Heads Up Guys & Gals: LookSmart Aligns with Yahoo! Australia & NZ

[sanity]

Just saw it here http://www.looksmart.com.au/aboutus/press/pr/04-April-2002.html

Never thought I'd see the day! Better go and read it properly now.

Sophie

[manwah]

Looksmart supplying results to Yahoo!? Whatever next, espotting serving results to overture? Ok, so it's not quite the same, but you get what I mean...

Thanks for the info Sophie, although the link above is currently sending me to a 404 error page.

In the meantime, here is another link to the press release: http://www.shareholder.com/looksmart/news/20020403-76150.cfm

M

[kneelsit]

Thanks Sophie and Manwah.

Wonder how this is going to affect the Google Yahoo tie-in.?

[sanity]

Thanks for the new URL manwah. It really does make you wonder doesn't it? And you're right Greg, I wonder how it will fit with Google and Yahoo AU & NZ.

Seems you can't take a few days off in this biz. You do and the whole landscape has changed :eek:

Sophie

[markco]

Hi all,

First "Post".

What first attracted me to this site?

I am a Looksmart shareholder and I wanted to learn more about the company I am investing in. Its been about a month that I have continuously kept an eye on this forum and to learn as much as possible. We can't all be in agreeance re: the politics, culture and the embattlements that are enraging amongst the "Search Engines" to gleen as much $ per click as possible.

In some ways its like the banks where you have the shareholders on one side and the customers on the other.
Obviously, it is hard to please both camps at the same time.

You may be surprised at the amount of Shareholders that do visit this forum from Oz. That was how I came to find out about this "Forum" in the first place.

Hope we can engage in many discussions re: improvement of Looksmart that both customers and shareholders will become the beneficiaries.


Cheers markco

[Alan Perkins]

Welcome to the forums markco :hi:

Who are Looksmart's customers, in your opinion? Who does Looksmart exist to serve?

[markco]

Hi Alan,

Simple, but tough questions.

1) Who are Looksmart's customers, in your opinion?

From a shareholders opinion, I would say:

1. Search Engines that use the Looksmart Directory.
2. Businesses that pay to advertise in the Looksmart Directory.

From my perspective it is becoming more difficult by the day to work out where revenue is coming from due to the amount of interaction amongst the various Search Engines.
As well, the costs associated with earning the revenue.

2) Who does Looksmart exist to serve?


As I have already mentioned:

1. Looksmart are responsible to the shareholders to maximise profit and growth.
2. Looksmart are responsible to the customers to offer the best available service at a competitive price.

As a shareholder, if customers are not happy with a service then it is upto management to find out what the problem is and sort it out. From my perspective, I cannot say if PPC is going to be a better solution for businesses or shareholders as it is to early to tell. One thing I do know, that is Looksmart needs to be aggressive to gain market share and to keep thier customers satisfied and coming back for more. What they are going to do with Wisenut is anybodies guess. However, I tend to think they will use Wisenut as a stand alone, especially in the Japaneese market.

The other situation re: Aus/NZ Yahoo deal.

The US Yahoo/Over deal expires the 24th of April. Interesting!!
Very close to LS 1st Quarterly results. I believe the Aus/NZ Yahoo is a testing for a much larger contract. As soon as the announcement was made, I checked the AUS Yahoo to see if any of the LS sponsors showed up. Then I checked the US board. The Aus LS sponsors showed up there as well. Someone from the US side copied the same link, however the US Yahoo was only showing OVER's sponsors. Yesterday morning I tried the US site again. Guess what ?? No more Aus sponsors showing on the US site.

Could they inadvertantly made a mistake? Doubt it!!
How about, they may have been Beta Testing the US site!
Now why would they be doing that??? I wonder!!!

IMHO!!

Good night all!!


Cheers markco

[ihelpyou]

Welcome to the forums Markco! :hi:

I am happy you decided to share your info and make a post in here. Urge the others to do the same! It's very good to hear about things from the perspective of shareholders.

I do think LS is walking a very fine line here. Let's make one thing very clear. Two years ago, LS was still kind of unknown to the general public. Because of 'foru' around and people who make up those fora, is the main reason Looksmart has grown to where they are now. We have continued to praise them and continued to promote them time and time again. It's us who are on the front lines between Looksmart and the regular johnDoe web site. We are the ones communicating through email and over the phones on a daily basis to our business associates, our partners, our friends, and our clients. We have been the movers and shakers in the Looksmart movement since day one.

As you know, I have been a staunch supporter of Looksmart. Do I have lots of bucks? Heck no. Do I deal with lots of small businesses? Heck yes. Do I communicate with lots of small business in ways other than a client relationship? Heck yes.

Small business is what has grown Looksmart to what they are. They have seemed to forget that basic fact. We are the ones who have the biggest 'mouths' and speak out to everything coming our way.

In my opinion, the new deal is screwing us. Believe me, I understand that all businesses need to make money. I just think that the way to make money is not only through those big businesses that can spend the most dollars. How will this benefit the everyday searcher who goes to MSN only because it it the default search engine in his/her browser? Please explain WHO the changes will benefit?

In what direction do you see the internet going if/when every search result you see anywhere are nothing but paid ads? Could this be the most beneficial way to achieve long term stability? Don't you think those engines who are moving to this model will surely not last for the long term? And what about those search engines waiting in the midst to capture market share away from Looksmart? There are MANY web sites out there who simply do not have the bucks to compete in this type of marketplace. Yet, those are the same sites who continue to display the best and most relevant content on the internet, and, I might add, with VERY few ads cluttering up their web sites.

I have to add this:

You say you have viewed in here for awhile as well as others have. I am sure you and others have learned a bunch about how the small business thinks and feels about things. With all these new changes, The very forums who are educating people as to the ways of the engines and promoting the engines in many, many ways, are the very same forums who will be left out in the cold With the Looksmart new business model.

Do you really think I can afford to keep funneling money into your directory when I have absolutely ZERO funds coming in for the forums? That seems to be the only way now to keep a good listing in MSN. Up to now, the forums are receiving a good many hits from Looksmart and all the partners. What will happen to ALL the good content in here since I refuse to sell advertising and will keep the forums the way they are? The answer seems to be I have to come up with MORE money to keep a presence in your directory. I will not do that as I don't have that money.

Looksmart and the partners will lose all the great content in here. Ultimately, the biggest losers are all those new webmasters and sites out there looking for answers at the search engines. When they can't find the good resources who will be left out? They LOSE in a big way.

[markco]

Morning ihelpyou,


2 years ago, Looksmart were in dire straits. They are still not out of the "woods". However, they are working to change that.

One of the reasons for my non-posting in the past was due to the barrage of posters that I expected to encounter, due to me being a shareholder, small one at that, and not wanting to make waves. I came here to learn and not to try to have to justify my very existance. I do not want to be singled out just because I am a shareholder.

As well, I am a small business, where I am hoping at some stage to set up a website. I follow other website search engines as well, only to learn. I am a newbie in the search engine world and am still getting a handle on the technical stuff.


==============================================
In my opinion, the new deal is screwing us. Believe me, I understand that all businesses need to make money. I just think that the way to make money is not only through those big businesses that can spend the most dollars. How will this benefit the everyday searcher who goes to MSN only because it it the default search engine in his/her browser? Please explain WHO the changes will benefit?


Answer:

As I don't have any insider knowledge and am a newbie
I cannot say at this stage who it will benefit. Time will tell.
The key driver to the answers your wanting won't be reflected in the shareprice initially. However, if Looksmart are gaining market share, then it will be reflected in the shareprice down the track.
Before everyone makes harsh judgements towards LS, they need to at least see if it is going to work and how LS are planning on making the changes. Like any change, some will do well out of it, whilst others will be angry.

You asked me in what way do I see search engines going. I think it will be "User Pays" just like any other form of media. Search Engines are in one of the most exciting stages - The linking of the Internet and Telecommunications. The 3G roll-out, though costly will be the next stage and someone (Users) will have to pay for it.

LS The Yellow Pages Model, I expect will play a significant role over the next couple of years. It will depend on who the major partners are. This is purely my opinion.
Have you invited any of the PR people from LS to this forum?
Afterall, they are the ones who can answer your questions.

Look forward to more discussion.


Cheers markco

[Alan Perkins]

Hi markco

Don't worry, I realise you don't work for Looksmart. :)

I was interested to see whether you would mention searchers in your reply, and sorry to see that you didn't. IMO searcher satisfaction is the key to long term success for any search engine. In your opinion, do Looksmart's current actions increase searcher satisfaction (or decrease it or leave it unchanged)?

I would also be interested in your opinion of this:

http://www.commercialalert.org/searchengines/searchengines.html

and whether Looksmart's current actions represent a step in the right direction towards some of the genuine concerns that document raises, especially the points raised in section C.

These are the kinds of things that would be worrying me if I was an investor. Not to mention the fact that Looksmart appears to be alienating most of the very community that brings them the businesses that pay to be in their directory.

[Kal]

Hi Markco :hi: and welcome from a fellow Aussie.

Nice to see you here and good that you have "de-cloaked" at last. Like Alan, I too was surprised that you didn't mention the everyday searcher as being one of Looksmart's primary customers IYO, given that is clearly who the site is aimed at. Could you expand on this a bit?

[ihelpyou]

Yes. I think markco is referring to a customer as one who is 'paying' Looksmart. Searchers do not pay.

I do believe this is one of the biggest flaws in many search engines thinking. They truly believe that their customers are those who pay. They are kind of blind to the fact that if there were no searchers, there would be no directory or search engine. The searchers define whose results they like. If they see and realize lots of results are 'paid ads', they will go elsewhere. This is why many engines and directories try so hard to disguise/conceal exactly what and how the listing got there.

This is also why we see lawsuits being filed against some major search engines and directories. Eventually the sneaky ways will be snuffed out.

[markco]

Hi Kal,Alan and Doug,


I thought it goes without saying that searchers are important.

Afterall, that is what I am. I search for information and try not to pay for it if I can help it.

You may be surprised, but I don't have my homepage as Looksmart but rather choose "Yahoo US" because I like the format. However, I would never invest in the company as they are way overpriced and have a high level of debt.

As I still see LS as being a major force within the search engine directory within the next couple of years they are a focus of investment for me. If I decide to set up a website, I will choose Looksmart. Why? Because my $$ are invested in them.

One example that I previously mentioned was banks. I don't agree with everything that alot of the banks do but if I have an investment in one of them I am more concerned about my investment than the day today issues.

Perhaps LS should be looking at encouraging more shareholders by offering discount PPC and the re-occurring fees. That way you may be more inclined to want to use thier service and invest in them.

Just another point Doug, You mentioned about not placing banner adds all over this forum. Why not? I use other sites all the time that have Banner Adds. Not a problem at all.

It would be nice to see a Looksmart/ Yahoo/ MSN pasted up.

Enjoy the rest of the day.

Cheers markco

[Alan Perkins]

Hi markco

One thing you said earlier was that the Yahoo/Overture deal expires April 24. I don't think it ends until mid-year. AOL/Overture is April 24. IMO Google Adwords is a stronger contender than Looksmart to replace Overture on Yahoo.com (there is already a relationship between the two dot coms), if indeed Overture are replaced rather than renewed by Yahoo. The AOL deal is different, as there is a relationship between AOL and Looksmart, but again Overture is a strong contender to retain the business.

[markco]

Hi Allen,

My apologies.

You are right. It is the AOL/OVER contract that expires on the 24th and Yahoo/Over around mid-June.

Cheers markco

[ihelpyou]

hey markco,
You mentioned about not placing banner adds all over this forum. Why not?
I guess I am more concerned with members in here than anything else. I know how upset I get when going to a site(unmentioned) and the banner ads take forever to load up and make the experience a very unpleasant one. When members come here they know it is free from that stuff. Their browser won't freeze up on them and pages can load fairly quickly. Besides, there is more good content in here than at 90% of the other sites out there. I think that in itself deserves good listings at any directory, especially Looksmart. You would think they would want the content in the directory for their searchers and partners. But maybe I am wrong. What happens to the forum listings when all the 'free clicks' are used up in the month? Yeah, I take it the listings are dumped. Does not make good business sense if you are a directory that claims relevant search results and also wishes to remain a viable directory in the years to come.

[excell]

Wouldn't these resource forums go under the non commercial content of Looksmart via zeal? I think Looksmart do well at promoting information sites for free.

But I might be missing the point re: the relevence of a few top spots or so on yahoo where they wouldn't be included (and I shouldn't image they would seek to be, as they are "paid for" etc.)?

[ihelpyou]

Oh yes excell. That is why it will be interesting to see how they and MSN actually display the results. I am thinking that anything that will make LS money will be displayed over those listings that are in for free.

Actually, the front page of the forums paid the 199 fee last June to Looksmart. Other forums in here got in for free in Zeal. Because I paid for the front page, it will be buried under as I will NOT pay for PPC.