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When purchasing a new or used car people often have a hard time finding exactly what it is that you are looking for.  In the USA there are lots of services that have started posting classifieds online, basically listings that you can sort by brand, model, features etc.  However most of these companies all had [...]

comScore today released its first report on the U.K. search market from its enhanced comScore qSearch 2.0 online search measurement tool. The service, which was first launched in the U.K. in September 2007, has been updated to include several local market properties where search activity occurs, such as Rightmove Sites and Bebo.com.

I discussed how this expanded definition of “search” changes the landscape in the U.S. back in March in an article entitled, “Introduction to Search Engine Marketing at SES New York 2008.”

In the U.K., Google Sites continued its reign as the leading search property in April with 74.2 percent of all searches. eBay ranked second with 6 percent, followed by Yahoo! Sites (4.3 percent) and Microsoft Sites (3.4 percent).

Two U.K. properties, Rightmove Sites (0.8 percent share) and Bebo.com (0.7 percent share), ranked amongst the top 10. Popular social networking property, Facebook.com, claimed a 1.8-percent market share in April.

Yes, people conduct searches at social networking sites. It’s not your father’s SEO.

Last week, Google launched Google Merchant Search. This week, Edward Cowell, Director of digital marketing agency Guava; says, ““Google Merchant Search will truly put the cat amongst pigeons for some of Google’s biggest search advertisers, the financial services comparison websites.”

Price comparison websites are big business in the UK and all the major industry players
advertise heavily on Google. Research by Resolution Foundation shows that 45% of UK adults used a comparison site to help them make a financial decision in the last year and that the price-comparison market is estimated to be growing at 30% a year.

That’s why the launch of the new service comes at a critical time for Google and its financial services advertisers. Says Cowell, “Most big financial services websites are just coming to terms with a marked increase in their paid search advertising budgets due to the recent changes in Google’s trademark bidding policies, so Merchant Search could be rubbing salt into the wound.”

Sites such as Ebay have boycotted Google Adwords by withdrawing its adverting when Google attempted to encroach on PayPal’s territory. So, uprisings are not unheard of in the search arena.

That’s why Cowell and the rest of the industry is waiting to see how the price comparisons companies react to the launch of Merchant Search.

The major Microsoft Live Search announcement scheduled for tomorrow will be the official launch of a new product: Microsoft Live Search Cash Back.

The program in partnership with eBay and its PayPal unit will offer cash back to consumers who search on Microsoft Live and make a purchase. The announcement will be made in conjunction with a taped message from eBay CEO John Donahoe. The technology is based on the acquisition of Jellyfish by Microsoft in September, 2007.

The announcement is expected to be made by Satya Nadella, SVP Search, portal & Advertising Platform Group, Microsoft, prior to Bill Gates’ presentation on “Connecting the Future.” The goal is to differentiate Microsoft’s vertical search experience for users while leveraging improvements in the core search algorithm.

Microsoft believes the Live Search Cash Back program will align the interests of consumers and the search engine, putting Microsoft “on the same side as the consumer.”

The job of Live Search will be to match the most relevant products with the most relevant consumers.

Microsoft will likely offer advertisers a CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition) model rather than a traditional search engine Cost-Per-Click (CPC) auction.

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, said in a taped interview that the program would help overcome the barriers of first-time buyers of shoes online.

A Barnes & Noble executive stated that clickthrough rates and purchases had increased through the use of the Jellyfish pilot program.

The following message is posted on the Jellyfish.com Web site:

“As part of our pledge to save you money on the products you buy, our Cash Back rewards service is currently offline to perform necessary service upgrades and enhancements. Jellyfish Account holders will receive an e-mail notification when our Cash Back service is up and running again. Thanks for your patience.

Using Jellyfish, consumers could compare prices of products from a number of online stores. Retailers paid Jellyfish fees to feature products. A portion of that fee was refunded to consumers who bought through the Jellyfish site.

Jellyfish also offered “Smack Auctions.” During each Smack show, Jellyfish would auction off new products in a unique price dropping format. Every second that ticks off the clock, Jellyfish would drop the price of the product, until the deal sold out.

Jellyfish founder Brian Wiegand is agroup manager at Microsoft. Last year, ye stated, Microsoft is “investing heavily in shopping and e-commerce.”

Microsoft closed the deal on Sept. 27, 2007 but didn’t announce it until Oct. 2, 2007.

This isn’t the first foray of Microsoft into the world of search engine incentives.

Microsoft Live Club is an ongoing experiment with incentivizing searchers but never on the Live Search Cash Back scale. For example, Microsoft Live Search Club lets users play games. A completed gives earns tickets toward prizes, such as Zune accessories, song downloads and ringtones.

Microsoft’s official statement on the announcement:

On Wednesday, we will be announcing a major new initiative that our search teams have been driving. We are getting better and better with our core algorithmic search, and at the same time, we are investing to differentiate in vertical experiences and to disrupt the current model. You’ll hear more about our plans Wednesday.

So many Europeans use Google for search, you have to wonder if they know that other search engines exist. A whopping 79% of searches were conducted on Google in the month of March, according to comScore. That amounts to 19 billion. No wonder European regulators are so wary of a Googleopoly.

Coming in second was eBay with 3.1% followed by Russian search engine Yandex with 2.2%. Yahoo came in fourth at 2.0% with Microsoft rounding out the top 5 at 1.9%.

Google’s overwhelming dominance didn’t prevent the EU from approving its acquisition of DoubleClick earlier this year.

Related Reading:
European Group Wants to Cut Search Engine Data Storage
comScore launches Video Metrix in Canada, France, Germany and UK
Google on Global Search Standards: Thanks, But No Thanks

Searchers may prefer Google, but when it comes to developing so-called Web 2.0 sites, web developers rated Microsoft/Windows Live the best, according to a report by Evans Data Corp. Google did come in second with Yahoo coming in third. Incidentally, Google and Amazon came in first and second respectively when it comes to ease of use.

Neither ease of use or overall ranking directly correlated with profits. Paypal and eBay brought in the most dollars - albeit barely. And Paypal was apparently the bain of many a developers’ existence. It ranked the worst

And while Facebook may be popular among users, developers found it to be one of the most cumbersome APIs to work with, coming in second to last. Ironically, Microsoft owns a 20% share in Facebook.

via ComputerWorld

Related Reading:
So You Wanna Be a SearchMonkey?
Microsoft Tries to Compete with OpenSocial
Google, Yahoo & MySpace Team Up for OpenSocial

Google’s YouTube is the dominant video search engine in the world. So if you’re looking for a “divorce” where else would you search? YouTube divorce, naturally.

Divorce by YouTube? Sure, we can think of lots of ways online video could lead to marital dis-bliss. But using YouTube to prevent a divorce? Brilliant.

Apparently that’s the thinking - or lack thereof - behind UK actress and playwright Tricia Walsh-Smith. She lives in New York (Park Avenue!), sometimes with her husband, Schubert Organization President Phil Smith, the broadway impresario who’s evicting her from their posh apartment.

That’s the set for this UGC reality show. Getting picked up by one of the cable networks, though, or another millionaire is a likely outcome for Ms. Walsh-Smith, who joins the short but impressive list of women scorned who exacted their pound of flesh online.

In the late ’80s, “Trish the Dish Best Served Cold” wrote the now quite appropriately named play, Bonkers. Several of her plays, including’ “Addictions,” “Change the Day” and “The Last Journey,” are scheduled to open in London this year.

Her rant replaces what the UK Telegraph journalist Aislinn Simpson revealed as a bizarre but effective revenge plot - at least to Desperate American Housewives: “stuffing fish fingers” in the curtain rod.

Of course in the Battle of the Ex-es and Sex(es) in the City, men aren’t sitting idly by while women take over the search engine world. (Unless you’re the famously eBay-ted Jimmy “Jimbo” Wales who had his wiki waxed by ex-girlfriend airing his dirty laundry on eBay.)

Try a YouTube search for keyword ”crazy ex-girlfriend voicemail.”

See the full uncensored and unexpurgated video rant after the jump:

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Search startup Cuill has announced $25 million in venture capital as part of a second round of funding. Among those behind the new search engine are search experts from Google, IBM, eBay, Alta Vista, Xerox PARC, the Internet Archive and Stanford University.

Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Tom Costello said that Cuill “is using breakthroughs in search architecture and technological advances to create a new paradigm in search, and we now have the resources to reach the next level in pure search.”

Previously, Cuill raised $8 million from Tugboat Ventures and Greylock Partners.

Related Reading:
Visual Search Engine Searchme Launches Private Beta
ReachLocal Scores $55M Funding
Google Loses Rock Star CIO to EMI Music
Google Ad Sales Exec Exits
Facebook Hires Sandberg to Make Microsoft’s $240 Million Investment Pay Off

The gag order on details surrounding the recent FCC spectrum auction has been lifted, and Google is revealing some behind-the-scenes information about their participation in the bidding.

While some had speculated Google only made the minimum $4.6 billion reserve price to force the C block into accepting open applications, Google said that it did bid above the reserve. They also said they were winning for several days, but in the end Verizon won the C block auction.

All was not lost, however, as the FCC did agree to 2 of the 4 “open” conditions Google was pushing for. And Google is lobbying the FCC to auction off “white spaces” on the TV spectrum to make more options available for mobile users. Plus, they re-affirmed the expectation that the first Android handsets will be released later this year.

And in case you’ve ever thought that bidding on a high-ticket item on eBay was nerve-wracking, consider this: Google says, “Bidding took place electronically, and literally billions of dollars were at stake with every mouse click.”

Sir Riichard Branson launched a new vertical search engine, Virgin Charter, that promises to revolutionize high-end corporate travel and last minute luxury travel.

Scott Duffy, Virgin Charter CEO, said his search engine combines three of the best ideas on the Internet: local search user and seller reviews (eBay); Priceline’s auction; and the “simplicity of Expedia.”

They’re partnering exclusively, though, with Travelocity Business as online business travel agency. Virgin Charter’s targeting the $30 billion market for private air travel with an online auction marketplace.

To put the private charter “size of market” in perspective, $30 billion is roughly the total size of the search market. That’s one reason why vertical search promises exponential growth in coming years.

Last year JPMorgan Chase predicted search would reach more than $30 billion this year. Search totaled just over $26 billion in 2007. The JP Morgan Chase forecast estimated search could reach $60 billion by 2011.

On the Virgin Charter “Travel 2.0″ site, you can submit a trip request (standard vertical search engine data: preferred trip dates, locations, special requests) to charter air operators. The Virgin Charter system sends your request to a network of safety-certified charter carriers.

As with LendingTree and financial services vertical search engines, you compare custom quotes and offers. Charter operators openly compete to win your business, offering detailed quotes based on your request.

Searchers can select based on price, operator, plane type, flyer reviews, and (J.D. Power) quality ratings. On some flights, smoking may be permitted. Some operators may allow pets to travel. No word on whether snakes are allowed on any planes.

Virgin Charter also offers “Hot Deals” - empty legs - inventory that the charter industry traditionally allows to perish. That’s great news for the hotel industry. Virgin Charter may create a new class of passenger: the last minute luxury traveler.

An empty leg is the outbound or return flight of a trip that’s been partially booked.
Virgin Charter lets searchers bid on an empty leg flight. The charter operator would decide whether to accept the offer or counter. It’s like Priceline with humans, a bazaar concept in which buyer and seller might haggle.

Virgin markets empty legs as “the greener way to go” since the plane must fly. Unless of course, it doesn’t. Virgin cautions people that an empty leg flight may change or be cancelled since it’s based on a trip for another passenger. If that customer changes his originating flight, you’re out of luck. Empty legs should be used for last minute travel when your schedule’s flexible.

The early adopters? More likely to be the low-end FHM Top 10 or Sci-Fi starlets like Victoria Pratt, Melissa George, Natasha Henstridge or Claudia Black.

Personal assistants to Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and even the Real Housewives of New York City wouldn’t dare risk empty leg syndrome.

Pics after the jump.

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