The latest figures from Nielsen/NetRatings on the most popular Web sites in the U.S. are in, and Microsoft and Google are on top.
But that's a simplification because there is more than one list and several metrics can be used to gauge popularity.
For instance, Nielsen/NetRatings has two Top 10 lists (PDF). One list is for the top Web sites by parent company, with "parent company" defined as "a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single entity." The second list is for the top brands, with "brand" being defined as "a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content."
Microsoft is at the top of the parent company list and Google leads the brand list.
The two different lists also break out the unique audience for each entry as well as the time spent per person on the sites. Google is first or second on the lists according to audience, but when it comes to measuring time spent per visitor the company ranks a mere sixth, while AOL is ranked top brand under that metric. This was expected when Nielsen/NetRatings announced this summer that it would include the new measurement in its rankings.
Nielsen/NetRatings also released a list of the top 10 online advertisers in the U.S. based on estimated spending. Low Rate Source, which provides online mortgage quotes, was at the top of that list, spending more than $51 million. That firm was followed by comparison shopping site NexTag; credit report agency Experian; InterActive Corp., which owns Ask.com, TicketMaster and Lending Tree; Countrywide Financial; AT&T; Netflix; Verizon; job site Monster.com; and Privacy Matters, which offers credit report services.
Nielsen/NetRatings has several ways of determining the Web's most popular sites.
Source: news.com
Google, Microsoft top Nielsen/NetRatings Web site lists
September 19, 2007, 9:50 amWeb search IPO stalls on underwriter doubts
September 8, 2007, 8:05 am
The public offering of a start-up Internet search firm has run aground after the underwriter pulled out of the deal, according to a report published Wednesday.
The New Jersey-based Accoona withdrew its $80.5 million initial public offering, after a little-known underwriter Maxim Group said they were no longer interested in the deal after conducting their due diligence review, the New York Times reported. Maxim did not specify their reasons for backing out.
This marks the second time this year that Accoona failed in a bid to go public, according to the paper. Earlier hit year, Accoona abandoned plans to list its shares on London's AIM exchange.
Accoona told the Times it was in discussion with other underwriters and hoped to continue with the public offering. The failed public offering marks the latest development in Accoona's checkered history, according to the paper. Three years ago it heralded its arrival at a press conference that featured former President Bill Clinton. The company's founder, Marc Armand Rousso, has had several brushes with the law including pleading guilty to stock fraud charges in 1998, the Times reported.
While the Web site has struggled to build its traffic and advertising base, relying on revenue from other holdings, Accoona's CEO defended the company to the paper.
"I can assure you that Accoona is a genuine company with legitimate operations, and one which is very excited about the potential of its products," Valentine Zammit, Accoona's chief executive, said in an email exchange with the paper.
Source: money.cnn.com
The New Jersey-based Accoona withdrew its $80.5 million initial public offering, after a little-known underwriter Maxim Group said they were no longer interested in the deal after conducting their due diligence review, the New York Times reported. Maxim did not specify their reasons for backing out.
This marks the second time this year that Accoona failed in a bid to go public, according to the paper. Earlier hit year, Accoona abandoned plans to list its shares on London's AIM exchange.
Accoona told the Times it was in discussion with other underwriters and hoped to continue with the public offering. The failed public offering marks the latest development in Accoona's checkered history, according to the paper. Three years ago it heralded its arrival at a press conference that featured former President Bill Clinton. The company's founder, Marc Armand Rousso, has had several brushes with the law including pleading guilty to stock fraud charges in 1998, the Times reported.
While the Web site has struggled to build its traffic and advertising base, relying on revenue from other holdings, Accoona's CEO defended the company to the paper.
"I can assure you that Accoona is a genuine company with legitimate operations, and one which is very excited about the potential of its products," Valentine Zammit, Accoona's chief executive, said in an email exchange with the paper.
Source: money.cnn.com
Ask.com on the Upswing
September 5, 2007, 9:55 am
In Internet search, innovation pays. That seems to be the message from the latest American Consumer Satisfaction Index, the University of Michigan’s well-known barometer of consumer satisfaction.
The latest ranking, released Tuesday, shows the four major search engines and portals all scored almost the same, with Yahoo winning the race with 79 points, Google close behind with 78, and Microsoft and Ask.com with 75. Notably, however, Ask showed the biggest gain in the past year, and the biggest gain since it – or rather, predecessor AskJeeves – was first measured in 2002.
The jump is a credit to Ask’s June makeover, arguably the most far reaching effort by a major search engine to depart from the “ten blue links,” the traditional way of displaying search results. Since then, Ask has been displaying results in three panes that include traditional results, as well as links to videos, blogs and other types of content, and ways for searchers to narrow or expand their queries.
“They’ve made great innovations in search,” said Larry Freed, president and chief executive of ForeSee Results, which collaborates with the university on measurements of Internet companies. “While they are not going to overtake Google in the search market, we’d expect to have some positive impact in their market share going forward.”
Indeed, no one is about to overtake Google, even though its own satisfaction index slipped three points in the past year. Of every 100 Internet search queries in the United States, roughly 50 take place on Google, another 25 on Yahoo, 13 on Microsoft, 5 on Ask.com, 4 on AOL and the rest on an assortment of smaller Web services, according to comScore.
But with every point in market share translating into millions of dollars in advertising, even a small gain could be good news for Ask. Yahoo, which is up three points from last year, may also be in for some much needed good news, Mr. Freed said: “Since the ACSI has long been proven scientifically to be a leading indicator of growth and stock prices, a rising ACSI score indicates that Yahoo’s fortunes may again be on the rise, even as it suffers a beating in the financial press.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Freed said Google’s drop is most likely due to consumers not being aware of the innovations it has delivered in products other than search, like its customizable home page and its mapping service. The report wasn’t rosy for everyone. AOL, which has been undergoing a transformation from a paid Internet access service, to a free, ad-supported portal, suffered a nearly 10 percent drop in customer satisfaction. Mr. Freed noted there were some well-publicized problems with AOL customers unable to cancel their subscriptions.
“They could again become a competitor to be dealt with, but as of now, they are struggling with the customer service aspect of this transformation,” he said.
Source: bits.blogs.nytimes.com
The latest ranking, released Tuesday, shows the four major search engines and portals all scored almost the same, with Yahoo winning the race with 79 points, Google close behind with 78, and Microsoft and Ask.com with 75. Notably, however, Ask showed the biggest gain in the past year, and the biggest gain since it – or rather, predecessor AskJeeves – was first measured in 2002.
The jump is a credit to Ask’s June makeover, arguably the most far reaching effort by a major search engine to depart from the “ten blue links,” the traditional way of displaying search results. Since then, Ask has been displaying results in three panes that include traditional results, as well as links to videos, blogs and other types of content, and ways for searchers to narrow or expand their queries.
“They’ve made great innovations in search,” said Larry Freed, president and chief executive of ForeSee Results, which collaborates with the university on measurements of Internet companies. “While they are not going to overtake Google in the search market, we’d expect to have some positive impact in their market share going forward.”
Indeed, no one is about to overtake Google, even though its own satisfaction index slipped three points in the past year. Of every 100 Internet search queries in the United States, roughly 50 take place on Google, another 25 on Yahoo, 13 on Microsoft, 5 on Ask.com, 4 on AOL and the rest on an assortment of smaller Web services, according to comScore.
But with every point in market share translating into millions of dollars in advertising, even a small gain could be good news for Ask. Yahoo, which is up three points from last year, may also be in for some much needed good news, Mr. Freed said: “Since the ACSI has long been proven scientifically to be a leading indicator of growth and stock prices, a rising ACSI score indicates that Yahoo’s fortunes may again be on the rise, even as it suffers a beating in the financial press.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Freed said Google’s drop is most likely due to consumers not being aware of the innovations it has delivered in products other than search, like its customizable home page and its mapping service. The report wasn’t rosy for everyone. AOL, which has been undergoing a transformation from a paid Internet access service, to a free, ad-supported portal, suffered a nearly 10 percent drop in customer satisfaction. Mr. Freed noted there were some well-publicized problems with AOL customers unable to cancel their subscriptions.
“They could again become a competitor to be dealt with, but as of now, they are struggling with the customer service aspect of this transformation,” he said.
Source: bits.blogs.nytimes.com
Search engine market shares in Europe
August 30, 2007, 9:25 am
If you target international markets then it's important to know which search engines are used by European web surfers.
Google has a large market share in the US. Astonishingly, Google's market share seems to be even bigger in Europe. Here are the numbers from Germany, France and the UK:
* Search engine market shares in Germany: With a market share of 88.5%, Google is the clear leader in Germany. Yahoo has 3.4%, followed by German ISP T-Online (2.2%), MSN (1.4%) and AOL (1.3%).
* Search engine market shares in France: With 89.79%, Google's has an enormous market share in France. Yahoo follows with 3.14%. MSN gets 2.48%, local ISP's Orange and Free get 1.89% and 0.72%.
* Search engine market shares in the UK: Google has a market share of 79.38% in the UK. Yahoo gets 7.72%. With 4.48%, Ask.com is the third biggest search engine in the UK. Microsoft's search engines MSN and Live get 3.75% and 1.53% (a total of 5.28% for Microsoft search engines).
Google is by far the most widely used search engine in these European countries. The stats show how important it is to optimize your website for Google. To get high rankings on Google, you need good inbound links and optimized web page content.
Source: Axandra Newsletters
Google has a large market share in the US. Astonishingly, Google's market share seems to be even bigger in Europe. Here are the numbers from Germany, France and the UK:
* Search engine market shares in Germany: With a market share of 88.5%, Google is the clear leader in Germany. Yahoo has 3.4%, followed by German ISP T-Online (2.2%), MSN (1.4%) and AOL (1.3%).
* Search engine market shares in France: With 89.79%, Google's has an enormous market share in France. Yahoo follows with 3.14%. MSN gets 2.48%, local ISP's Orange and Free get 1.89% and 0.72%.
* Search engine market shares in the UK: Google has a market share of 79.38% in the UK. Yahoo gets 7.72%. With 4.48%, Ask.com is the third biggest search engine in the UK. Microsoft's search engines MSN and Live get 3.75% and 1.53% (a total of 5.28% for Microsoft search engines).
Google is by far the most widely used search engine in these European countries. The stats show how important it is to optimize your website for Google. To get high rankings on Google, you need good inbound links and optimized web page content.
Source: Axandra Newsletters
How search engines rate on privacy
August 25, 2007, 8:49 am
"Price wars are public blessings. Ask anyone who has comparison shopped between Advanced Micro Devices and Intel microprocessors or bought a cheap Harry Potter novel thanks to fierce bookseller price battles."
In the last few months, the search engine business has experienced its own version of cutthroat competition: a privacy policy war, with Google, Ask.com and Microsoft vying to outdo one another in protecting their users' personal information.
But it's been difficult to make direct comparisons, in part because privacy policies tend to be written by lawyers for lawyers. So CNET News.com did some of the work for you by surveying the five leading search companies.
Starting on August 6, we asked them eight questions, including how long they retain search data, how they eventually dispose of it, whether they engage in behavioral targeting, and whether they use information they have from user sign-ups to guide which ads are displayed. We asked follow-ups where necessary for clarification. The verbatim results of the survey are posted in an accompanying story.
The answers suggest that, based on the questions we asked, Ask.com was the most protective of user privacy. In fact, only Ask.com said it would not record what users type into its search engine. (Smaller search engines, including ixquick, said this as well, but we limited our survey to the five largest engines.) Ask.com also said it did not engage in behavioral targeting, which refers to the practice of offering advertisements based on previous searches.
And the rest? Results were mixed. Google avoids behavioral targeting, but after 18 months it performs a partial anonymization of users' Internet Protocol addresses--an action that's not terribly privacy protective. Google dominates the search market: 53 percent of U.S. Web searches in June were performed on its site, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
Microsoft is better on the anonymization front. Peter Cullen, the company's chief privacy strategist, said users' Internet addresses and cookie values are "permanently and irreversibly" disassociated from the search terms after 18 months. But Microsoft does engage in behavioral targeting, while Google doesn't. Yahoo and AOL were similarly mixed.
These were, nevertheless, remarkable improvements. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo told News.com, in response to an earlier survey we did in February 2006, that they kept search records for as long as the data prove useful. Now they've set expiration dates, and Ask.com went further by promising to stop recording user search histories starting later this year. Google also has shortened the lifespan of its cookies from expiring in 2038 to expiring two years from the last visit.
Search privacy is important because our Googling (and Yahooing, and MSNing and so on) provides a unique glimpse into our personalities and private lives. Search terms have been used to convict a wireless hacker and lock up a man charged with killing his wife. Search engine activity is also a fertile growth area for nosy divorce lawyers and employment disputes.
One relatively simple way to protect your privacy when using search engines is to configure your browser to not permit them to place cookies on your computer. (Here's an FAQ on the topic.) Another way is to route all your connections through a proxy server such as Anonymizer, Tor or Black Box Search.
Source: news.com.com
In the last few months, the search engine business has experienced its own version of cutthroat competition: a privacy policy war, with Google, Ask.com and Microsoft vying to outdo one another in protecting their users' personal information.
But it's been difficult to make direct comparisons, in part because privacy policies tend to be written by lawyers for lawyers. So CNET News.com did some of the work for you by surveying the five leading search companies.
Starting on August 6, we asked them eight questions, including how long they retain search data, how they eventually dispose of it, whether they engage in behavioral targeting, and whether they use information they have from user sign-ups to guide which ads are displayed. We asked follow-ups where necessary for clarification. The verbatim results of the survey are posted in an accompanying story.
The answers suggest that, based on the questions we asked, Ask.com was the most protective of user privacy. In fact, only Ask.com said it would not record what users type into its search engine. (Smaller search engines, including ixquick, said this as well, but we limited our survey to the five largest engines.) Ask.com also said it did not engage in behavioral targeting, which refers to the practice of offering advertisements based on previous searches.
And the rest? Results were mixed. Google avoids behavioral targeting, but after 18 months it performs a partial anonymization of users' Internet Protocol addresses--an action that's not terribly privacy protective. Google dominates the search market: 53 percent of U.S. Web searches in June were performed on its site, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
Microsoft is better on the anonymization front. Peter Cullen, the company's chief privacy strategist, said users' Internet addresses and cookie values are "permanently and irreversibly" disassociated from the search terms after 18 months. But Microsoft does engage in behavioral targeting, while Google doesn't. Yahoo and AOL were similarly mixed.
These were, nevertheless, remarkable improvements. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo told News.com, in response to an earlier survey we did in February 2006, that they kept search records for as long as the data prove useful. Now they've set expiration dates, and Ask.com went further by promising to stop recording user search histories starting later this year. Google also has shortened the lifespan of its cookies from expiring in 2038 to expiring two years from the last visit.
Search privacy is important because our Googling (and Yahooing, and MSNing and so on) provides a unique glimpse into our personalities and private lives. Search terms have been used to convict a wireless hacker and lock up a man charged with killing his wife. Search engine activity is also a fertile growth area for nosy divorce lawyers and employment disputes.
One relatively simple way to protect your privacy when using search engines is to configure your browser to not permit them to place cookies on your computer. (Here's an FAQ on the topic.) Another way is to route all your connections through a proxy server such as Anonymizer, Tor or Black Box Search.
Source: news.com.com
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