The Long Tail - Nov07

comScore scores Google hot, Microsoft not

Following the comScore release of its study detailing the figures of global worldwide searches launched in August 2007, bloggers have reacted with their fingers, posting opinions and insights about why Google is so hot, and why Asia Pacific engines like Baidu.com and Korea's NHN should keep Microsoft and Yahoo on red alert.

SEO Blog

URL

http://www.metamend.com/blog/

Blogger

Jim Hedger

The post: Thoughts on comScore Search Market Share Numbers

What it says: Among other things, Hedger notes the rise of Baidu and NHN but suggests that their inclusion on the list is due to a new method of measuring comScore announced but the inclusion does show how important the Asian Pacific market is becoming. He expects the view of search markets to change rapidly.

"The August 2007 comScore search market share numbers continue to promote interesting thoughts about the global search market. Google is rising in popularity, Yahoo is falling slightly and nation specific engines Baidu and NHN are gaining strength. September's market-share numbers should be even more interesting as students return to school in the northern hemisphere".

Beanstalk's SEO News Blog

URL

http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/blog/index.htm

Blogger

Dave Davies

The post: MSN Takes A Blow

What it says: Micrsoft has lost out to Baidu.com and who the heck is NHN? Beanstalk's SEO News Blog is not surprised by the comScore data and reckons that if the survey counted access from cyber cafes or mobile phones and PDA's, Asian market search engines like Baidu.com could more further up the rankings.

"...it appears that the Asian market is far more active that many of us may have assumed. In retrospect, if we had really thought of it, would we have been surprised? I for one am not shocked by the data but it has reminded me that there are important markets outside of North America and Europe and it's high time we started paying closer attention to them".

EightBlack

URL

http://blog.eightblack.com/

Blogger

Simon Chen

The post: Google charges further ahead

What it says: Chen reckons Google is just getting started and the comScore figures show difficult it will be for Yahoo and Microsoft Live to compete, and in some respects it's the very reason why others are pursuing completely different models.

"Jerry Yang at Yahoo has got to be doing some soul searching and you can bet Ballmer at Microsoft threw another chair at the wall when this latest report came out... I don't think the average person switches search engines easily. The advantage Google has is that its now a part of our DNA, our dictionary and vocabulary. My question to you is this. What would make you switch?"

Kevin Kelly - The Technium

URL

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/index.php

Blogger

Kevin Kelly

The post: How much does one search cost?

What it says: The Technium, which are blog postings in the form of a book in progress, ponders how ever-present is Google's search and estimates the full value of search by using the market cap of the largest search provider.

"According to the same ComScore research, people around the world searched the web -- using all search engines - some 67 billion times in one August 2007. Taking this for a rough monthly average, humans now make 804 billion searches in one year. If each search increases the efficiency and serendipity of our lives by 26 cents worth (assuming Google is a guide and it may not be), then the total yearly worth of web search is US$209 billion. I don't expect anyone to seriously believe these amateur calculations; they are only intended to provide some scale. The value of web search is in the hundreds of billions but what is most interesting to me, is that this huge ‘industry' has materialised out of nowhere".