| Google is the big dog among the
search engines and search directories. In one estimate, Google
holds more than 80-percent of the search traffic for the entire
Internet while all of the other search engines and directories
combined parse and claim the remaining 20-percent. With many
of the other top search engines and directories going to the
pay-per-click and / or pay-per-inclusion models, Google remains
the lone bastion of free for all (outside of the paid advertising
at the very top or on the right panel) inclusion.
In a recent interview, MSN (Microsoft) founder Bill Gates
has stated of the search engine wars, "Google has kicked
our butts."
Why is Google so popular? First, it is very fast. The Northern
California search giant has a huge array of hardware, doing
calculations and spitting out results at lightning speed.
Second, the results are relevant. If you search for "t-shirts"
you will get websites that are all about t-shirts in the results
rather than, say, and insurance company that happens to be
the highest bidder on this keyword.
Third, Google is fun. On a past April Fool's Day, Google
unveiled it secret PigeonRank technology behind its ranking
algorithms. PigeonRank is basically a roomful of pigeons pecking
away at keyboards establishing the search results for all
websites on the search engine. The precursor to this technology
was a roomful of monkeys at typewriters banging out Shakespearian
plays. Also, Google likes to change its graphical masthead
according to holidays and other important current events.
Fourth, Google is simple. Google's interface does not bombard
the visitor with news, sports, weather, banner ads and flash
animations like some other search engines and directories
do. Often imitated, never duplicated, Google's design still
remains fresh and clean.
If a website owner had to choose only one search engine to
be listed on, it would have to be Google. Google provides
many businesses with the bulk of their traffic and has to
be the first priority when thinking about where to be listed
on the Internet.
Google recently revamped their algorithms by introducing
the Florida (or Hilltop) algorithm reshuffling their results
to the dismay of many. The introduction of Hilltop into Google's
search engine rankings meant that many websites currently
enjoying top 10 status dropped out of sight.
After Hilltop showed itself to have some problems of its
own, Google decide to base their search engine listing on
their older technology, PageRank along with the newer Hilltop
technology. The most recent Google ranking are derived from
both PageRank and Hilltop and may stay this way for some time
to come.
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