.
Ciao also includes consumer reviews and ratings with its search results. They boast a multimillion-user-strong online community and see more than 26.5 million unique visitors per month across seven countries. So far, more than 5 million product reviews have been generated.
Ciao joins Farecast, FAST, and Powerset in Microsoft’s portfolio of search-related acquisitions for 2008.
Ciao s success has been led by a team of talented people who took a unique combination of intuitive technology and the insight that comes out of their passionate consumer community to become one of Europe s leading shopping comparison sites, said John Mangelaars, vice president, Consumer and Online, Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa. This makes the company a fantastic asset to the future of our search offer. Integrating Ciao s capabilities into Live Search will provide a strong launchpad for our commercial search offer in Europe and enhance our e-commerce offering on MSN.
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Google’s Search Experiments are Sometimes Subtle
Have you ever been around a friend who points out a flaw about themselves and you say, “I would never have noticed that if you hadn’t pointed it out?”
Google is doing the same thing sans flaws.
On the Official Google Blog, Ben Gomes explains that sometimes Google’s search experiments are very subtle. They’ll test things like white space in the search results or how big the plus box should be next to a stock quote link.
The differences among the options being tested are very difficult to detect without being told what’s going on. But the results of tests show that even a small number of pixels can make a big difference. For example, it could mean the difference between a searcher spending a lot of time on one search result - and not necessarily the first one - or a searcher being able to scan the results more easily. And then Google has to decide which is better.
All in all, Google’s search experiments are not always about the alogorithm. What do you think of these experiments? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Related Reading:
Google News Testing Updates
Google Testing Time Elements In Search Results
Google Testing Expandable “More Google” Links On Home Page & More
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SEW Experts: For Local Search, It’s All About the Online-Offline Gap
Though search volume continues to rise and capture a growing percentage of product research, more than 95 percent of actual purchase behavior in the U.S. still takes place offline. In today’s vertical search column, “For Local Search, It’s All About the Online-Offline Gap,” local search expert Michael Boland explains that the need to bridge the gap between the online and offline worlds is a key issue in local search.
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SEW Experts: Get Links Now: Make a Difference, Make Connections
Want to solve the link building riddle? Stop thinking about money and start thinking about something bigger. In today’s link building column, “Get Links Now: Make a Difference, Make Connections,” Sage Lewis shows you how getting outside of your own little world can expand your horizons, as well as your link portfolio.
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