HotLinks Taps Bookmarks to Build a Better Directory
By Andrew Goodman - December 12, 2000
HotLinks is an online bookmark service that is more than meets the eye. Its HotLinks Guide is a giant Internet directory that contains many links missing in Yahoo!, Looksmart, and ODP.

Why Search Engines Must Continue to Be Referees
By Andrew Goodman - November 27, 2000
If search engines fail to be tough with greedy marketers, the game will be spoiled for everyone.

As a Media Pimp, AltaVista Is Far From Alone
By Andrew Goodman - November 15, 2000
Advertising for the purveyors of pornography is just the most overt example of the compromising positions Internet search engines find themselves in when doing deals.

Brainstorming Session:
How Peer-to-Peer Sharing May Change Business
By Nicholas Mercader - November 10, 2000
Nicholas Mercader is at it again, contemplating the far-reaching changes that might occur in the business models of portals and software companies as we begin to tap into shared networks of information.

Next Generation P2P Will Help Portal Users Search One Another
By Nicholas Mercader - November 6, 2000
Thanks to P2P, we're at the doorstep of a radical change in how we search for, and share, information. Business models of existing search and portal companies may be quickly transformed as a result.

Why Search Engine Marketing Works
By Andrew Goodman - October 23, 2000
Marketing separates success from failure for many online ventures. Search engines and directories are perennial favorites. You can create your own authoritative image with a bit of extra attention to search engine promotion.

Can Expert Advice Services Break Free from Schlock?
By Andrew Goodman - October 18, 2000
In the emerging online-pay-for-expertise category, available services range from frivolous to professional. The same goes for the free services. Recently released Yahoo! Experts leans toward the frivolous side... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Yahoo!'s Finance - Whither the Net's Floundering Flagship?
By Andrew Goodman - October 13, 2000
Yahoo! is on solid ground, but it'll have to grow its way to a double-digit price-to-earnings ratio before it's taken seriously again by the street. A major part of the strategy will have to be Yahoo! Broadcast.

Context Providers Add Texture to your Surf
By Andrew Goodman - October 6, 2000
These tools aim to embed needed background information into online documents, making the web a richer place and cutting down on search time.

Seven Dumb Things You Can Ask Jeeves
By John Molson - October 6, 2000
As we've noted in the past, Ask Jeeves! is not as clever as he looks; nor is he a search engine that will help you with every problem. Still, we need to give the old codger his due.

LookSmart Plays Community Trump Card with Zeal Acquisition
By Andrew Goodman - October 2, 2000
The move by LookSmart to acquire Zeal is an important one from an image standpoint. Companies whose living is 100% dependent on the Internet must show that they recognize the importance of knowledge exchange and interactivity as opposed to staying locked into top-down or broadcast-mode communications.

Altavista Sorts Out its Customers Part 2 - Search Enthusiasts
By Andrew Goodman - September 15, 2000
AltaVista's Advanced Search is the company's greatest strength. But was Raging Search really necessary? Part two of a four-part series.

The Internet Loves a Content Aggregator
By Andrew Goodman - September 11, 2000
In any dispute which boils down to questions of control and attitudes toward information sharing, history and the cool people are always on the side of the info aggregator.

MSN Web Companion May Represent Next Generation of Portals
By Cory Kleinschmidt - September 8, 2000
As portals branch out into Internet appliances and TV set tops, the pace of consolidation is accelerating. Will the Web end up as a series of closed communities like online services of old?

AltaVista Sorts Out its Customers Part 1 - Business
By Andrew Goodman - September 1, 2000
AltaVista, once a humble, sober search engine company, seems to have a case of multiple identities today. Its various projects and services make it a major international player. Which parts of its business is Altavista serious about?

Searchonomics: A New Era in Human-Guided Web Search?
By Andrew Goodman (from Traffick Monthly newsletter) - August 29, 2000
Wherewithal founders Thomas and Skinner have spent two years designing a powerful search technology which is scalable to the growth of the Internet. They believe they have overcome the fixed taxonomy problem that limits the usefulness of conventional web directories like Looksmart, ODP, and Yahoo.

10 Yahoo Properties
By Cory Kleinschmidt - August 16, 2000
Yahoo is so content rich that it was hard to pick just 10, especially when new services like PayDirect keep coming. Nevertheless, Cory gives the lowdown on his 10 favorite Yahoo subsites.

Scientists Baffled by Strange GoTo Phenomenon
TRAFFICK WEEKLY COMMENTARY by Andrew Goodman - August 14, 2000
Everyone wants to be GoTo's partner, but do advertisers want everyone to be GoTo's partner? Do consumers want paid search results smuggled in with regular search engine results?

Looksmart Extends its Reach with New Portal Parterships
By Andrew Goodman - August 8, 2000
Looksmart wasn't exactly the second company ever to come up with the idea of a helpful categorized guide to Internet sites. It is succeeding where others have failed by hiring out its editorial staff to portal partners such as iWon, Altavista, and Time Warner. Could a deal with AOL be far off?

Go2Net-Infospace Synergies Little Understood
TRAFFICK WEEKLY COMMENTARY by Andrew Goodman - July 31, 2000
Go2Net and Infospace are both relatively unknown companies, but they may do for the seamless delivery of content what Cisco did for networks. Infospace has found a gem in Go2Net founder Russ Horowitz.

New Volunteer Directory Seeks "Zealots"
By Andrew Goodman - July 27, 2000 (From the Traffick Newsletter)
Brian Goller, co-founder and CEO of Zeal.com, got into the directory business because he believes that the market for "user generated content" is "huge."

Top 50 Web & Media Properties - June 2000
By Media Metrix - July 24, 2000
Media Metrix also released, for the first time, its new categorization structure, encompassing 29 new categories and 63 new sub-categories.

Human Internet Makes Peace with the Search Engine Robots
METAGUIDE By Andrew Goodman - July 20, 2000
Optimizing About.com's 800 guide sites was a daunting challenge for search engine marketing guru Marshall Simmonds. He is helping About guides make peace with search engine spiders.

Top 10 Search Engines for May 2000
Unique Visitors, Reach %, Avg. Minutes Spent, Avg Unique Pages
Media Metrix, the global provider of Internet statistics, has released the top 10 search engines for May 2000.

Quiver: Inktomi on Steroids?
By Andrew Goodman - July10, 2000 (From the Traffick Newsletter)
Quiver combines elements of Google, Looksmart, and Backflip. But it hopes its formula for custom directory building, community expertise and vertical search relevance can make it stand out from the pack.

Beyond ODP: The Hardin Meta Directory
GUEST COLUMN By Eric Rumsey - July 5, 2000
Unlike generalized sites like Yahoo, specialized directories of directories are often the best place to find topic-specific information.

Portal FAQs
How did portals get started? What is a vortal?, What are corporate portals? and more important questions answered!

Top 10 Canadian Portals
REACH % AND UNIQUE VISITORS - By Traffick and Media Metrix
Media Metrix, the global provider of Internet statistics, has released the top 10 Canadian portals for April 2000.

About About and Internet Marketing
PERSPECTIVES by Cory Kleinschmidt - June 22, 2000
It's become vogue to drop the dot com from the names of Internet companies due to the dot-com backlash, but does it make sense from a marketing perspective?

Battle of the Directories: Yahoo vs. the ODP
METAGUIDE By Andrew Goodman - June 17, 2000
The Yahoo vs. Open Directory debate won't be settled with generalizations. What happens when you pit similar categories from the two directories head to head?

Top 10 Search Engines - April 2000
UNIQUE VISITORS & UNIQUE PAGES
By the Traffick Staff
Media Metrix, the global provider of Internet statistics, has released the top 10 search engines for April 2000.

When to Yahoo, and When Not To - Part Two
TEST DRIVE By Andrew Goodman- June 14, 2000
The second installment of our feature that looks at whether you should bother experimenting with isolated Web services when Yahoo! offers the same thing.

Life After the Open Directory Project
GUEST COLUMN by David F. Prenatt, Jr. - June 1, 2000 (2 pages)
A cashiered Open Directory Project editor reflects on the power structure within dmoz.org and contemplates the future of the Open Content Movement.

Building a Portal? Go2Net Wants Your Business
By Andrew Goodman - June 3, 2000
Major consumer portal company Go2Net gets down with other people's portals.

Top 10 Search Engines - April 2000
By the Traffick Staff
Media Metrix, the global provider of Internet statistics, has released the top 10 search engines for April 2000.

Someday We'll All Backflip
By Andrew Goodman- May 27, 2000
(From Traffick Monthly) Superior people, strategy and technology make this online bookmarks service stand above the crowd.

When to Yahoo, and When Not To - Part One
TEST DRIVE By Andrew Goodman- May 22, 2000
Your friend recommends a cool cyber-tool to you. Should you bother with it, when Yahoo! offers the same thing?

Verticals and Content Engines: The Next Generation of Searching
GUEST COLUMN by Steve Matthews - May 5, 2000
Generalized search engines don't cut it for specialized uses. The only way for specialized searchers to drill down to what they need is to choose specialized search sites.

Seven Things You Didn't Know about Looksmart
By Andrew Goodman (Republished from Traffick Newsletter #7)
Looksmart is moving rapidly to expand its local presence in Europe and Asia.

Expert Soup
Andrew's METAGUIDE #9 - April 19, 2000
Expert sites are proliferating these days. Here's a look at some of the best.