An interesting battle is going on between the world’s major search engines…

You might have noticed that Google dominates online search, but Microsoft has a plan to knock Google from its top spot as Internet search leader. While analysts believe Yahoo will do everything in its power to remain independent, Microsoft is strongly encouraging Yahoo to accept a takeover bid of nearly US$42 billion.

Google controls around 62% of the lucrative global search market and has been strengthening its grip even further in recent times. In comparison, Microsoft and Yahoo combined have just a 16% share in worldwide search. And the sting for Yahoo? They gave Google its first big break in 2000, hiring the G-team to run their search engine.

Following the news, Yahoo shares rose nearly 48% while Microsoft shares fell 6.6% - signaling the stock market’s scepticism over the benefits of a union between the two giants. Google shares fell 8.6% on Friday, but this was in response to a disappointing fourth quarter earnings report, rather than a reaction to news of Microsoft’s bid for online supremacy.

So, what’s in it for Microsoft? The software giant may still the most valuable tech company in the world, but to solidify its position for the future it will need to gain a more level footing in the online world - as the computer user experience becomes increasingly Web based and less software reliant.

After turning down at takeover offer last year, Yahoo faces pressure to accept the latest bid, or risk a continuation of sliding profits and a bleak outlook for 2008.

Now that you’ve got your new year’s resolutions sorted out, it’s time to make your predictions for Internet trends, developments and happenings in 2008. Surf the Web and you’ll find countless predictions - from top analysts to beginner bloggers, and anyone interested in the online world. Just some of the developments may be in…

Social networking
One of the biggest Internet news stories of 2007 was Facebook, whose social networking and profile site defined the shift towards a global networking community. During the coming year, established social networking sites will consolidate themselves, and new faces may emerge to compete (although any success is unlikely against the big players).

And if you’re one of the many people with profiles on several community sites - Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube - you’ll benefit from the possible emergence of tools that will allow you to update all your online identities from one place. You’ll save time (no more social bookmarking nightmares!) and increase the efficiency of your social networking.

Search
Fundamental to the discovery and gathering of information online, Internet search is here to stay. Watch for major search engines adopting new algorithms, as well as offering solutions for a more personalised search experience through customisation of public search engine tools.

Advertising will also become increasingly integrated into the online search environment, as will search results in a wide range of visual media (note Google’s adoption of search results featuring images and online video clips). While Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) will remain an essential part of marketing online, Google PageRank and link weighting are both expected to decrease in power, as part of a global trend to control spam and improve relevancy of results.

Video sharing and TV online
A key feature of the increasingly interactive online world has been the success of video sharing sites such as YouTube. In the year from late 2006 to late 2007, the number of users watching online videos grew by 45% - a trend which is expected to continue in 2008 with the higher speeds and increased adoption of broadband Internet.

Far from being the realm of amateur entertainment, this field has become a vehicle for music videos, lectures, alternative news sources, television and movie clips, and much, much more. Access to television online through Web based television channels and independent online TV programming will grow in 2008; watch for the first successful 100% online television show.

Online advertising
Advertising on the Internet can be subtle or obvious; whichever the case, it’s there in some form and is part of almost every user’s online experience. The coming year will see a continuation of recent growth in this field; as mentioned in an earlier post on Internet advertising, investment in online advertising space is growing rapidly, while spending in traditional advertising media is expected to showing a corresponding decrease.

We look forward to a year of exciting developments in the Web world!

I read with interest that New Zealand online advertising has grown by 23% in 3 months. Businesses and individuals had spent the best part of $41 million in Q3! That takes the total year to date spending to $98.6 million. Estimates are that the yearly figure will exceed $120 million.

When you think about it, though, it’s not a great surprise. With so many more websites out there it is getting harder to stand out in traditional search engines and online directories. One report by IBM Global Business Services says that 30% of ad revenue now spent on traditional media will shift to online ad exchanges such as Yahoo and Google.

In the US, online ad spend on newspaper websites grew 21% in Q3, or US$773 million. The digital revolution is far from disappearing. Growth in New Zealand is expected to continue for some time yet, considering overseas Online Advertising figures are still in double digit growth.

There are many ways to spend your money in online advertising - search directories are an option for New Zealanders. And what better time for me to shamelessly shout from the roof tops that NZS.com is a great choice! As the number one NZ-based search directory, with more than 300,000 unique visitors a month and over 80,000 listings, we’ve got plenty to shout about.

For options on Sponsored Listings, Marketing pages or Site Sponsorship click here for more information.

When it comes to New Zealand search, we’re onto it. As the home of smart search in New Zealand, NZS’ers like to stay on top of both local and international search trends, so it was a must for us to attend the inaugural New Zealand Search Engine Room Conference on Tuesday 13th November in Auckland.

The first major outing for the search engine industry in New Zealand was attended by companies from within the growing NZ search industry, as well as by many sales and marketing managers looking to get in on the rise of performance-based search advertising around the world.

Big name exhibitors
Exhibitors included Google, SLI-Systems, Netconcepts, FirstRate, Alekemi and SureFire, along with representatives from many big name brands such as Microsoft, Yahoo! and DoubleClick. Dr Grant Ryan from Eurekster was the keynote speaker who kicked off the morning sessions, with heavyweights from the search industry - Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft - completing the morning.

Competition in the NZ search market
New Zealand Google Marketing Manager, Paul Webster, will face a growing challenge in the coming year; Yahoo! Search Marketing head, Willie Pang, was adamant their introduction to the market will increase competition dramatically and help shift some of Google’s majority share (90%) of the search market in New Zealand, to Yahoo!

Liz Fraser, NZ Business Manager for MSN New Zealand, was optimistic about the new role MSN has within the New Zealand search market, announcing that the site is about to be re-launched. Liz stated that in the long-run, Microsoft see the greatest search competition solely between Microsoft and Google; this comment sparked some interest from the attendees, as she was effectively writing off the Yahoo! representative sitting next to her on the panel.

Bebo popular with young New Zealanders
A quick talk from the Australia / New Zealand manager for Bebo showed the level of influence the community site has in the 15 to 24-year-old market in New Zealand - Bebo has more traffic than TradeMe. Bebo’s new media relationship with TVNZ was touted as the first of its kind in the world, allowing Bebo access to 70% of the New Zealand Internet audience.

NZS.com at the Search Engine Room Conference
As NZS.com General Manager, I was a speaker at the conference, discussing the emergence of local directories in the small New Zealand market.

We’re already anticipating next year’s event - which should offer a similarly diverse and dynamic programme combining issues such as search marketing, search engine optimisation, blogging and social search.

In my last post, I talked about some of the things search engines like about the websites they rank highly on their results pages. One way I mentioned was to get votes from 3rd party websites. Here’s more on how you can get ‘votes’ for your site.

Getting other website owners to ‘vote’ for your Web site is all about getting them to publish a hypertext link on their website, which points to one of your Web pages. The more links pointing to your website not only means ‘more votes’ but provides more ways for people and search engines to reach your Web site.

Presidential link bait
The best way to get links from other websites pointing to your website is to publish content (link bait) that is so mind-blowingly brilliant that another Web site owner just WANTS to link to it.

Linking leg work
You can also ask website owners to publish a link to your site. Start with friends and associates, then move onto specialist, national and international directories. Spread your wings further by seeking out websites (preferably relevant to your business) that also publish links or ‘resources’.

The online back-scratch
Some website owners will only publish a link to your website if you publish a link to theirs in exchange. This mutual back-scratching is called, unsurprisingly enough, link exchange. NZS.com offer a FREE bold listing for link exchanges - it’s well worth checking out their link exchange offer.

You can read more about some of the best practises for link building and link exchange, in Link Building Made Easy.

That’s all from me for now folks. Cheerio!