Exclusive Insights from LookSmart's Dakota Sullivan: Navigating Partnerships and Search Engine Dynamics

The Yahoo/Inktomi Acquisition and LookSmart's Position

LookSmart's Current and Future Partnerships

Dakota Sullivan emphasizes that LookSmart's operations continue as usual despite the Yahoo/Inktomi deal. The company's listings are still distributed across the Inktomi network, and Inktomi provides backup results for LookSmart.com and its hosted properties. LookSmart is actively engaged in discussions to expand its distribution network, which already includes over 100 major portals, search engines, and ISPs globally, such as MSN, About.com, AltaVista, Netscape, InfoSpace, Cox Communications, Road Runner, and Yahoo in Australia.

Addressing Market Share Loss and Customer Loyalty

Despite facing criticism for shifting to a pay-per-click model, LookSmart reports a significant growth in its customer base, with over 30,000 businesses renewing their accounts monthly. To counter any market share loss, LookSmart plans to launch the first update to its Small Business Listings product this spring, offering customers enhanced control over account management, performance tracking, and campaign optimization, while reducing costs for adding and modifying listings.

Upcoming Features for Small Business Listings:

• Automated Submission Checks: Ensuring complete submissions and adherence to editorial guidelines.
• Flexible Grouping Options: Multiple listing campaigns can be grouped within a single billing account or set up individually.
• Varied Account Access Levels: Different users can access the same account with varying permissions, benefiting SEOs and agencies managing listings for clients.
• Flight Dates for Campaigns: Advertisers can set specific start and end dates for campaigns, particularly useful for seasonal promotions.

LookSmart's Stance on Google and WiseNut's Advantage

Sullivan acknowledges Google's contribution to search relevancy but points out that Google's growth has been at the expense of its partners' search franchises. LookSmart believes that the ideal search engine partner for major portals should deliver top-notch search relevancy without competing for user loyalty. With the acquisition of WiseNut, LookSmart aims to fulfill this role.

Enhancements in Click Tracking and Reporting

LookSmart encourages its larger advertising customers to use URL tracking for their listings and plans to extend this functionality to Small Business Listing customers using the web-based platform. This will allow both large and small advertisers to include their own tracking on submitted URLs for better ROI measurement.

The End of LookSmart's Relationship with eZula

Sullivan confirms that LookSmart no longer partners with eZula, addressing concerns about the legitimacy of PPC clicks from the Ezula/TopText plugin.

The Value of LookSmart Listings in the Current Search Ecosystem

LookSmart delivers over 45 million search results daily across its network, reaching more than 77% of U.S. Internet users each month. Specifically, on MSN, LookSmart's paid inclusion listings are a vital complement to Overture's pay-for-placement listings, offering advertisers:

• Core Search Result Appearances: A significant portion of search users click on these results, which are not covered by Overture alone.
• Improved ROI: By combining Overture's pay-for-placement with LookSmart's paid inclusion, advertisers can capture more leads at a lower cost.
• Access to Granular Searches: LookSmart's paid inclusion listings automatically deliver traffic from long-tail searches.
• Increased Search Visibility: LookSmart listings appear for a broader range of searches compared to Overture's focus on popular terms.

Web Rank extends gratitude to Dakota Sullivan for his comprehensive responses and insights into LookSmart's strategies and offerings.

For more information on search engine dynamics and partnerships, readers can explore authoritative sources such as Search Engine Land and Moz. Additionally, industry reports and studies from Media Metrix provide valuable data on digital media audience ratings and search engine usage trends.