inktomi

Inktomi is a rising star in the search engine wars, and it is likely that they will soon challenge Google for the title of most relevant search engine. While the majority of webmasters these days would rather optimize for Google and hope for the best in Inktomi, this strategy will need to be shifted for the year 2004. No longer should Google optimization be the only method for which webmasters promote their sites. We discovered in past Google updates that reliance on one search engine for unique visitors is a short sighted and bad strategy. If your rankings tank, then so does your traffic. In order to take the sting out of lost rankings you will either have to work hard to get the rankings back or redo your strategy altogether. So be warned, if you are not in Google and not in Inktomi in 2004, then you might as well remain invisible.

Inktomi Insight. I called Ross Dunn today, looking for some insight into Inktomi, Yahoo's search engine in waiting. Inktomi will soon replace Google as Yahoo's search engine. Ross is a Murdok SEO veteran and a super nice guy.

Jill, I've been working on optimizing a site that is not a new site. It's been a live site for quite some time. I was thinking of hand-submitting it to Inktomi, but realized MSN and Hotbot have already indexed it without me doing anything. Is it necessary to pay to have your site submitted if it has already been indexed for free? Is it possible that it will be dropped from Inktomi if you don't pay to submit? Thanks for your help, Mary Beth

Dear Dan, The cost for submitting the first URL to the Inktomi database for one year is $39 and the cost for a second is $25. Once a URL is submitted to the Inktomi database for the first year is there any need to submit the URL for subsequent years? Could you review the pros and cons of submitting for the second year versus not submitting?

Inktomi is a behind the scenes search engine, powering some of the largest search services on the web, including MSN, Looksmart, About, and others, as well as a number of regional heavyweights. Dozens of other major web sites use Inktomi Enterprise Search to power their on-site search engine. In short, Inktomi is a major player in the web search arena, despite its low profile, operating largely behind the scenes.