� MSN Search to Challenge Google and Yahoo - Launch today?
Today was announced as the launch date for a "final" preview release with the finished article sometime in the next few months.A Search Engine News Journal post reviews the search market and MSN's attempts to catch up, especially with Google,by launching the new MSN search.
� MSN Search Challenge Search Engine News Journal: "The new MSN Search Beta format can be previewed at http://beta.search.msn.com, and the search results can be previewed on the MSN Tech Preview. But it will not be until Thursday when the true preview test is released."
Manual check 8am today:
techpreview very slow loading error page with the following message: The MSN Search Technology Preview is currently unavailable. The site may be down for a short while due to scheduled maintenance. Please try again later.
You can send your comments to MSN Search Feedback, or perform a search at the MSN Search home page.
MSN Search Beta This minimalist beta search page has the wording " MSN Search is improved! Check it out."
I have been tracking the beta version as and when available and todays results seem to be from the main pre Oct 5th MSN results not the beta.
For the UK pages listed went from 4 pre-beta to the following for the period 7th Oct 04 to date:
232
218
207
na
929
2,606
na
973
472
today 4
Similar for .com.au
0
9,552
8,839
0
12,267
na
4,247
6,514
na
3,703
2,414
Today 0
The article also lists the MSN guidelines These have been blogged previously but as today is the alledged launch day for the new MSN search a reminder is a good idea.
The guidelines are brief but are still open to some interpretation with no definitions or clarification for terms such as "link farm" and "appropriate HTTP redirection code". I will check out what the forums and blogs buzz is on this.
MSNBOT Guidelines: The best way to attract users to your site, and keep them coming back, is to populate your pages with quality content that users are interested in. MSNBot and other Web crawlers can help by making your site available to a broader audience. Below, we've provided recommendations that may help MSNBot and other Web crawlers effectively index your site. We've also provided a list of items and techniques that MSN Search discourages.
Technical recommendations for your Web site
• Use only well-formed HTML code in your pages. Ensure that all tags are closed, and that all links are functioning properly. If your site contains broken links, MSNBot may not be able to index your site effectively, and users may not be able to reach all of your pages. For more information about correct HTML syntax, see the HTML 4.01 Specification.
• If you move your page, use the appropriate HTTP redirection code to indicate whether the move is permanent or temporary.
• Make sure MSNBot is allowed to crawl your site, and is not on your list of Web crawlers prohibited from indexing your site.
• Use a robots.txt file or Robots Meta tags to control how MSNBot and other Web crawlers index your site. Using a robots.txt file will tell Web crawlers which files and folders on your site it is not allowed to crawl. For more information, see the MSNBot FAQ.
• Whenever possible, use URLs that are simple and easy to read.
Content guidelines for your Web site
• Limit all pages to a reasonable size. An HTML page with no pictures should be under 150 KB.
• MSN Search recommends discussing one topic per page. Use links to take users to related topics.
• To ensure your pages are easy to link to from other sites, keep your URLs simple and static. Complicated URLs, or URLs that change often, are difficult to use as link destinations. A persistent URL is easier for users to find and remember, and makes it a more likely link destination from other sites.
Items and techniques discouraged by MSN Search
MSNBot recognizes the following items and techniques as spam, an inappropriate use of the index. Use of these items and techniques may affect how your site is ranked within MSN Search, and may result in the removal of your page or site from the MSN Search index.
• Loading pages with irrelevant words in an attempt to increase a page's keyword density. This includes stuffing ALT tags that users are unlikely to view.
• Using hidden text or links. You should use only text and links that are visible to users.
• Using techniques to artificially increase the number of links to your page, such as link farms.
posted by Jen @ 8:08 AM
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