To prove this, do exercise we did above, or click on following link to Google. What you will find is that by clicking on Google results, and going into one of web pages in results set, there is no mention to www.orangejewelry.com (for example: Brazil.com) ; however, if you click on results cached page (for example: Cached) you can clearly see when page was indexed by Google and that your web site Overture advertisement is there!!! Amazing ha? The pros and cons are quite self-explanatory at this stage (I think) on one hand you get link popularity boost from Google by running an Overture campaign (go figure, why Google do this as Overture is its main competition). This is by far single most important factor to determine what sites are indexed by Google (see Google PageRank Information). On other hand these links are not 'real' rather 'loose' as once user clicks on them heshe doesn't get to your web site but to where your web site was advertised awhile ago.

My conclusion is pretty simple, if you have a new web site OR use Overture a lot to increase traffic to your web site, try to use this method smartly (for example, you can participate in categories in Overture that have many impression but low click rate, this will result in your web site ads are visible on net for GoogleBot but you won't have to pay much for Overture clicks). Whatever you do, keep in mind that once you stop your Overture campaign, these 'loose' links in Google will stay there for only few weeks. What I'm still puzzled about is why Google indexes pages with links to Overture and not pages with Google ads, which they can have financial gain from (not very ethical though).

Note: this article was published on 01/02/2005 and all links in this article are valid as of this date. Keep in mind that links to Google search results are likely to change every few weeks. If you read this article and it has broken or incorrect links, please contact me via e-mail at gil@stridergroup.biz.

In my next article I'll discuss effectiveness of Overture campaign to online stores.

Google Will Need To Duplicate Gmail with Gbrowser

With MSN’s search becoming latest threat to Google’s search market stronghold, Google will once again attack its competitor’s strength. Internet Explorer has recently shown some weakness in losing market share to Firefox, and it appears as if Google is ready to attempt to bring down MSN’s greatest strength.

If Google hopes to have any success in bringing down Internet Explorer, they will need to duplicate success of Gmail campaign. When launching Gmail, Google knew that they would make little to no impact on Yahoo! if they were to simply offer an e-mail program that was open to general public. What reason would a person have to join Gmail if they had a perfectly fine email account at Yahoo!? An open launch to general public would result in an initial influx of new users, many of which would be curiosity seekers who would quickly forget about their new, secondary email accounts.

Instead of launching an open campaign to invite general public to participate in Gmail, Google chose to employ a viral marketing campaign of six degrees of separation. No single person had ability to get a Gmail account unless they knew someone who was permitted to extend an invitation. People who had an account, and who in turn were allowed to give away six invitations to others to join Gmail became Gmail’s primary advertisers. A feeling of exclusivity became quickly associated with having a Gmail account, and soon message boards were filled with people offering just six accounts that they were able to give away. The effect is a brilliant example of just how effective Gmail can be. Gmail did not and will not become most popular e-mail program in a short time span, but over time six degrees of separation will make Gmail most popular email system available (if you know someone).

If Google wants to be at all effective in dethroning Internet Explorer, they will have to reach into their bag of tricks once again to make Gbrowser an option that carries same desirability that Gmail carried. Google can certainly count on Microsoft haters to give their browser a spin, but in order to get audience that really matters, vast majority of Internet users, Google will need to extend a personal invitation.

MSN Must Act Quickly

Now that MSN has launched their search results, they will need to act quickly to protect against Google making any serious impact on their browser market. MSN has already done several things right. They are first of major search engines to offer their search results in an RSS format, opening up their results to all webmasters. They also offer Encarta answers to search results, provide music searches, feed discovery, definitions, provide math calculations, news search, and other features that are becoming increasingly important to offer.

However, MSN has not yet launched its own sponsored links program. Although this is certainly a program in making, MSN will need to launch this service as soon as possible if they want to compete with Google and Yahoo! on every level.

But more importantly, Microsoft will need to have a new version of Internet Explorer available to launch once Gbrowser makes its debut. Yahoo! successfully dampened blow of Gmail by matching increased storage space that Google came out with. If Microsoft wants to keep its browser market share safe when Google launches Gbrowser, it will be important that they answer Gbrowser with a competitive product.

It Is All Very Welcome

The search engine wars are all very welcome. The results of search engine wars have been nothing but positive so far. The launch of Gmail provided users with significantly increased storage for email. Yahoo! has improved their search results and Google is continuing to try and improve their search results. If Google launches a new browser it will no doubt offer new options that will only help users organize and find information.

The search engine wars have become much more than a war for attention of Internet searchers. Because Yahoo! and MSN entered search market hoping their strengths would provide them with necessary momentum to topple Google, Google has brought battle to Yahoo! and MSN. The search engine war is now war of vying for Internet user’s attention through search, email, browsers, news aggregation, etc.

No matter how search engine wars turn out, people who will ultimately benefit will be Internet users…and shareholders of winning company.

Mark Daoust is the owner of Site Reference. This is a link to the original article: Look Out MSN Search, Here Comes Gbrowser