MEDIA - LOOKING GLASS NEWS | |
Yahoo now bigger than Google |
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from electricnews.net
Entered into the database on Wednesday, August 10th, 2005 @ 17:04:51 MST |
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The internet property and search engine Yahoo said that its search index
now includes some 20.8 billion web pages and images, nearly double that of Google.
The true size of Yahoo's index has never officially been revealed, although
most industry watchers pegged it at between 6 billion and 8 billion, compared
to more than 11 billion for number one search engine Google. But Monday's announcement
means that Yahoo has the biggest index among the major search engines -- giving
Yahoo bragging rights within the industry. Still, the effectiveness of a search engine is not dictated solely by the size
of its index, and most experts agree that Google still churns out the most accurate
results, helping it to maintain a lead in terms of user figures globally. For
its part, Google has said that it has not been able to verify Yahoo's claims,
but stated that it welcomes all innovation in the field of internet searching.
Currently, the two firms, along with MSN, are locked in a fierce battle for
dominance of the increasingly lucrative search engine business, which draws
revenues mainly from advertisements associated with search engine results, a
idea pioneered by Overture Services (now part of Yahoo), and capitalised upon
by Google. On Monday, JupiterResearch released its 2005 Online Advertising Forecast at
the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo 2005, claiming that in 2010,
the global online advertising market will be worth USD18.9 billion, compared
to USD9.3 billion at the end of 2004. In five years' time, the keyword search
ads segment of the market will generate more revenue and will grow twice as
fast as the banner ads segment, which has been the industry's staple ad format
for years. "There is phenomenal momentum behind search engine advertising," stated
JupiterResearch senior analyst Gary Stein. "The number of advertisers using
search to market products continues to grow, as does the overall efficiency
of the market-- search engines are getting even better at making money off search
engine results pages." |