Sun_Feb_10_23:00:11_PST_2019

38 Early Search Engines The Web did not have sophisticated search engines when it began. The most advanced information gatherers of the day primitively matched file names. You had to know the name of the file you were looking for to find anything. The first file that matched was returned. There was no such thing as search relevancy. It was this lack of relevancy that lead to the early popularity of directories such as Yahoo!. Many search engines such as AltaVista, and later Inktomi, were industry leaders for a period of time, but the rush to market and lack of sophistication associated with search or online marketing prevented these primitive machines from having functional business models. Overture was launched as a pay-per-click search engine in 1998. While the Overture system (now known as Yahoo! Search Marketing) was profitable, most portals were still losing money. The targeted ads they delivered grew in popularity and finally created a functional profit generating business model for large-scale general search engines. Commercialized Cat & Mouse Web = Cheap Targeted Marketing As the Internet grew in popularity, people realized it was an incredibly cheap marketing platform. Compare the price of spam (virtually free) to direct mail (~ each). Spam fills your inbox and wastes your time. Information retrieval systems (search engines) must also fight off aggressive marketing techniques to keep their search results relevant. Search engines market their problems as spam, but the problem is that they need to improve their algorithms. It is the job of search engines to filter through the junk to find and return relevant results. There will always be someone out there trying to make a quick buck. Who can fault some marketers for trying to find holes in parasitic search systems that leverage others' content without giving any kickback? Becoming a Resource Though I hate to quote a source I do not remember, I once read that one in three people believe the top search result is the most relevant document relating to their search. Imagine the power associated with people finding your view of the world first. Whatever you are selling, someone is buying!