Google - Google made some minor tweaks to their algorithm again in later January however these weren't nearly as significant as the changes they made toward the end of 2003. - In most of the categories we monitor there were only minor shifts in rankings. In a few of the categories, however, the rankings shifted significantly even though evidence still only indicates minor adjustments in the algorithm.
Overture - Overture adds new bidding options - Overture has added the ability for you to adjust your bids based on standard, phrase or broad match. You won't notice these options unless you click on the search term in the Manage Products section of the DirecTraffic Center.
When you click on the keyword phrase, a window pops up and you can select which (standard, phrase, broad) selections you want to bid on and your bid amounts. ... Overture provides the opportunity to get your site listed at the top of the engines in as little as three to five days – for a price. Although this presents a huge advantage to savvy direct marketers, there are pitfalls that you should definitely avoid.
Inktomi - No recent changes for Inktomi.
AltaVista - No recent changes for AltaVista.
Fast - No major changes for FAST (Alltheweb.com).
Lycos - FAST updates about every 9 to 12 days but sometimes will take as long as 30 days or more for some sites. Lycos Sponsored Links now come from the Lycos InSite Adbuyer program which is powered by FindWhat
MSN - Late January MSN launched a new tool bar somewhat similar to the ones at AltaVista and others. The features include a popup blocker and links to MSN services like Hotmail, Messenger, MSN Search, etc.
ODP - No recent changes
LookSmart - The end is near.
Yahoo - Yahoo to drop Google, 1st Qtr 2004 - January 14th, Yahoo announced in an interview with ZDnet that they would be swapping out Google for Inktomi as their primary provider of web search results. ...
Of course we've been hearing this for quite some time now but this is the first time that Yahoo has officially stated the obvious switch will actually take place sometime in the 1st quarter of 2004.
