Page View Flea Markets

Search Engines 101 Series, Class #1

As I was going through my list of all the "local" search engines that have been cranked out and are still running, I finally realized something that was hiding in plain sight: all the blind alleys I always have to click my way out of when I use the "local" search feature and any search feature in general.

Click my way out of?

If ANY search engine actually could deliver significant results in one or two clicks, there would be nothing to sell on the Internet. The more page views I can deliver, the more money I can make renting out my page-real-estate. So page views are really flea market stalls that I rent out for as much as I can. If I can deliver an answer to a search in the least number of clicks, I can't rent out my stalls or demand big rent from the flea market vendors. The more I lead a user on through a maze of clicks, they are forced to look at the vendors renting space in my page view flea market.

The beauty of this scheme is that everyone uses it (almost everyone) and nobody notices how dirty their browser windows have become. Someone emailed Yahoo and asked why their local search results had so much outdated information. He indicated that he was stonewalled and got no answer to this question. The reason is simple: accurate data = less clicks = less page views = less money.

Remember this when you do searches of any kind from now on. Count the number of sponsored links and other flea market vendors cluttering up your search result pages. Then you'll realize the Internet is not free, you are paying for it by agreeing to be bombarded with virtual flea markets.

Is there anything wrong with this? No...as long as you know how the deck is stacked. As long as I'm paying to display pages, I should be able to rent them out if I see fit. But you shouldn't be misled into thinking someone has data that is useful to you when in fact it is not. That is what the "local search" sites without exception attempt to trick you into believing.

Next class: comment bombs defused