SEO Blog

Last week I compiled a bit about Wink, a new search engine that indexes tagged content. Another new search engine recently released, called Prefound, operates in a similar vein. Owned by LOR, LLC, Prefound launched Tuesday January, 17, 2006.

Prefound is a community based search engine. The philosophy behind it is that human beings are more apt to identify relevant links than search engine algorithms. Moreover, why start a search from scratch when relevant finds can be saved and used by others? From Prefound’s blog: “We’re convinced that communities of knowledgeable, interested people can identify relevant sites much better than a traditional search engine. Also, PreFound.com’s results are in the form of Find Groups, which are folders that have been organized by us or our users that contain the links and information you’re looking for, not just links like on traditional search engines.”

Searching can be conducted without membership, by entering keywords into the search bar. Search results are placed into groups, not individual links, compiled by Prefound members. Searchers can narrow a find down by selecting links within a group. The title of the group, the name of the user that posted the group, and the rating of the group is displayed. Results are arranged by popularity.

Google shares were hit with the largest one day drop in the company’s history on Friday, falling 8.5 percent. Reasons for the decline are varied.

Investors may have become nervous over Google’s recent dispute with the US Department of Justice. At this time, Google will not hand over search history data to the Bush administration, which is seeking the information under the Child Online Protection Act. Google’s refusal to do so may result in a massive legal battle.

Other speculation for the plunge targets Yahoo’s recent 2005 fourth quarter earnings report. Yahoo’s financial data received mixed reviews, falling below analyst expectations. Some fear that Google’s report, which is to be released at the end of the month, will not fair much better.

Google shares fell below $400, closing at $399.46 on the Nasdaq. The shares traded as high as $470 last week. This is the lowest closing price since Nov 16, 2005.