SEO Blog

Earlier today, Microsoft released information stating they will complete a $1.2billion purchase of Norwegian search firm FAST Search and Transfer sometime in the second quarter of this year.

Founded in 1997, FAST has had a significant impact on the evolution of search engines over its 11 year history. Most recently, FAST has been the backbone of several enterprise search engines (those used by large-scale businesses on their websites or intranets) including Microsoft Windows Marketplace, Fujitsu UK, WebTrends, Lexis Nexis, and Omniture.

In 1999, FAST Search and Transfer introduced one of the most innovative general search engines, AlltheWeb. Seen as a potential rival to Google, AlltheWeb was, for a short time, a major contender in the early search engine loyalty battles.  In the long run, AlltheWeb helped set the stage for the current state of the search engine business world.

Yahoo, which was serving Google organic results at the time, saved itself from total irrelevance when it bought AlltheWeb in 2003. The purchase allowed Yahoo to reinvent itself as it integrated AlltheWeb and two acquisitions, Alta Vista and Inktomi, into its organic search database. Around the same time, Yahoo bought the original PPC pioneer, Overture, running it as a separate but associated operation for two years.

Over a year ago, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales stated he was going to start a people-powered search engine. After a couple delays and a great deal of hype, Wikia Search launched its initial Alpha test earlier this morning.

While we generally do not cover search-engine start-ups, Jimmy Wales has a proven track record, is an open and genuinely nice fellow, and has effectively dealt with past public controversies with his integrity and credibility intact. He has already changed the face of the World Wide Web twice by creating collaborative products people love to use. If anyone is going to establish a search engine that could capture a slice of market share in 2008, Wales and Wikia are the group to watch.

Unfortunately, there is not much to see here at this point. Users are greeted with a sparse white screen showing a simple query box below the cute graphic of something resembling a smiling cloud or a very fluffy, self-satisfied pillow. In the upper right corner, two tabs prompt users to “Start a new account” or to “Login” to their existing account.

Google made me happy yesterday. I saved some hard-earned cash and it was a direct result of Google. You see, I have to return to England in December for a wedding and I was looking around on-line to book the flights. I chose the airline and was about to fill out the usual convoluted airline booking form when, in a moment of inspiration, i did a search in Google for a “promotional code”.

Up popped a result for a current promotion that gave a 20% discount on my flight, saving me nearly $CAD 100.
I will now use the cash to buy the happy couple a wedding gift, on-line of course using another promotional coupon , and I maybe have some cash left over to buy a few drinks at the wedding reception. ( I’m sure the bar will not be free, the groom is renowned for keeping his wallet closed)

So whenever you are about to make an online purchase of any kind, do a search in Google (or any search engine for that matter) for a promotional code (or coupon) associated with that company and save your hard-earned. You may have to try a few codes to find one that is current, but there are many sites and blogs out there that keep track of these promotion codes so it shouldn’t be too hard to find success.
Happy Shopping.

There are a number of items in the SEO/SEM news world today that will make excellent weekend reading. Here is a short list of ones that have caught my eye this morning:

SEO Developments, Challenges and Tactics, by Lee Odden takes a look at the September Report issued by UK-based SEM shop e-consultancy.  This is a good piece for business and campaign planning into 2008.

Get More Traffic By Using Images, by Pat B. Doyle is a short piece reiterating steps SEOs take to optimize graphics for image search engines.

10 Steps AOL Should Take to Reinvent the Open Directory Project (DMOZ), by Loren Baker examines the current state of DMOZ and gives several suggestions on how to improve the venerable Open Directory.

AskCity and Entertainment Publishing: A Real Two-for-One Deal was published at the ASK.com Official Blog yesterday. Ask.com’s City Search an excellent local search engine. If you haven’t used it for local search give it a try, especially if you are interested in saving some money. Ask is owned by IAC which also owns Entertainment Publications, a company that makes and distributes coupon books in major cities. Now, AskCity will provide discount coupons found through Entertainment Publications.