Desperately seeking surfers; Web programmers try to alter search engines' results
Article Abstract:
Web site developers are looking for ways to alter search statistics in order to place their sites at the top of lists displayed when a user's search is completed. Consultants offer suggestions on how to accomplish this, while the developers of search services are working hard to stay one step ahead of them. The most common approach is to load a site with specific keywords, a technique referred to as 'keyword stuffing'. The keywords are hidden, sometimes behind graphics or by displaying them in black against a black background. The search engine will count the keywords and display the site higher in the relevancy ranking. Repeating the words several times increases the count. Some Web site administrators have placed complete dictionaries on the first page of their site. The approach diminishes the credibility of the search process and irritates users. Most search engines now employ filters that recognize repetition and other keyword stuffing techniques.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1996
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V-chip and ratings are close to giving parents new power
Article Abstract:
Advances in V-chip development will soon allow parents to screen television programming. The FCC in Mar 1998 passed a ratings system for TV networks to coordinate with V-chip equipped TV. This system includes age limits, as well as listing program sex, violence, suggestive dialogue or profanity. Another FCC order requires all future computers with a built-in TV tuner to contain a V-chip. An earlier FCC mandate forces TV manufacturers to place the V-chip in at least 50% of all TV sets bigger than 13 inches by 1999 and all such sets by 2000. An inexpensive set-top box, which should arrive by mid-1998, will allow parents to retrofit current TVs. Technical standards for V-chips has sparked competition among TV manufacturers to meet the new Federal guidelines. The requirement also raises questions on viewer programming in addition to differences among manufacturers and models.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1998
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With Goto.com's search engine, the highest bidder shall be ranked first
Article Abstract:
Goto.com says it will differentiate itself among Internet search services by urging Web sites to pay for a higher placement in the search results. The Goto.com ranking shows results according to how much sites are willing to pay. An open auction of per-word pricing enables Web sites to continually outbid each other for more prominent placement on a given topic. Visitors then are asked to vote on the search results' quality and importance for feedback which Goto.com later uses to strengthen future searches. Goto.com is a spinoff of Idealab, a Los Angeles-based company that describes itself as a business incubator. Idealab Pres Bill Gross says that unlike other conventional search sites, Goto.com was not intending to become a media company. Market forces and user feedback will allow Goto.com to provide better search results, according to Gross.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1998
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