Question

Topic: Strategy

Are Search Engines Becoming Extinct?

Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 2/16/2004 at 3:00 AM ET 125 Points
I think we are all on they same page when it comes to the fact that being in the top 10 of a major search engine is a definate plus.

But given the fact you can buy and/or bid placement, are search engines truly giving us the best results?

Or are they turning into online "Billboards"?

Furthermore, if they are indeed turning into "Billboards", do you think companies will "go with the flow" and continue feeding the monster...budget vs. budget....eventually running the engines out of gas and turning them into a new species of big online commercial indexes? Is this good or bad?

Of course, I'm speaking from a business/marketing standpoint...not necessarily including the general info, research, university sites etc. (which would inadvertantly get pushed even further down the rankings as a result).

What do you think?

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  • Posted on 2/16/2004 at 5:50 AM Accepted
    Whoah. Extinct? Hold on there Yoda. Now would you or any other consumer or user out there be happy using a big famished monster billboard as a search engine? No. And viable, smart businesses are starting to listen to us little consumers.

    We are getting smarter every day (well, most of us. I feel like I've got a cotton ball for a brain today) and require/expect a certain professionalism from their search engines.

    I don't think that Google would fall into the kind of trap you're suggesting. Especially because those companies who pay for a top ten spot do so because Google's apparent "neutrality" is its value.

    Should it become another online Billboard there will be a new unbiased competitor just around the corner.
  • Posted on 2/16/2004 at 6:52 AM Member
    Great question ;-)
    Hmmm, no, not extinct, but evolving.

    Google is the ultimate expression of a fast text search. But look @ the number of variations on that basic text-search formula that they're coming up with:https://www.google.co.uk/options/ and https://labs.google.com/ - I make it over a dozen variations on a theme.
    For me, the interesting evolution is the shift from text results towards graphics. So Google's Viewer - https://labs.google.com/gviewer.html, or Touchgraph https://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html produces a simple relational map - as does Grokker. https://www.groxis.com/service/grok/g_prod_grok_screens.html I liked the thinking behind Mapstan, which built a profile of the pages you've visited, and maps related sites that may be of interest. But it's not live right now.

    Kartoo is still around https://www.kartoo.com/ - better (faster) than ever. Free, and no download. Arguably the best of the graphics results search engines.

    As bandwidth grows, I'd expect to see graphic results becoming normal.

    Will Rowan
  • Posted by ReadCopy on 2/18/2004 at 4:24 AM Member
    Mmmm, yes and no I guess, a bit like the answer thecustomer gave above they are evolving into a hybrid, where people who search will look for the ppc ads ... me, I never seem to look at them!

    I think the jury is out of overall effectiveness of the ppc model (https://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=10173).

    It will be interesting to see if current advertisers stay with the schemes, but I guess that they are cheap enough (cost effective!) to retain as a background tactic.

    I guess this answer doesn't help much, just adds to the noise! No-one really knows right now what will happen to search engines in the future :-)
  • Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 2/20/2004 at 9:52 AM Author
    Ok...I'm convinced they will not become extinct because and ONLY because...if they do what I skeptically predicted, that opens the door for new companies to fill the role....as many of you have mentioned.

    A lot of you only made mention of their current differentiation, not the possible future trend or consequences when everyone and their dog decides to buy google-ads etc.

    Thanks to those who answered the question, you get the points. Thanks also to those who simply gave me a recant of the current state of search engines.

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