The Marketleap Report
Volume III, Issue #1, January 10, 2003

Google and Inktomi - The Battle of the Engines - Round 2
Which model will float to the top?
by Keith Boswell

Search engines are driving online business like never before. Most marketers seem to believe that a Google listing is the Holy Grail for being successful. But are you getting the full bang for your buck from just focusing on Google?

The bottom line for any business is to have your marketing investments deliver more revenue than you are spending on marketing. Inktomi, one of Google's primary competitors, has risen to the top of the search world based on their focus on marketers and their end users. Google has achieved its popularity among searchers by word of mouth, not from their skill in dealing with marketers and their needs. So who is Inktomi, and is Google really all it's cracked up to be?

Google became popular because it's a consumer brand and well known by end users. Inktomi has become popular as a business solution tailored to marketers demanding exceptional support and service for their search engine marketing needs. At the end of December 2002, it was announced that Inktomi would be purchased by Yahoo, joining forces with the web's original darling.

With the purchase by Yahoo, Inktomi stands to become the true player in the rapidly expanding search engine world. Inktomi and Yahoo will combine the portal model that Yahoo has pioneered with one of the web's leading search technologies built by Inktomi. Inktomi not only has a search engine that competes head to head with Google for relevancy, they've also built a solid model for marketers looking to control their listings and receive valuable data about how searchers are finding them.

Inktomi's paid inclusion model is the gem in the crown for Yahoo. Paid inclusion allows a marketer to ensure their pages are listed in Inktomi's database for a flat fee per page they choose to list. Since beginning in 2000, Inktomi Paid Inclusion has driven more than 500 million sales leads to participating websites.

Danny Sullivan from SearchEngineWatch.com told Marketleap, "Certainly, the move makes Inktomi a more attractive purchase for those who are considering paid inclusion, because we'll almost certainly see Yahoo make more use of Inktomi data in the coming months."

Marketers receive access to customer support, revisits and updates to their listings every 48-hours, valuable keyword and click-through data, and control over the pages and descriptions they have available to searchers. They can include and monitor their entire web property as partners like Amazon have done to ensure they are reaching the widest audience possible. By paying for inclusion, subscribers fund the business model and ensure quality support.

Google's model starts from the consumer's point of view. Everyone's heard of them, talks about them, and knows they need to be listed there if they have a website. They are an end users friend because of their stripped down interface and success at finding websites quickly.

For marketers looking for access and support or any type of reporting from Google the only avenue is their premium paid placement model. Google sells keywords to the highest bidder as premium text listings at the top of their results pages or as small text ads that sit to the right of the regular search results.

Premium listings, which typically require a monthly fixed budget, give you access to an Account Manager like a regular ad buy through traditional channels. This person has nothing to do with the rest of your website. Support and click through data is only available for your advertising. Any chance of having your unpaid website receive a review by an engineer is not likely. You have to wait for the monthly "Google Dance" if you want to see if anything has changed in the Google database.

Anyone who's spent time buying keywords knows you can blow cash like a crack-smoking gambler in Vegas. Like Vegas, the results don't always add up. Marketleap speaks to inquisitive marketers regularly who feel strung out after seeing few results after spending $25,000 - $50,000 a month on keyword buys trying to drive their online business.

There was a buzz at the recent Search Engine Strategies conference in Dallas when Google were pounded with questions about support issues. Google responded by saying they were hiring additional support staff to handle the growth in questions they receive and were considering some type of premium support channel that people could pay for. If Google offers premium paid support, what exactly besides editorial reviews and questions about when my website would be crawled and indexed would Google be answering?

Google uses its popularity with end users to make businesses crave a coveted spot within the Google database. Those that can afford premium cost-per-click or cost-per-thousand keyword buys through their advertising programs can ignore their content and spend to ensure their competition will never see the top placements for sponsored results. But what does that do for their business?

Google will continue to claim their end user is their master. Their ongoing actions and growth will be the only indicator of their acceptance of the business community and how they will serve it.

The word so far is that Yahoo is seeking growth in revenues through paid inclusion because of the control and information that it offers to businesses looking to be included in search engines. Yahoo stepping into the conversation is a bold move because it signals a line in the sand being drawn.

On one side will be a search engine sworn to its own moral and editorial line for its search results with revenue generated by an advertising model. On the other side will be a search portal with a model aimed at not only serving users but also the business community, who is thirsty to have some control over their publishing process with search engines.

Responses to the last Marketleap Report

The last Marketleap Report about Inktomi Paid Inclusion being the first step for search engine marketing drew a range of responses. One in particular struck a note because it presents the value of Google from the user's perspective. It doesn't take into account the usefulness that search engines like Inktomi are providing for the business community - the publishers who have collectively spent billions of dollars creating their websites and want to reach their online audience.

This article trying to convince people to pay Inktomi for results is the whole problem with Inktomi and many of the other search engines. There is a reason why Google has quickly risen to the top.

Google has the best results because their search engine does not reward sites who pay to get in. All the other sites, in an effort to make more money are just shooting themselves in the foot, including Inktomi.

Inktomi will not come back as a major force next to Google and this is exactly why. When I do a search, I want results that come from relevance, and not from people being ranked higher because they paid.

-Mike

Thanks for the feedback Mike. Google does allow people to rank higher because they are willing to pay, it's their largest revenue stream. Inktomi leaves it up to the marketer to analyze the data they provide and compete purely on relevance. The money pays for the reporting, recrawls and support. Which model do you really prefer?

Keep the feedback rolling in, we love it. Write us with your thoughts at report@marketleap.com.