Note: You will see the new WebTechGeek web page format with -
older WTG web page format. I hope you like the new!
WebMasters
News Page!
WebMaster Tools: by Raymond, WebTechGeek.com
- Welcome, The Webmaster Tools page is a list of the very
best webmasters programs, tools, tips, info, and links
to web developer sites. You will find a wealth of information
here on search engine optimization, free services, tips,
tools, programs, and more. Let me suggest the best tools
to get you started in the right direction. You will find
some Java Script links here in addition the Graphic Editors
links that are extremely popular. This page includes the
very Best WebMaster Tools & links to help reduce the
time it takes to design and promote your web site.
This is where the new Web Developers and
Designers Learn How to Build Web Sites and promote them.
Building a site requires creativity, design skills and
an understanding of color, images and popular trends.
Marketing a site, on the other hand, is a much more routine,
repetitious, even boring task that must be done consistently
over time to make your Web site number one! If would like
to suggest a good WebMaster tool you can e-mail
me!
New Articles
Yahoo
to Add More Content to Search Results:
Top
10 tips for making money online by using affiliate programs.
Yahoo Begins
Rolling Out Its Own Search Technology: Internet media
company Yahoo Inc. on Wednesday said it was switching
to its own Web search technology and dropping its use
of competitor Google Inc.
MSN Search Beta Goes
Live: Microsoft’s MSN division has launched
a sneak peek beta test of its new MSN Search Engine.
Yahoo to Drop Google as
Main Search Engine, Report Says: Yahoo Inc. is expected
to drop Google as the primary search technology on its
site within a few months, the Wall Street Journal said
on Tuesday.
Google Expected
to Go Public in 2004: Google, the
world's most popular Internet search engine, is widely
expected to make its stock market debut during the first
half of 2004, creating a level of excitement rarely seen
since the dot-com gold rush.
Google Asks Court for Ruling on
Trademarks: (Reuters) - No. 1 Web search service
Google Inc. has asked a court to rule on whether its keyword
searches infringe company trademarks, a move that lawyers
said could set the stage for a landmark ruling over online
advertising...more here!
LookSmart to Lose Key Microsoft
Deal: Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Internet division
will end its licensing agreement with LookSmart Ltd. in
January 2004, the Web search company said on Monday, cutting
off LookSmart from its biggest client...more
here!
VeriSign to Halt New Service as
Demanded: 10/06/03 Web address provider VeriSign
Inc. on Friday agreed to suspend a controversial new service
that steers mistaken Web searches to its own page, agreeing
to a demand by the body that oversees Internet policy...more
here!
LookSmart Looking to Trump Yahoo!
Move: 10-02-03 Online search engine maker LookSmart
Ltd. is rolling out an advertising service similar to
one being bought for $1.7 billion by Yahoo! Inc., betting
the takeover will alienate some major customers...more
here!
Google Buys Web Search Company Kaltix
Corp.: Web search company Google Inc. said it
bought Kaltix Corp., a start-up that builds the personalized
and context-sensitive search tools the industry sees as
part of its next wave of product offerings...more
here!
Internet Typo Service Sparks Hot
Debate: When David Fitzpatrick's software for
tracking and analyzing junk e-mail didn't work correctly,
the Web designer assumed he had made programming mistakes
and spent hours trying to fix them...more
here!
Amazon.com Invades Google's Turf:
Online retailing giant Amazon.com Inc. is betting it can
muscle into one of e-commerce's most profitable niches
— search engines...more
here!
Microsoft Bets on New Search Technology:
- Microsoft Corp. may be the most recognized software
company on the planet, but when it comes to searching
the Internet, people are much more likely to "Google
it." Microsoft wants to change that, and it's betting
millions that someday it will be as well known for search
as Google is...more here!
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New Web Domain Names Get Preliminary Nod: Two new Internet domain names — ".post" and ".travel" — could appear online as early as next year as the Internet's key oversight board announced preliminary approval.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, in advancing the applications for postal services and the travel industry, said they were still considering eight other proposals including ".asia," ".jobs," and ".xxx." Separately, ".eu" for the European Union also is in the works.
ICANN said the decision on ".post" and ".travel" had less to do with relative merit and was primarily based on the level of technical and commercial details their sponsors were able to quickly provide.
Negotiations will now begin on creating and running the domain names. The process could take months, though officials warned that there was no guarantee the domains would ultimately be accepted.
There are currently about 250 domain names, mostly for specific countries like ".fr" for France.
In 2000, ICANN approved seven new domain names for global use, the first major additions since the Domain Name System was created in the 1980s.
But the new names, including ".biz," ".info" and ".museum," aren't as widely known or used as the more traditional ".com" and ".org." In addition, some Internet applications reject the new names entirely because they were programmed to recognize only two- or three-character suffixes.
The two names preliminarily OKed are different from most existing names because they would be set aside for specific industries and interest groups. Applicants paid $45,000 apiece earlier this year to have their proposals considered.
The Universal Postal Union in Bern, Switzerland, wants ".post" for national postal services, local post offices, business partners and stamp collectors around the world. Private companies that provide postal services, such as Federal Express and UPS, also would be eligible.
The Swiss postal union said a ".post" domain could ultimately link various electronic postal services now being set up at the national level, the way a British postal worker can deliver physical mail sent from the United States with U.S. postage. The organization envisions establishing up to 650,000 virtual post offices to let users access their local postal functions from anywhere in the world.
The Travel Partnership Corp., a New York-based trade group, seeks ".travel" for travel agents, airlines, bed and breakfast operators, tourism bureaus and others in the travel industry. It sees hotels, resorts and restaurants as among the suffix's biggest users. The organization believes having a distinct suffix will encourage more businesses in the industry to develop or expand their Web presence. (AP)
Google Puts Froogle on
Site, Tests Personalization: Google Inc., the
No. 1 Web search engine widely expected to go public this
year, on Monday put its Froogle shopping tool on its main
Web site and said it is testing new services to deliver
personalized search results.
"Today, Google takes the first step in providing
personal search results based on users' preferences,"
Google co-founder and President Larry Page said in a statement.
Google and rivals such as Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
which are working to knock Google from its pole position,
are regularly rolling out new search services aimed at
winning the loyalty of Web users. Yahoo and Microsoft,
through its MSN Internet division, already offer price
comparisons and other tools for online shoppers.
Google's Froogle shopping feature helps users sort items
such as digital cameras or Apple iPod music players by
price. The service, which for months had been tested in
Google Labs (http://labs.google.com/), also got a redesigned
home page and search results page.
Yahoo on Friday announced plans to buy Kelkoo SA, a top
European price comparison shopping search engine, for
about $575 million.
"Yahoo will be one step ahead of Google with this
acquisition, making this in part also a defensive move,"
PiperJaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy said in a research
note on Monday.
Analysts expect the Kelkoo acquisition to strengthen
both Yahoo's European e-commerce position and its relationship
with advertisers.
Mountain View, California-based Google also said it has
begun testing Google Web Alerts and Personalized Search
in Google Labs.
Its Web Alerts service automatically e-mails users when
there is new information on the Web about any topic they
say is of interest.
Personalized Search allows users to create a profile
and to use a sliding control bar at the top left of the
results page to move personalized results up higher in
the rankings.
Yahoo and Microsoft each have identified personalized
search capabilities as a top priority.
Yahoo to Add More Content
to Search Results: Internet media company Yahoo
Inc. said that it would enhance its search services by
tapping into richer content such as audio, video and reference
information.
Yahoo, which is beefing up its search services to compete
against Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Internet
division, said in February that it was starting to make
a switch to its own Web search technology.
Search users at Yahoo's Web site will be able to access
rich content, such as the audio files of National Public
Radio, the U.S. Library of Congress the New York Public
Library and Supreme Court audio recordings available through
a Northwestern University project.
"We think this will help change how people think
about search," said Tim Cadogan, vice president of
Search at Yahoo.
The new initiative to include richer media in search
results, which Yahoo calls its Content Acquisition Program,
is aimed at creating closer links between Yahoo's search
engine and digital audio and visual media, Cadogan said.
Both commercial and non-commercial content providers
can submit Web pages that are added to Yahoo's search
index, its database of searchable Web sites.
Non-commercial organizations can submit their Web pages
and digital content for inclusion in Yahoo search results
for free, while commercial content providers pay a fee
to include their content in search results.
The widely anticipated announcement marks the unwinding
of a long-term relationship between Yahoo, operator of
the world's most-visited Internet properties, and Google,
the No. 1 Web search provider.
Yahoo has recently made major investments in the sector
with acquisitions of search provider Inktomi and Overture
Services, a key Web-search advertising company.
Microsoft is also throwing its vast resources behind
a project to build search technology of its own.
Yahoo Begins Rolling Out
Its Own Search Technology: Internet media company
Yahoo Inc. on Wednesday said it was switching to its own
Web search technology and dropping its use of competitor
Google Inc.
The widely anticipated announcement marks the unwinding
of a long-term relationship between Yahoo, operator of
the world's most-visited Internet properties, and Google,
the No. 1 Web search provider.
The friendly partnership evolved into an intense rivalry
as Google's popularity soared and Web-search advertising
revenue, which traffic providers like Yahoo share with
search companies, boomed.
"The transition has obviously been underway for
many months. It doesn't come as a surprise," said
Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president of product management
at Google, which is expected to go public later this year.
Yahoo recently has made major investments in the sector
with acquisitions of search provider Inktomi and Overture
Services, a key Web-search advertising company.
Its conversion project began late Tuesday night with
the U.S. Yahoo site and will continue over the next several
weeks as the Sunnyvale, California-based company moves
its international properties to its own search product.
Upon completion of the transition, Yahoo will power nearly
half of all Web search queries in the United States through
its own sites and those of partners like Microsoft Corp.'s
MSN Internet service, Jeff Weiner, senior vice president
of Yahoo search and marketplace, said.
Yahoo's global reach, combined with its technology, position
Yahoo to "change the game in search," Weiner
said.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is throwing its vast resources behind
a project to build search technology of its own.
Google will continue to focus on providing the industry's
best search and advertising technology, Rosenberg said.
MSN Search Beta Goes Live:
Microsoft’s MSN division has launched a sneak peek
beta test of its new MSN Search Engine. The new MSN Search
is a full speed ahead effort for Microsoft to catch Google
and Yahoo in the search engine race. Last week Microsoft’s
Bill Gates commented that Google has blown away Microsoft
in the realm of search, confirming that Google “kicked
our butts” in a statement given at the World Economic
Forum.
The new MSN Search Beta Test can be previewed at http://beta.search.msn.com
At first glance MSN more or less uses the same style
for their layout, but now clearly differentiates the difference
between organic search results and paid search advertising.
A plus for MSN.
If you search for “online marketing” on the
current MSN Search you’ll find a mixture of Looksmart
driven Web Directory listings, Overture Sponsored Link
ads, and Featured Sites… all peppered over the organic
Inktomi results...full story here searchenginejournal.com
Google Developing Ad
Service for E-Mail -Sources: (Reuters) - Google
Inc., which dominates the market for Web search, is developing
a service that could dramatically extend the reach of
its lucrative keyword-based advertising by linking such
ads to e-mail, people familiar with the matter said on
Friday.
Privately held Google, which is expected to go public
later this year, faces rising competition in its core
search business from e-mail providers including Yahoo
Inc. and MSN, Microsoft Corp.'s Internet unit.
Adding an e-mail service would provide a potential boost
to Google as its technology lead in the search market
seems destined to narrow and it prepares to answer to
growth-hungry shareholders, analysts said.
The Mountain View, California, company, which has recently
made several e-mail related acquisitions, is working on
a way to serve advertising to an e-mail at the moment
it is opened, people close to the company said.
"I'm sure Google is getting more and more concerned
about locking in users. It wouldn't surprise me if they
did something very sophisticated with e-mail," said
Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineWatch.com, who tracks
the industry.
By moving into e-mail -- the Web's most-used program
-- Google would open up a huge new market for its lucrative
"sponsored links" advertising business that
delivers ads tied to keywords in Web searches or on content
pages, analysts said.
Offering its own branded e-mail -- whether for free or
with enhanced services like spam filtering -- would also
enable Google to tie users more closely to its search
site and to steal customers from rivals, they said.
In an e-mail response to questions from Reuters, spokesman
David Krane said, "Google has a number of projects
in the works to test monetization in various scenarios.
"In fact, Google's AdSense contextual ads are already
used in a number of e-mail newsletters," he said.
GOING PORTAL?
Google has for years said it would not turn its site
into a full-service Internet portal like Yahoo or MSN.
However, since it opened in 1998, Google has added portal-style
discussion groups and is testing a comparison shopping
site called Froogle, as well as a news site.
Google late last year purchased rival Sprinks, which
had technology to deliver ads to e-mail as the messages
were opened. Such real-time ad serving is important because
it keeps ads fresh and insures that Google will not be
giving away free ads or delivering ads nobody will see,
industry participants said.
Kanoodle, a small privately held search company, in the
coming weeks will roll out its own e-mail advertising
product as part of its deal with CBS MarketWatch.com,
Lance Podell, Kanoodle's president of search and content,
told Reuters.
Under that deal, "sponsored link" ads will
be served to MarketWatch's opt-in subscriber e-mails,
including newsletters.
Google already knows how to deliver its sponsored link
ads -- which are in the form of Web links and appear on
the perimeter of Web pages -- to e-mail newsletters and
content sites.
Furthermore, Google last year purchased an e-mail management
software maker and in 2001 registered the domain name
googlemail.com.
Some in Silicon Valley also believe Google could be preparing
to launch free e-mail to compete with offerings from Yahoo
and MSN's Hotmail.
"If they were to go the e-mail route they'd have
to provide an offering that competes with free (e-mail).
Anti-spam is one form of strong differentiation,"
said Jim Pitkow, chief executive of Moreover Technologies,
whose personalized search company Outride was acquired
by Google in 2001. (Additional reporting by Reed Stevenson
in Seattle)
Yahoo to Drop Google as
Main Search Engine, Report Says: Yahoo Inc. is
expected to drop Google as the primary search technology
on its site within a few months, the Wall Street Journal
said on Tuesday.
According to the paper, some marketing firms say they
have been told Yahoo will switch from Google to its own
technology as early as the first quarter.
Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo was widely expected
to dump Google in part because it spent more than $2 billion
last year to buy search technology through its acquisitions
of Inktomi Corp. and Overture Services Inc.
The expected move comes as Google, the No. 1 Web search
service, plans to go public this spring.
Company officials could not immediately be reached for
comment.
Google Expected to Go Public
in 2004: Google, the world's most popular Internet
search engine, is widely expected to make its stock market
debut during the first half of 2004, creating a level
of excitement rarely seen since the dot-com gold rush.
The move may raise millions for the company and could
spark enough excitement for a general IPO recovery, experts
say. The sale could also raise as much as $4 billion,
making it the biggest IPO since CIT Group Inc.'s $4.87
billion deal in July 2002.
A spokesman for Google did not return phone calls Monday.
Many experts believe a vibrant IPO market would spawn
more companies able to use their publicly traded stocks
as a currency to buy other businesses and attract more
talented employees.
From January 2001 through Dec. 9 of this year, there
were 238 IPOs, according to IPOfinancial.com, which tracks
the market. From 1998 through 2000 there were a total
1,250 IPOs, according to IPOfinancial.com.
A deal like Google's could be enough to help snap the
IPO lull, said Michael Moe, chief executive of ThinkEquity,
a high-tech investment bank in San Francisco.
"A lot of investors put their hands on a hot oven
and got burned so they are being very careful about going
close to the oven again," Moe said. "Google's
IPO could be the catalyst that helps bring people back."
Other market observers are less sanguine, characterizing
Google as a rare jewel amid the high-tech rubble.
High-tech companies simply don't hold the same allure
as they did before the excruciating pain the dot-com crash
caused investors, said David Menlow, IPOfinancial's president.
Companies in staid industries such as freighting, steel
and finance might even be more appealing to cautious investors
than unproven tech companies with greater growth potential.
"Investors are still twitchy," Menlow said.
"They want to see a certain crispness from companies
selling IPOs. They are no longer interested in companies
with some esoteric business model."
According to ComScore Networks, the California-based
Google is the most-used in the world for Internet searches.
A number of companies, including Time Warner Inc's American
Online, use Google's search results for their Web sites.
Google Asks Court for Ruling
on Trademarks: (Reuters) - No. 1 Web search service
Google Inc. has asked a court to rule on whether its keyword
searches infringe company trademarks, a move that lawyers
said could set the stage for a landmark ruling over online
advertising.
Some companies have complained that Google allows competitors
to use their trademarked names, or portions of those names,
to trigger advertisements that are linked to the Web sites
of those rivals. American Blind & Wallpaper Factory
Inc. has demanded Google stop selling keyword phrases
it says include or resemble American Blind trademarks.
Privately held Google, expected go public early next
year in a much anticipated stock offering, last week asked
a U.S. District Court judge in San Jose, California to
decide whether such keyword advertisements could violate
trademark laws.
"It's to Google's advantage to get some guidance
from the U.S. courts as to what the permissible bounds
are. Uncertainty is not good for them," said Thomas
Zellerbach, an intellectual property partner in Orrick,
Herrington & Sutcliffe's Silicon Valley office.
Google, based in Mountain View, California, gets most
of its annual revenues -- estimated by analysts and published
reports to be between $700 million and $1 billion this
year -- from keyword ads.
"This is still relatively uncharted ground for the
courts," said Zellerbach, who is not involved in
the case.
He said it is up to American Blind to show the court
that the keywords Google is allowing advertisers to use,
do not have an ordinary meaning.
Google's attorney Michael Page, of Keker & Van Nest
LLP in San Francisco, declined comment on the pending
litigation. Attorneys for American Blind did not immediately
return calls seeking comment.
Amercian Blind has asked Google to remove keywords ranging
from "American Blind Factory" to simply "decorate
today" from existing advertising campaigns. It also
wants Google to remove from its searches the advertisers
who have paid for links to their own Web sites from the
disputed keywords.
American Blind's letters cited as precedent a judgment
it received from the U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan,
which barred defendants from using American Blind's trademarks,
service marks or the word "American" in any
variation or combination with the word "blinds"
either singular or plural.
After talks with American blind, Google stopped allowing
the company's competitors to use its trademarks to trigger
ads.
Nevertheless, Google did not block variant terms such
as "American blind," saying they are descriptive
terms that other advertisers have the right to use.
Google and other search companies have said they adhere
to fair-use trademark practices.
When the words "American Blind" were typed
into the Google search engine on Thursday afternoon, four
ads, or "sponsored links," appeared on the right-hand
side of the results page from companies that sell blinds,
shades and wallpaper, or offer discounts and price comparisons.
In October, a civil court in Nanterre, France, ordered
Google to pay a fine of 75,000 euros for allowing advertisers
to link text Internet ads to trademarked search terms.
The French court also ordered Google to stop the practice,
which has reaped millions of dollars in profits for companies
like Google and Overture Services Inc. which pioneered
search advertising and is now owned by Internet media
company Yahoo Inc.
Elsewhere, Louis Vuitton, a unit of LVMH Moet Hennessy
Louis Vuitton SA of France, sued Google and its French
subsidiary in August for trademark infringement.
LookSmart to Lose Key
Microsoft Deal: Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Internet
division will end its licensing agreement with LookSmart
Ltd. in January 2004, the Web search company said on Monday,
cutting off LookSmart from its biggest client.
The move by the world's largest software maker is the
latest action in an intense war for dominance of the highly
profitable Internet search sector, now led by privately
held Google Inc. but coveted by such technology giants
as Microsoft and Yahoo Inc.
San Francisco, California-based LookSmart's shares dropped
by 58 percent after the announcement to $1.28 from the
Nasdaq close of $3.02.
LookSmart said Microsoft chose not to renew its distribution
and licensing deal with the company, which is best known
for its paid-listing services that allow advertisers to
pay to have more of their Web pages included in Internet
search results.
As a result, LookSmart stands to lose about two-thirds
of its revenue, the company said.
LookSmart in July forecast total revenue of $147 million
to $152 million for 2003. During a conference call with
analysts on Monday, the company said it was not changing
that guidance.
"We were surprised by this outcome," said Jason
Kellerman, LookSmart's chief executive, adding that the
relationship with MSN accounted for "approximately
65 percent of (Q2) listings revenues, and all of LookSmart's
licensing revenue in the second quarter of 2003."
LookSmart's second-quarter listing revenue was $34.6
million and its licensing revenue was $3.8 million.
Microsoft, which recently outlined plans to develop its
own search technology, said its MSN division found it
could boost the relevancy of search results by scrapping
the deal with LookSmart.
"At the end of the day we have to focus on what's
best for our customers," said Lisa Gurry, MSN's lead
product manager.
LookSmart provides technology that allows advertisers
to increase the chance that they will show up in search
results.
Its after-hours share price drop knocked nearly $180
million from LookSmart's market capitalization.
"Net-net it's a negative for the company. (MSN)
is a huge partner for them. They'll have to look for ways
to replenish that revenue and it won't be easy,"
said Richard Fetyko, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers, an
investment bank and brokerage firm. Kaufman Brothers does
not have an investing banking relationship with LookSmart
and Fetyko does not own shares.
Fetyko said LookSmart has been in preliminary talks with
potential partners such as Internet portal America Online
and Web search company Ask Jeeves Inc.
"They will obviously accelerate those efforts,"
he said.
MSN uses LookSmart's Directory products for the majority
of its search results at MSN Search, then backfills with
crawler results from search supplier Inktomi, Fetyko wrote
in a recent report.
Kellerman said LookSmart just renewed its own distribution
deal with Inktomi, which was recently purchased by MSN
rival Yahoo.
"There's no indication of any change in that relationship,"
Kellerman said.
Companies such as LookSmart and Overture Services Inc.,
which will be acquired by Yahoo, provide paid search services
that allow advertisers to insert advertisements alongside
search results. MSN has an ongoing deal, which was extended
in July, with Overture that lasts until December 2004.
This is the email sent to LookSmart customer:
October 6, 2003Dear valued customer,
This letter is to inform you that there will be changes
to your LookListings traffic in 2004, as a result of recent
developments within our search distribution partner network.
It is important to understand that these changes will
not affect your LookSmart traffic in Q4 2003. It is also
important to note that these changes will not affect your
keyword-targeted Sponsored Listings traffic.
Beginning in January 2004, MSN will be removing the Web
Directory Sites layer from its search results, and will
no longer have a direct partnership agreement with LookSmart.
Your LookListings may still appear on MSN through our
distribution partnership with Inktomi, but your paid inclusion
traffic will be reduced at that time. Your LookListings
will also continue to provide traffic from more than 85
other LookSmart partners such as Lycos, About.com, Road
Runner, InfoSpace and CNET. We are negotiating with other
portals and ISPs for additional distribution of LookListings,
and will let you know as new properties are added to our
network.
While LookSmart's paid inclusion traffic will decrease
in Q1 2004, we are working to grow our presence in the
pay-for-placement market.
We recently launched LookSmart Sponsored Listings, our
first bid-for-placement keyword product. Sponsored Listings
is fully integrated with LookListings, so you can use
your existing login and password, get started with just
a few simple clicks, and monitor the performance of all
your paid inclusion and pay-for-placement listings together
in the LookSmart Advertiser Center. Click here to learn
more about Sponsored Listings or to add them to your campaign.
On behalf of LookSmart staff and management, I would
like to thank you in advance for your continued support.
Regards,
Jason Kellerman,
Chief Executive Officer,
LookSmart
VeriSign to Halt New Service
as Demanded: (Reuters) - Web address provider
VeriSign Inc. on Friday agreed to suspend a controversial
new service that steers mistaken Web searches to its own
page, agreeing to a demand by the body that oversees Internet
policy.
Earlier on Friday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers issued a statement insisting that VeriSign
halt its SiteFinder service and restore the ".com"
and ".net" Web domains to the way they were
before Sept. 15, when VeriSign began the service.
ICANN gave VeriSign until 6 p.m. PDT to comply with the
request or face sanctions for violating its contract with
ICANN.
"We will accede to the request while we explore
all of our options," VeriSign spokesman Tom Galvin
told Reuters.
ICANN spokeswoman Mary Hewitt said the organization was
"obviously pleased" with VeriSign's response.
VeriSign had requested for an extension of a couple of
days "so the technical community would have time
to implement the reversal," but ICANN rejected that,
Galvin said.
VeriSign has defended its move, saying it was providing
a convenience to Internet users who previously received
an error message. The SiteFinder service directs searches
for Web addresses that have been mistyped or not registered
to a page that includes pay-for-placement topic links.
But Internet users, network administrators and rivals
have cried foul, claiming VeriSign overstepped its authority.
"There have been widespread expressions of concern
about the impact of these changes on the security and
stability of the Internet," ICANN said in its statement.
SiteFinder is rendering spam filters ineffective, adversely
affecting other automated Web tools and services, creating
a single point of failure "that is likely to be attractive
to deliberate attacks" and raising serious privacy
issues, according to ICANN.
VeriSign's activation of SiteFinder is "not consistent"
with its contract to serve as the main database keeper
of all addresses in the ".com" and ".net"
domains, ICANN added.
With the service, VeriSign is violating the contract's
code of conduct and equal access obligations and failing
to act as a neutral registry service provider, among other
things, ICANN said.
Galvin said ICANN was using "anecdotal and isolated
issues to attempt to regulate non-registry services, but
in the interests of further working with the technical
community, we will temporarily suspend SiteFinder."
Thwarting efforts such as providing new services will
hinder innovation on the Internet, he added.
VeriSign's service has spawned at least three lawsuits
against the Mountain View, California-based company.
ICANN previously asked VeriSign to suspend the service,
but VeriSign instead said it would form an advisory panel.
VeriSign is not the first registry to test or implement
a so-called "redirect" service. But its service
impacts the majority of Web searches, as opposed to addresses
ending in other domains, such as .biz.
VeriSign's SiteFinder service has been used more than
40 million times by Internet users in just over two weeks,
Galvin said.
LookSmart Looking to
Trump Yahoo! Move: 10-02-03 Online search engine
maker LookSmart Ltd. is rolling out an advertising service
similar to one being bought for $1.7 billion by Yahoo!
Inc., betting the takeover will alienate some major customers.
San Francisco-based LookSmart is trying to sell a search
index that bases its rankings on how much advertisers
will pay for the top spots — an idea pioneered by
Pasadena-based Overture Services and copied successfully
by Google.
The concept — known as "pay for performance"
— has been a hit among advertisers and a boon for
scores of Web sites that collect commissions when visitors
click on the paid results displayed on their pages.
Sunnyvale-based Yahoo has been one of the biggest beneficiaries
in a market expected to hit $2 billion in revenue this
year. Hoping to get an even bigger piece of the pie, Yahoo
decided to buy Overture, the source of the advertising
links displayed in its search engine results.
The takeover eliminates one of Overture's big drawing
cards. Because Overture didn't try to attract online traffic,
many Web sites preferred its service to Google, which
has established itself as one of the Internet's most popular
destinations.
LookSmart reasons many Web sites currently using Overture's
advertising service will be shopping for alternatives
rather than help Yahoo make more money.
"The need has come along for someone to do what
Overture did," said Dakota Sullivan, LookSmart's
vice president. "We want to be the new Switzerland
in this space."
Yahoo declined to comment about LookSmart's push into
the pay-for-performance market. The company plans to complete
the Overture takeover before the end of the year.
Mountain View-based Google also declined to comment on
LookSmart's plans.
LookSmart already has signed contracts to distribute
its pay-for-performance results to several popular Web
sites, including Cent, Road Runner and InfoSpace.
The company hopes to lure much bigger customers, such
as Microsoft's MSN.com, which relies upon Overture for
its advertising results. MSN already incorporates a Web
directory compiled by LookSmart in its search engine.
MSN is always on the lookout for ways to improve its
search engine, but has no immediate plans to drop Overture,
said Karen Redetzki, MSN product manager.
LookSmart is much smaller than Overture and less profitable,
too.
Overture had 95,000 advertisers in its search index as
of June 30. LookSmart boasts 30,000 advertisers who pay
the company to conduct more comprehensive and frequent
searches of their Web sites.
LookSmart didn't make its first profit until late last
year while Overture has been profitable for nearly two
years. LookSmart endured nearly $220 million in cumulative
losses before recording profits totaling $37 million during
its past three quarters.
Investors haven't been too impressed with LookSmart's
performance, although the company's stock has rebounded
from a 52-week low of 76 cents. LookSmart's shares gained
a penny Wednesday to close at $3.15 on the Nasdaq Stock
Exchange. The stock has traded as high as $4.80 in the
past year.
Google Buys Web Search Company
Kaltix Corp.: (Reuters) - Web search company
Google Inc. on Tuesday said it bought Kaltix Corp., a
start-up that builds the personalized and context-sensitive
search tools the industry sees as part of its next wave
of product offerings.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Kaltix, of Palo Alto, California, was formed in June
this year and its technology aims to make it easier and
faster for people to find information on the Web, Google
said in a statement.
A Google spokesman declined additional comment.
In general, Web search personalization works to tailor
search results to a specific individual's interests and
needs, which allows Google and other search providers
to deliver the targeted advertising they rely on for revenues.
Kaltix was founded by three members of a Stanford University
research group that focuses on Web search.
Stanford had an equity stake in Kaltix and recently granted
the company an exclusive license for personalized Web
search technology, Katharine Ku, director of Stanford's
Office of Technology Licensing, told Reuters.
Ku would not disclose how much money Stanford put into
the start-up or the financial terms of the Kaltix licensing
deal.
Mountain View, California-based Google, launched in 1998
by former Stanford University graduate students Larry
Page and Sergey Brin, operates the most popular Web search
destination in the United States.
But privately held Google faces increasing competition
from Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. which are both making
significant investments in Web search.
Internet Typo Service Sparks
Hot Debate: (AP) When David Fitzpatrick's software
for tracking and analyzing junk e-mail didn't work correctly,
the Web designer assumed he had made programming mistakes
and spent hours trying to fix them.
Then he discovered it wasn't his skills that were faulty,
but the Internet that essentially broke. Elsewhere, more
spam slipped through, printers misbehaved and cell phones
got unusual Web traffic.
"I'm upset about this because it's cost us time
and money," said Fitzpatrick, who runs Lone Star
Interactive in Arlington, Texas, and tracks spam on the
side.
The culprit was VeriSign Inc., which two weeks ago launched
a new service for guiding Internet users who mistype Web
addresses. Side effects from the service have prompted
a fierce debate over who's in charge of the Internet.
"This is the first case I know where somebody that
big has caused that kind of failure," said David
Farber, an influential technologist formerly with the
Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites).
"If that becomes the standard, things will break
endlessly."
With little warning or fanfare, VeriSign introduced its
Site Finder service on Sept. 15. Web surfers who enter
addresses that don't exist now get suggestions on where
they might have wanted to go.
Normally, such innovation is encouraged and has led to
such breakthroughs as the World Wide Web itself in 1990.
In fact, America Online Inc. and Microsoft Corp., among
others, have been offering similar services.
But VeriSign is unique because it is master-keeper of
names ending in ".com" and ".net."
Its actions have more far-reaching effects on almost everyone
online.
While millions of people have used Site Finder without
problems, some software depend on getting error messages
— not a redirection — when addresses don't
exist.
VeriSign spokesman Tom Galvin said the company has convened
a panel of outside technical experts to suggest changes.
Normally, however, such discussions take place in advance.
"You're playing with an engine change while the
plane's in flight," said Vint Cerf, co-inventor of
the Internet's basic communications protocols.
Fitzpatrick, for one, found his software capturing VeriSign's
search site, instead of indicating that a spammer had
faked a Web address. Junk mail filters that perform such
checks also failed, allowing more spam through.
The Internet Architecture Board, a committee of Internet
engineers, found other mishaps. Rival search services
such as Microsoft's stopped working. Printer and other
network misconfigurations, once benign, became fatal.
Mobile Web services got swamped with more data than the
normal "no such name" response, potentially
generating higher phone bills.
Business rivals, meanwhile, complained that VeriSign
was making money off its monopoly on the ".com"
and ".net" directories, because the company
shares revenue with search engines that power Site Finder.
At least two federal lawsuits have been filed.
A security committee of the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees domain names,
plans to convene a meeting Oct. 7. Meanwhile, ICANN asked
VeriSign to suspend its service.
VeriSign declined, saying it would be premature.
Cerf, ICANN's chairman, said the organization was "evaluating
a number of avenues."
"I am very disappointed to see that VeriSign seems
so insensitive to the widespread problems their modification
is having," Cerf said.
While discussions continue, outsiders see a stalemate.
A report from the security committee took a full week,
a delay committee chairman Steve Crocker partly attributed
to Hurricane Isabel.
"It took ICANN longer to come up with the requests
to suspend than it took the entire 9th Circuit to review
the election process," said former ICANN board member
Karl Auerbach, referring to a court decision to clear
California's recall.
Now long-time techies, including Auerbach, are suggesting
a more formal regulation of the Internet to replace the
ad-hoc, consensus-based structure that grew out of the
tech community's historic self-governing efforts.
"The same rules really can't apply anymore, now
that the Internet really, really matters in commerce,
in government," said Lauren Weinstein, co-founder
of People For Internet Responsibility.
VeriSign welcomes a rethinking of how the Net is run.
Galvin said the company has long been frustrated with
how long it takes to decide on its initiatives, including
domain names that include foreign characters.
"The Internet has been used in many innovative ways,
but the Internet itself has not been innovated much,"
Galvin said. "The bigger issue beyond Site Finder
is, `Are Internet operators going to be able to innovate
the Internet and launch new services?' That question will
also answer how much investment is made into the infrastructure."
Whether VeriSign did anything wrong is debatable. Voluntary
Internet standards permit "wildcards," the mechanism
VeriSign employs to redirect mistyped addresses. But technical
experts say those standards were never meant to apply
so broadly.
VeriSign points out that other suffixes have used wildcards
before, albeit on a smaller scale. Operators of ".biz"
and ".us" tested a similar service in May. Typing
in a nonexistent address for ".cc" and ".ws"
gets you an ad for registering it — in the case
of ".cc," through eNIC Corp., a VeriSign subsidiary.
How the matter gets settled will have broad implications.
"If ICANN insists that this is bad and if it is
not able to enforce it," said Harald Alvestrand,
chairman of the standards-setting Internet Engineering
Task Force, "it has established the principle that
domain name operators can do anything."
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