Internet Marketing

Google just rolled out their new Search Beta project, codenamed “Caffeine,” that could change how your business will rank in natural search on Google if this project makes it to public launch. For those businesses that live-and-die on free Google organic traffic, this can be a huge deal for them.

In a blog post announcing the project, Google suggested that Caffeine could change search results, which raises the concern of companies’ needing to change their optimization tactics to protect their Google listings and ranks.

It’s probably too early to make changes, but web developers and others with SEO interests are doubtless already running searches using their existing keywords to see what changes appear in their rankings.

Here’s what Google is saying:

“For the last several months, a large team of Googlers has been working on a secret project: a next-generation architecture for Google’s web search,” two engineers wrote in the company’s official blog.

“It’s the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits ‘under the hood’ of Google’s search engine, which means that most users won’t notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we’re opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback.”

If you’d like to see Google’s “Caffeine” in action, visit: http://www2.sandbox.google.com. Only the URL tells you that you are on the test site.

“Right now, we only want feedback on the differences between Google’s current search results and our new system. We’re also interested in higher-level feedback (‘These types of sites seem to rank better or worse in the new system’) in addition to ‘This specific site should or shouldn’t rank for this query.’ Engineers will be reading the feedback, but we won’t have the cycles to send replies.”

In order to give Google feedback, do a search using the Caffeine beta site. Look on the search results page for a link at the bottom of the page that says “Dissatisfied? Help us improve.” Click on that link, type your feedback in the text box and then include the word “caffeine” somewhere in the text box.

It’ll be interesting to see how the new score card is setup with this algorithm on whether it continues giving rank preference to the big boys or shares some of that love with the mom and pop shops. I did a couple of searches in dating and hip hop and saw a nice blend but still too much emphasis on news, wikipedia and youtube. If I wanted hip hop videos then I would have searched that exact phrase and the same goes for news.

-Brian R.

Bada-Bing-a-hoo. As crazy as this sounds it is true. MSN or as we now should refer to it as Bing.com has signed a 10-year deal with Yahoo to power its searches for an initial 88% share of search revenue. What does this mean to you? Well if you have ever ranked high with MSN search in the past then get ready to get about 4 times more natural search traffic from this partnership. I have always optimized SEO around Google and have never really gotten much love from Yahoo and have stumbled on great placements on MSN over the years with no real math behind the results.

In a lengthy interview on Friday before departing for a vacation, Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo, said she sold the search business because Yahoo could no longer continue to match the level of investment Google and Microsoft were making in searching, one of the Web’s most lucrative and technologically complex businesses.

“My first reaction when I got here was that I wouldn’t even do a search deal,” she said, “until I looked at our expense structure and our actual options and looked at what our prime job was, which is to grow audience.” Yahoo will lose some of its most talented engineers to Microsoft and as many as 400 employees through layoffs. The deal also undercuts years of investment around search technology.

Microsoft will now power Yahoo! search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies premium search advertisers. Read the below bullet points from the press release. It is a bit lengthy but good information:

• Microsoft will acquire an exclusive 10 year license to Yahoo!’s core search technologies, and Microsoft will have the ability to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its existing Web search platforms;
• Microsoft’s Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! will continue to use its technology and data in other areas of its business such as enhancing display advertising technology;
• Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. Self-serve advertising for both companies will be fulfilled by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, and prices for all search ads will continue to be set by AdCenter’s automated auction process;
• Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force;
• Yahoo! will innovate and “own” the user experience on Yahoo! properties, including the user experience for search, even though it will be powered by Microsoft technology;
• Microsoft will compensate Yahoo! through a revenue sharing agreement on traffic generated on Yahoo!’s network of both owned and operated (O&O) and affiliate sites;
• Microsoft will pay traffic acquisition costs (TAC) to Yahoo! at an initial rate of 88 percent of search revenue generated on Yahoo!’s O&O sites during the first five years of the agreement; and Yahoo! will continue to syndicate its existing search affiliate partnerships
• Microsoft will guarantee Yahoo!’s O&O revenue per search (RPS) in each country for the first 18 months following initial implementation in that country;
• At full implementation (expected to occur within 24 months following regulatory approval), Yahoo! estimates, based on current levels of revenue and current operating expenses, that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual GAAP operating income of approximately $500 million and capital expenditure savings of approximately $200 million. Yahoo! also estimates that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual operating cash flow of approximately $275 million; and
• The agreement protects consumer privacy by limiting the data shared between the companies to the minimum necessary to operate and improve the combined search platform, and restricts the use of search data shared between the companies. The agreement maintains the industry-leading privacy practices that each company follows today.

This announcement could be one of the biggest game changers in the brief history of Internet as we like to call it.