Driving Traffic and Profit

Of late the search experience has not been great…often the good websites are coming in page 2 and 3…. This had led to the following chain of thoughts:

Let’s take the scenario of buying digital cameras…. My search result expectation would be manufacturers of the digital cameras which would give me info on the latest models and best prices, or a few comparison websites from media companies to provide neutral views….

However if this ideal case scenario truly happened then the manufacturing companies would not need to spend on ppc ads …. That would lead to great revenue loss for search engines… Hence search engines have to keep tweaking the algos to give a fair chance to even not so great websites to feature in the top 10 search results. That would mean that some of the manufacturing and important websites will have to spend on ppc else their business will suffer..

Now if search engines do not ensure good search experience users will switch over !!

Hence the search engines have to constantly balance the act of optimizing user experience and revenue !

Info as on 5th September 2009:

Thought this would be useful info for the readers:

This info is as on 5th September, 2009.

Both Linkedin and Facebook are excellent social media platforms but both have their independent individual characteristics.

1. Linkedin is highly focused on professional networking. It is a heaven for recruiters as they can gauge the credentials of the potential employees and also contact prospective recruits with the help of their existing network.

Facebook is more casual and diverse in nature and truly encourages interaction amongst its members. As they opened their API for application developers, many interesting applications including games, polling apps, etc. intrigued and caputred the imagination (and time) of the community members of the platform.

2. Linked in has the subscription based revenue model and also has ad based revenue stream. Facebook on the other hand has ad based revenue model as of now. But they are also collaborating with mobile companies like Nokia for OEM deals and must be making big bucks.

3. In Facebook one can upload pictures/videos to share with friends…. Linked in has stayed away from rich media game play. Profile pictures are allowed but in all probability one would find people in their business suits at linkedin. In Facebook one can be more relaxed and opt for more casual profile pictures as they are out there to socialiaze with friends and have fun.

4. Linkedin has added the Q&A module for knowledge sharing. Facebook does not have have such a mandate.

5. Facebook allows building web pages to promote products or service or organization or event. Linked allows the users to add companies which can show in the search results.

In a nut shell, Linkedin is a more focused social media platform. Facebook is a larger giant allowing people to be more casual and encouraging them to indulge on the wall !