide which search engine the operating system should default to. News.com describes this as Microsoft wanting to "bolstering choice and competition" in the market place. Wise move by Microsoft? I think so. Take a look back at Google & Dell partnership, IE7 defaulting to MSN Search and read this. Too funny, but smart on Microsoft's part, IMO.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:10 AM | Permalink

Motorola To Add Yahoo Go for Mobile On Phones

Reuters reports that Yahoo and Motorola have teamed up. The Yahoo Go for Mobile service will be added to many new Motorola phones. The multi-year deal sets Motorola to add this Yahoo service on new mid-priced and high-end Motorola phones. No specific models numbers were provided.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:01 AM | Permalink

Google Behind Others, Again, Catching TagJag's New Name

SEOMoz reports that Google is once again behind the 8-ball when it comes to picking up a domain name switch. Chris Pirillo's TagJag site was originally named Gada.be but was 301 redirected several weeks ago. Yahoo and MSN Search both display the site for a search on the name, TagJag.com, but Google shows nothing. Like we said before, Google had similar issues when Techmeme changed their name.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:48 AM | Permalink

Lycos Powered By Windows Live & Retriever Directory

It's been a long time since I've looked at Lycos, given how far it has slipped in the search world. Someone asked me about it today, so I took a look -- and what's this at the bottom of the page? "Portions powered by Windows Live."

So hey, it looks like an unannounced Microsoft win. Not much of a win, in that Lycos doesn't have much traffic. And maybe it was announced, and I missed it. By the way, only the unpaid results come from Microsoft. Paid results come from Google -- unless Lycos is showing me Google results because it knows I'm in the UK and has a partnership on this side of the Atlantic. Those in the US potentially are seeing Microsoft adCenter listings.

Lycos also has a new Lycos Retriever directory that I hadn't heard about until seeing Martin Belam dissect it this week. In part 1 of his look, I'd say he's pretty underwhelmed by it.

He is intrigued that it is an attempt to scale through technology. But that just makes me think that Lycos perhaps dusted off the WiseWire technology it bought and deployed back in 1998 for its Lycos Community Guides. Those weren't a killer app for Lycos then. I kind of doubt doing a similar thing in the midst of Web 2.0 hype will help much now.

Meanwhile, part 2 of Martin's look basically asks if the new directory isn't just a scraper site designed to draw in search traffic from elsewhere. Perhaps. To be fair, some pages like this for Belarus use the meta noindex tag, which should keep them out of other search engines. The same thing is true for the blank page example Martin shows in his report. But other pages like this for Minsk have no such restrictions.

Postscript: Brian Ulicny sends me this:

I was one of the guys who worked on Lycos Retriever before Lycos got rid of its search staff (well, all but 2) in February. It is not based on WiseWire technology at all. The idea was to build an automated, self-updating Wikipedia. In any case, the idea was interesting, and it was a fun project to work on. I wrote a paper about it recently, which I can send if you like.

Some topics came out pretty well. For example, see e.g.

But we had quite a way to go before Retriever was all we'd hoped it would be. In any case, I'm sure we'll see more things like it in the future.

Cool -- and I'm asking Brian for a link to his paper, to add to the above. Meanwhile, Lycos also wrote to say that the Windows Live partnership was indeed an unannounced change and that:

Retriever is a beta project our search group launched several months ago. We will continue to capitalize on our assets with our Daum engineers in Korea, taking full advantage of Daum's knowledge and expertise, in continuing to build out the Retriever product and other search initiatives

Postscript Barry: If you would like to view the presentation and paper on this, Brian posted them at his blog. You can download the paper on Retriever and also the slides & presentation.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:40 AM | Permalink

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