Yahoo stops using Google search
In 2004, Yahoo stopped using Google’s web search results and rolled out its own new index and ranking system.
Although Yahoo had purchased Inktomi in December 2002, Yahoo opted to build its own web search engine. Yahoo still relied on Google for image search and and News search was a combination of Yahoo’s own editorial and technological resources.
The quality of Yahoo’s results were impressive at the time. As for what was being indexed:
“The Yahoo Search index is capturing the full text of web pages, up to a 500K limit. This is greater than the 101K maximum indexed by Google. A broad range of file types, including HTML, PDF, and Microsoft Office documents is also included in the mix.
How big is Yahoo’s index? They aren’t saying, despite Google’s announcement yesterday that it has expanded its index to nearly 4.3 billion documents (6 billion, if you count images and newsgroup postings, as Google does).
Interestingly, in almost all of my tests with random queries, Yahoo reports more results found than Google. Does this mean that Yahoo’s index is bigger? Perhaps — but reported results are estimates, not exact counts. They also can include factors other than keyword matches and so are notoriously unreliable measures of overall index size. Suffice to say that Yahoo’s index is comparable to Google’s for most queries.”
– Search Engine Watch, Yahoo! Birth of a New Machine
At the time, Microsoft had yet to launch its own web crawler for MSN Search, and Ask Jeeves/Teoma was the only other top tier search engine available.
Search Engine Land also wished Yahoo a happy 5th birthday in 2009.
Also on this day
Google testing questions and answers in the Google Maps interface
2022: This feature first launched in 2017 in the local panel and Google appears to be testing it in Google Maps.
LinkedIn’s Service Pages for freelancers adds features to showcase credibility
2022: Service Page owners could show the organization they worked for and include media from their portfolio.
Google updated metric boundaries for core web vitals in Search Console
2021: Google made a small change to the metric boundaries it used for defining red versus yellow versus green scores in this report.
Responsive search ads now the default in Google Ads
2021: Though expanded text ads could still be created.
Google brings Display ads to attribution reports as an open beta
2021: Advertisers could see Display ads alongside search and YouTube.
Google Search Console Change of Address tool adds redirect validation & reminder
2020: Google announced two new features to the Change of Address tool within Google Search Console.
Google Ads intros ‘continuous audience sharing’ for manager accounts
2020: The opt-in capability was available in manager account settings.
Goodbye Search Engine Land, SMX and Third Door Media
2020: After more than two decades of writing about search and online marketing, as well as speaking at and organizing conferences, Chris Sherman moved on.
Marketers can now view Shopping Campaigns in Bing Ads search terms reporting
2019: The updated reporting grid also included an Added/Excluded keywords column.
Tell Google Why You Want More Than 90 Days Of Search Analytics Data
2016: Despite having a way to export your Search Console data and the Search Analytics API, Google wanted to know why you wanted more data directly in the Search Console.
Google To Launch AMP In Search Results On Feb. 24, 2016
2016: That meant that mobile searchers wou8ld begin to see AMP-optimized content from publishers in the search results.
New In AdWords: Stage Campaign Changes In Drafts, Test Changes In Experiments
2016: Campaign drafts and experiments made reviewing proposed changes and testing those changes more accessible.
Since 2013 Bing’s Share Up 5 Points, Ask & AOL Going Way Of The BlackBerry
2016: There was almost no movement in the numbers from the previous month.
Trademark Court’s Impossible Order: Uber Told To Change Google Search Results
2016: Judge tried to strike a balance but failed to understand the inherent problem at the heart of order – controlling search outcomes.
Bing Rolls Out Red Carpet For The Oscars With Its “Academy Awards Experience”
2016: Bing’s Guide to the Academy Awards delivered Oscar-related content, including past winners, red carpet fashions and memorable show moments.
See All Of The New Google AdWords Updates On One Web Page
2015: Google created a new page that acts as a release notes document for showing advertisers the latest updates and feature releases.
Competitive Bid Opportunities Arrive On Bing To Help Advertisers Analyze Themselves Against Rivals
2015: Tool allowed advertisers to stack themselves up against the competition, and instantly make changes where they see fit.
Google Testing More Ads On Knowledge Graph Panels: Google Play Gets The Spotlight
2014: Ads on the knowledge graph were for movie streaming rentals that gave Google Play the VIP treatment.
Out Of Beta: Google Shopping Campaigns For PLAs Now Available Globally
2014: After just over a 3-month beta period, Google rolled out Shopping campaigns to all users.
Bing Adds Three New Apps For Windows Phones: Travel, Food & Drink and Health & Fitness
2014: Bing added three new apps for the Windows Phone and refreshed several of their other apps.
Aviate Is Yahoo’s Answer To Google Now (And More)
2014: But it wasn’t “robust” enough to fulfill its strategic potential.
Delivering On Search: Behind The Scenes With An Ad Agency SEO Manager
2014: Insight on Hillary Glaser’s role within ad agency Lowe Campbell Ewald and how she saw brands failing when it came to search efforts.
Google Works To Prevent Illegal Download Sites From Having A Credit Source
2013: Google was in talks with Visa, Mastercard and PayPal to prevent these types of companies from using credit cards or PayPal accounts.
Search Engines More Trusted Than Social Media For News & Information [Study]
2013: When it came to getting general news and information, consumers worldwide put as much trust in search engines as they did in traditional media — and more in both than they do in social media.
Reddit AMA Reveals Graph Search Has Been In The Works Since Early 2011 & Specs On How It Works
2013: One reason that Graph Search rolled out so slowly: privacy.
Court Reversal Brings Surprising Loss For Google In AdWords Trademark Case
2011: A Federal judge in California denied Google’s motion to dismiss a “false association” claim.
Obama’s Silicon Valley “Tech Supper” – Who Sat Where? Why Was He There?
2011: Google CEO Eric Schmidt was there, as was Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz.
Search In Pics: Google Lederhosen, Umbrellas & Logos
2011: The latest images showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more.
Is Google Referrer Spamming To Detect Spam?
2010: Possible evidence that Google was using fake referrers, possibly to detect forms of spam.
Google Gets Patent For Variable Content Access By Geography
2010: Google book scanning and search appeared to be the primary intended use case.
Yahoo & Microsoft Receive Go Ahead To Implement Search Deal
2010: They received “unrestricted” clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission to proceed.
Google Wants Mountain View To Change Zoning Laws
2010: Google wanted to enable their employees to live closer to the Googleplex, which would make for happier employees.
Google Maps On Steroids: New Display Shows Dozens Of Businesses (Maybe More)
2009: Google added a layer for local search results that activated when there were more relevant results than it could show on one page.
Google Expands AdSense For Domains Globally
2009: Google had promised to continue the expansion after making the program available to all U.S. publishers In December 2008.
Google Latitude Attracts A Million Users In A Week
2009: That’s what Google VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra said.
Google Finally Releases Google Mobile App For Windows Mobile
2009: Seven months after the release of the iPhone, Google brought their mobile app to the Windows Mobile device.
SearchBiz Legal Edition: Varney Uses The “M Word,” More AdWords Litigation, Yahoo Lawyer Files Complaint — Against Yahoo
2009: This question of whether Google was a “monopoly” when “the competition is a click away” was subtle and complex.
Google 10K: 55% More Employees, 99% Of Income Via Ads & More
2008: Advertising revenues made up 99% of Google’s revenues in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
It’s The Culture Stupid: Happy Googlers Sound Off On What They Like About The Place
2008: There was a self-conscious effort internally to maintain the atmosphere and culture that had enabled Google to succeed.
Google Contractor Sues Google Over Google Sky Layer
2008: A Google contractor sued Google for allegedly stealing a Sky layer idea from him.
Google Helps In Child Porn Bust In United States
2008: A high school teacher was indicted for distributing and soliciting child pornography on Google-owned Hello.com.
Blueprints Of Google’s Oregon Data Center
2008: The data center would require enough power to light up about 82,000 homes, equivalent to 103-megawatts of electricity.
Yahoo Buzz: Next Digg Competitor
2008: Yahoo Buzz would be similar to Digg, but start only with 100 sites allowed into the system.
Hitwise: Google Users Older, Bigger Spenders Than Yahoo’s
2008: Google users were more likely to be affluent and have spent more online.
From Search Marketing Expo (SMX)
Here’s how to use advanced audience tactics in Google and Bing
Past contributions from Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
These columns are a snapshot in time and have not been updated since publishing, unless noted. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.
2020: Build SEO seasonality projections with Google Trends in Python by Tyler Reardon
2020: Soapbox: SEO community must temper responses when idea-sharing to avoid shaming by Andrew McGarry
2019: Using automation to boost PPC performance by Ben Wood
2016: Everything Should Not Be A Blog Post: Start Using Silos by Patrick Stox
2016: Search Agency Metrics That Matter by Janet Driscoll Miller
2015: Local Businesses: How To Get Good Online Reviews That Build Business by George Aspland
2015: 3 New AdWords Automations You Can’t Afford To Miss by Frederick Vallaeys
2014: 5 Tips For Working With A PR Firm To Build Links by Casie Gillette
2013: Should You Upgrade To AdWords Enhanced Campaigns? by Brad Geddes
2013: How To Build Your Own Enterprise SEO Datastore by Ian Lurie
2013: 20+ Signals That Make Your Business Easier To Find In Local Search Engines by Andrew Shotland
2013: Mobile App API As A Future Ranking Factor In Mobile Search Results
2011: Google Webmaster Tools Advances Towards Analytics Savviness by Daniel Waisberg
2011: Why SEO Needs Its Own Reputation Management by Shari Thurow
2011: Quality Score Tracking Tool: An Interview With TenScores Founder Chris Thunder by Josh Dreller
2010: Day One Of Paid Search: Know Your Goals by Josh Dreller
2010: Organic Search & Paid Search: Are They Synergistic Or Cannibalistic? by Stephan Spencer
2010: Geo-Targeting For Local Placement: Just How Narrow Is OK? by Debra Northart
2009: B2B Marketers: Setting Expectations For Your SEO Campaign by Julie Shumaker
2008: All Clicks Aren’t Created Equal: Q&A With Danny Sullivan by Alan Rimm-Kaufman
2008: Virtual Blight & The Ten Commandments For Online Marketers by Jonathan Hochman
2008: Micro-hoo, AOL-hoo, Goog-hoo: The Internet Yellow Pages Perspective by Neg Norton
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