MSN Search sporting a new look

[Mel]

HI all:

Check out the new look at MSN search this week. It appears to me that MSN have moved their beta search onto the main site now. with three overture "sponsored sites" at the top of the page, then Looksmart directory sites, then Ink web pages, but I have yet to see any "Featured Sites"

BUT

the MSNranking algo seems very different when looking at LS results and with far fewer LS listings appearing than before. In many cases where there were previoulsy up to ten LS listings there are now only one, and where there were up to 200 LS listings there are now only 100 or so.

This has lots of implications for Look$mart, but IMO does not appear to be particularly advantageous for them.

[Mel]

Stop the presses MSN has changed the SERPS yet again, and this time it looks like they are shafting all their subscribers - To me, right now MSNs SERPs look like this:

First Featured Sites.
Second Overture Listings ONLY if the top result costs more than fifteen cents otherwise No Overture listings
Third (or second) Looksmart listings but with a new ranking algo.
Last of all Ink results.


Does this now make MSN a pay for placement engine???

And they are showing Overture as sponsored listings, but Looksmart as directory listings, What will the FCC make of this?

More questions than answers, but this seems to be changing daily and the end of the month no money in the kitty dropout of LS results is going to give MSN some very funny results.


MORE POWER TO GOOGLE the only honest engine left???

[ihelpyou]

LOL. What a big mess. Looksmart and MSN are the jokes of the search engine world. LOL