LookSmart Looking Bad – Inktomi Looking Good

The loss of MSN as a major client really hit LookSmart hard. It’s a familiar scenario – remember what happened with RealNames? They say they’re restructuring, but how will LookSmart ever make up for losing such a huge client? Article from Media Daily News

New results on MSN search will come from Inktomi, which is now owned by Yahoo. Inktomi will also power the default search results on Yahoo since the relationship with Google is terminating. If a website is not ranking well with Inktomi sourced search engines, then any traffic from Yahoo and MSN will pretty much disappear.

It’s important to diversify sources of online traffic more now than ever. After Google shook things up a bit last December and in January this year, many web marketers have re-evaluated their obsession with Google, and started to look more seriously at other avenues of traffic. I have no doubt Overture and Google AdWords PPC revenues are up.

One thing you can count on in the online marketing world is that things will change. It’s another reason hiring a specialist can save a company from lost revenue and paying too much in the form of a learning curve. As an online marketer, I’m biased of course, but we save clients a awful lot of time and money through our experience and attention to the industry.