Looksmart was the first to combine natural search results with Pay per click, in April 02. They started by charging $0.15 per click that your website received from them. However the ranking of your site would be decided by their editors who would review each website manually... much like the Yahoo directory.

Well... the model didn't work! People revolted against Looksmarts policy which was retrospect in nature. So every existing website would also have to adopt the new $0.15/click model.

2 years down, yahoo has decided to follow the same approach... well in part atleast. Taking advantage of Inktomi's search technology and its own gigantic user reach, Yahoo has decided to offer Inktomi's traditional express Inclusion with a twist - $49 for the first URL to be accepted for express submission and then $0.30 or $0.15 per click.

Yahoo, like Looksmart, says that relevancy of results will not be affected. Results will appear depending on the level of optimization. So what is the problem here?

The problem is the pay per click. Now if I want my site crawled every 48 hours so that it is kept current in the search engine results, I will end up paying yahoo per visitor it sends me. For a content site or a site which sells products where the profit margin is really low, the cost per click is just not viable.

I had this chat with a business owner who uses his website to sell a product that earns him $20 per sale. Taking an average conversion rate of 1% that most ecommerce sites enjoy, at $0.30 per click, he would be spending $30 per sale which would earn him $20. So what are his options? Forget the yahoo express inclusion service and just hopes that yahoo keeps its word and doesn't push down his website once it moves up over the next few months using natural inclusions and traditional SEO techniques.

Ofcourse as most search engine optimization consultants will tell you, the real controversy in Looksmarts program was retroactive nature of the company's decision to change to cost per click model (i.e. - websites already present in the directory were asked to switch to a CPC model and were given $300 worth of clicks as an incentive). Ofcourse by announcing that already present sites will not be affected, Yahoo has avoided this issue altogether.

With just one week to go before Yahoo completely implements this new model, it won't be long before all our queries and questions are answered. So till then, my personal opinion - Wait and Watch... The search engine industry is changing at the speed of thought.

Author - Vishal Sampat

Convonix Inc is a search engine optimization firm that offers customized SEO optimization and PPC campaign management solutions. We manage hundreds of SEO and PPC campaigns. Our clients include Web design firms, adveritising agencies, fortune 500 companies and SMEs. Other internet marketing companies can also Outsource SEO to us in India.

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