Looksmart Partners

[claudiasmt]

I just talked with a gentleman at Rawhide Software who explained to me that he partners with Looksmart (& Inktomi) to provide pay for click placement services to his clients.

His service is similar to Overture -- but not exactly sure I understand how it works. His price is 9500 for 25,000 hits or 38 cents per click -- evidently his company purchases key words from Looksmart or something.

The examples he showed me of his clients were listings in the top 3 ( below sponsor listings) on MSN.

Is anyone familiar with this service and what are your thoughts regarding the effectiveness of this type of pay for click campaign?

[ihelpyou]

hmmm? Do you have a url for Rawhide as I have never heard of them. I also do not understand what Looksmart has to do with Inktomi? LS does their own thing. With a Url we could see what they are offering.

[MsSearch]

I have not looked into this type of situation but i have heard of larger companies having some sort of agreement/contract with Looksmart about multiple submissions and PPC.

With placement just below the Sponsored Sites on MSN, then the PPC could be worth it. MSN is one of the few (if not, the only) partners Looksmart has that will bring worthwhile traffic to your site.

What was Rawhide Software's opinions of their service since they use it? Has it helped bring relevant visitors to his clients sites?

[pageoneresults]

that you are referring to LookListings?

LookSmart LookListings (http://looklistings.looksmart.com/list.jhtml)

Pay for performance pricing.
$2,500.00 minimum monthly requirement.

[ihelpyou]

Yeah, that was my first thought as well. That's why I wanted to see that site's offer to see what the heck it is. :)

[claudiasmt]

Doug

I dont have their url as they are a local company my boss asked me to call -- however they do have 300 clients nationwide.

I am not sure if they have a website....

I was wondering if they were using the Looklisting program myself. The salesman kept referring to their Looksmart partnership however -- as if they had some kind of exclusive alliance with Looksmart.

He also mentioned having a partnership with Inktomi. Does anyone know what a Inktomi Certified Index Connect partner is? I see Traffic Leader is promoting this alliance on their site.

[claudiasmt]

OK here is the url of their site:

http://www.trafficboss.com/

[pageoneresults]

I read that entire site, not much there, and still cannot quite figure out "exactly" what they do or how they do it. I've seen that name Traffic Boss somewhere and I just can't put my finger on it...

Based on what I read on the site, they appear to be doing the same thing most of us are doing on a larger scale. Just not sure I can pinpoint what they do differently.

They are on the pricey side, but, with Overture dominating the top results in the majors these days, I can guess why. Give me $9,500.00 and I'll guarantee 25,000 visitors to your site!

[ihelpyou]

Yes. I just reviewed their site and could not figure out what exactly they are doing. I hope they see the referrals from here and make a post to tell us what it is they are doing.

[pageoneresults]

They are big! I've been doing some quick research and have turned up quite a bit. Read this write up from eHaven.biz...

Traffic Boss (http://www.ehaven.biz/trafficboss.html)

Do a search in Google for Rawhide Internet Services (http://www.google.com/search?q=rawhide+internet+services&hl=en) and you'll see that they do all of the large shows and have definitely got their act together!
Powered by a talented senior management team, TrafficBoss is a division of Rawhide Internet Services. For over 15 years, parent company Rawhide Software, Inc., has been one of the most respected international strategic information systems consulting firms.

Rawhide created the first multi-platform integrated software productivity package, WestSoft, which sold over one million copies. The company also created Legal Clerk, an online legal research simulator used by more than one thousand colleges and universities. Subsidiary, Rawhide Press, has sold more than ten million college textbooks in five languages. In addition, the company produced the leading tax shelter annuity exclusion package used in the insurance industry.

For the past four years, Rawhide has focused its research energies on the Internet. Through Rawhide Internet Services, Inc., it has created the vision of becoming the leading Internet traffic management company in the world.
And, on top of all that, they have their own PPC...

Search Boss (http://www.searchboss.com)

[Kal]

As I recall, they were advertising to hire some SEO specialists on Monster.com a few weeks back and I wondered who they were...

[Cstamps]

claudiasmt did you test the 25,000 clicks? I just talked to Rawhide and AT&T uses their search engine optimization services.

[ihelpyou]

Welcome to the forums Cstamps! :hi:

[claudiasmt]

No we have NOT used their services. I have tried to obtain some additional information on how this company makes their connections with Ink and Looksmart -- but no one seems to know how the direct feed program works.

The salesperson at Traffic Boss explained it like this to me:

They take your url and then associate keywords to it and feed it into a database that goes to Ink or Looksmart. These urls somehow receive (supposedly) higher rankings over the other urls submitted. Your click thru rates are 30 cents (for all search terms). Traffic Boss requires a setup fee of $5,000 (which is applied to your click thrus) -- and I believe perhaps up to $9,000 a month (their business model was a bit confusing)

I asked a salesperson at Traffic Leader (they charge a one time setup fee of $1,000 -- and they only provide Ink listings) how their listings at Ink would receive higher placement over other listings -- and I was told they had a "special" partnership with Ink. I questioned him further and the salesperson did say they use highly targeted key words to bring traffic to the site -- so perhaps their niche is really just finding non-competitive key words that no other sites are optimized for...

[ihelpyou]

Shy away from any program who cannot explain things to you in layman's terms. Many sites I visit are very vague about how things are done, etc.

This sounds like an automated XML feed directly into the Inktomi database. This has to be okayed by Ink and is patrolled by Ink only. They review all submissions for spam and give the okay. This could be what program they are partnered with Ink with. As far as Looksmart, I have no clue except the Looklistings thing.

Maybe surfcat can chime in here with any info?

It could be LS's "site promote" thing as well which is exactly like PPC and amounts to about .30 a click for a maximum of 200 clicks in a month.

[surfcat]

Maybe surfcat can chime in here with any info?
Well, here's me chiming, but dunno if it'll be that helpful...from the info in this thread it sounds like Rawhide might be involved in this LookSmart marketing program (http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=LOOK&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=249815 )..."LookSmart Launches Search Targeted Marketing Partner Program - Reseller Program to Increase Number of Paid Listings in LookSmart Databases."

Might be worth asking them? I can try and get my paws on more info if it's real important and I'm not flooded w/Zeal questions. :D

[ihelpyou]

There ya go. That is exactly it and looks like the same thing as Inktomi offers.

[Advisor]

I agree with Doug. Sounds like XML feeds directly to the engines to me. It would be easy to guarantee high rankings with those because you simply feed the engines exactly what they want to see. Makes no difference if your page is a big 'ole splashy flashy piece-o-crappy. You just feed them the Title, Descriptions and the words that you want, and voila...you're in. They don't have to appear anywhere on the actual page of the site. Oh, I'm sure there are standards of relevance and all that, but I gotta wonder how it's all determined.

This is the stuff that big companies with big budgets and big pages that they don't want to add text to, will all be doing. So when people like me tell them they gotta change the text on the page, they can instead go directly to LookSmart, and Inktomi, and AltaVista and ask what they can do for them. If we are smart, we'll get in on it while it's still young. Just wish it didn't feel so sleazy!

Jill