LookSmart and Hotbot

[Advisor]

Am I going crazy? How long has HotBot been using LookSmart results? Has it been awhile and I just forgot?

Jill

[ihelpyou]

Well, actually Hotbot uses Intomi results who have used the title and description from Looksmart.

Sometimes this happens, sometimes not. Ink spiders the Looksmart directory and will incorporate them into the Ink database. Been happening for about 4 months or so now.

This is another reason why sometimes I do not have to submit to anyone.

[Advisor]

Huh? I'm confused! It appears that they're using an exact LookSmart listing that I have.

So you're saying that Inktomi spiders LookSmart, and adds those results into their database? Then uses the exact LookSmart Title and Description?

And it's not some kind of partnership with LookSmart? Seems really weird.

Jill

[usbnuts]

I get ZERO traffic from HotBot. my site ranks number one on this SE. Is HotBot dying?

[Advisor]

Yeah, just like AltaVista, Excite and Lycos. Although Fast is doing a nicer job with results since their big change recently. Maybe that will save Lycos.

Jil

[usbnuts]

Still, I am getting ZERO traffic from Lycos (fast), and HotBot.

Let me show you what my SE stats look like:
1. Google 48%
2. AltaVista 22%
3. Microsoft Network 13%
4. Yahoo Dir. 4% (Yahoo just added my site)
5. HotBot 3% (My bad I do have a few people coming from HB)

[ihelpyou]

Yes. It is very wierd as sometimes listings are picked up by Inktomi from Looksmart and sometimes they are not.

Not quite sure what the deal is. Hotbot is definitely dying. Actually, Excite seems to be picking up lots lately.

Here are my %'s for July:

Google 31.2%
MSN 29.0%
Yahoo! 10.2%
Excite 8.5%
AltaVista 6.9%
Euroseek 3.0%
Northern Light 1.6%
GoTo.com 1.5%
HotBot 1.2%
LookSmart 1.1%
Dogpile 1.1%
InfoSeek.de 1.0%

Kind of scewed as the Yahoo stat is also including Yahoo/Google results. This would make Google more than is shown. In reality, Yahoo is probably at around 5% and Google is at 36%. I get more hits from AltaVista than I do from regular Yahoo.

Seems that I am kind of balanced. A good thing.

[MazY]

Originally posted by webwhiz
Maybe that will save Lycos.Jil

Oooh. Cut me do I not bleed? ;)

You leave my li'l Lycos darlings alone. I love 'em. They have been very, very kind to my rankings and I enjoy the hits from them. Long live Lycos I say....

Just give 'em what they want and they are like a loyal puppy. Extremely verbose pages, lengthy titles and apt page names. Bless 'em. Fear not, Lycos - I still love you. Don't you listen to these nasty people... :D

[Advisor]

Mazy, I agree. High rankings are not a problem with Lycos. But where's the traffic? Haven't seen any in a long time! All one really needs these days is Yahoo, Google and MSN for the most part. (and I guess LookSmart :( )

But shhhh....don't tell our clients :eek:

Jill

[ihelpyou]

Agreed. In the chart above, I did not mention the engines that bring in less than 1% of traffic. Lycos is one of them. :rolleyes:

[MazY]

LOL at the "don't tell our clients".

I am always amazed at the "where's the traffic". I would be lost without the traffic that I receive from them. <Scratches head.> I wonder if it is, as I suggested, a UK/USA thing? Especially as Lycos have been extremely heavy TV advertisers here.

[ihelpyou]

You may have something there MazY. Around here, if you ask which engine you use, most say Google, MSN, Yahoo, or AltaVista.

Come to think about it but no one says Lycos that I can remember.

[MazY]

lol. I can't remember the last time that I ever received a hit from AltaVista. Though this was not helped by the fact that I was one of the unluckly hundreds that seemed to have been dropped by them for no other reasons than the name of the day having a "d" in it.

After several e-mails back and forth between myself and AV, they finally popped me back in. (That took forever in itself.) I lost all the good rankings that I enjoyed previously and was, frankly, a little miffed at the whole incident. Suffice to say that I don't really optimise for them these days.

I think of the 80+ pages that my site has, they kindly put 9 of them back. Now there is an engine that I really don't like.

[ihelpyou]

Yes. I do not optimize for AV either.

Actually, I do not optimize for ANY search engine in particular. The algos all seem to be so close that I just do not worry about it. ;)

[MazY]

lol I like your style. "They want me, they come to me."

[Advisor]

That's interesting about Lycos and the UK. I always wondered who used Lycos! They were always ranked as one of the top search engines, yet I never knew anyone who actually used them for real searches. (Checking rankings, yes, but to really use as your search engine? I don't think so!)

Interestingly enough, they're located out here in MA where I am. I just read an article in our local paper about how they're giving employees stock options to "wrap" their cars in Lycos ads. The cars look pretty cool, actually. I wonder if they'd pay me to wrap my kid-mobile mini-van in a Lycos ad!

Jill

[MazY]

Originally posted by webwhiz
Interestingly enough, they're located out here in MA where I am. I just read an article in our local paper about how they're giving employees stock options to "wrap" their cars in Lycos ads. The cars look pretty cool, actually. I wonder if they'd pay me to wrap my kid-mobile mini-van in a Lycos ad!

Jill

ROFL. Now that is funny! Perhaps I could offer to stick a Lycos UK badge to my bicycle too? I see a great investment opportunity ahead.

Incidentally, just before writing this, I clocked yet another search on Lycos on my site. Lycos, I still love you... Ignore these nasty Googleised people.

[ihelpyou]

:green:

[MazY]

I figure if they can pay for a car badge or two, my sig must be worth a few quid LOL

[JuniorHarris]

Too much!~ :bouncy:

What's the going rate for a full-body tattoo?

[MazY]

Originally posted by JuniorHarris
Too much!~ :bouncy:

What's the going rate for a full-body tattoo?

LOL. Quite a lot I imagine. I understand that they are paying a bonus for the car sticker that reads "My last search engine was Google. Keep on Lycosing."

[JuniorHarris]

I need one of those stickers!~ <lol>

[Advisor]

Now that would be cool...and you wouldn't ever have to buy clothes again!

:2:

Jill

[MazY]

Fantastic! I have just ordered my Lycos crockery set and my Lycos pyjamas. Apparently, with the plates, you can drop them all you like and they will still come back up. Cool.

With the pyjamas - I get to be on top every night. The benefits get better and better....

[bigDugan]

Here are my top 10 SE referrals for last week 7/22-7/28:

[list=1]
Google 37.05% - 27,443
Excite 12.99% - 9,623
Ask Jeeves 11.83% - 8,765
MSN 10.31% - 7,638
AltaVista 5.9% - 4,369
Goto* 5.26% - 3,899
Lycos 3.43% - 2,544
iWon 3.4% - 2,518
LookSmart 2.64% - 1,959
Direct Hit 2.42% - 1,792
[/list=1]

*Note: I don't pay for ANY Goto listings.

[ihelpyou]

Interesting how our traffic is different from site to site.

The main thing out of this is that GOOGLE is all of our big source of traffic!

:cheers: to Google.

[bigDugan]

:drink: Google!!!

[MazY]

Ah yes but erm.... Ah yes, Lycos has the cute little dog...

[JuniorHarris]

Here are our percentages:

1. Google 27.5%
2. Msn 22%
3. Yahoogle 14%
4. Goto 5%
5. AltaVista 5%
6. Dogpile 4%
7. Lycos 3.5%
8. Excite 3%
9. AOL 2%
10. LookSmart 2%


It is verboten for me to post actual traffic numbers as BigD, but those are impressive numbers!~ If my math is correct you are receiving over 70,000 referrals per week!~ I suppose you get most of your traffic from the engines, as that works out to well over 300,000 referrals per month!~ Maybe BigD needs to offer his own pay for traffic program!~ :D

[markymark]

Mazy is right, Lycos (UK) is a pretty good source of traffic. If they would start clustering results, it would be even better. Looks a little spammy at times.

I'm more interested in the fact that Yahoo seems to come up third in most peoples referral lists. This bears out what I see for clients. Search engines are far better than directories for getting targeted referrals - I've always thought this.

[ihelpyou]

Agreed. Real good points!