Derrick
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In a surprise move The Times, owned by Johnnic Communications, has selected their rival’s search engine in preference of the industry standard Google.
The Times’ new website
In a progressive move The Times is investing millions of Rands in their new website, promising unprecedented integration between their print and online publications. The new website is already sporting a great deal of multimedia content and it has added opinion pieces from professional bloggers and journalists to liven up the site even more.
Through this initiative The Times is looking to take on rivals like News24, IOL and Mail & Guardian and become a force to be reckoned with in the contemporary online news arena.
With The Times’ progressive view regarding the online space and the future of newspapers it is somewhat surprising that it has partnered with Media24 in preference of the more accurate and respected Google for its online search needs.
Some observers may feel that it is risky for the company to use a competitor’s search functionality – especially since their rival will have control over the indexing of a website and the algorithms used to list results.
May be mutually beneficial
The Times editor Ray Hartley says that a detailed agreement was signed between the two companies and that he believes that it may prove to be beneficial to use the local Media 24 search engine in preference of Google.
The details of the agreement are not clear, but according to Hartley it involves revenue sharing among other things. Hartley further pointed out that the fact that Media24’s search engine was local carried some weight in their decision.
This agreement is however not set in stone, and according to Hartley there is an initial trial period of six months before a final decision will be made.
Accuracy and indexing
Google has dominated the online search space in recent years, and when comparing its search accuracy and depth with that of Media 24’s search engine the reasons for this becomes very clear.
When searching The Times website for the term ‘broadband’ Google returned 57 results, which includes various articles and opinion pieces hosted on thetimes.co.za domain. The Media 24 search engine returned only 5 results and excluded many relevant articles and opinion pieces published by The Times.
Search for The Times editor ‘Ray Hartley’ and the results are even more telling. While the 24.com search engine provides a “did not find any web pages containing Ray Hartley”, Google returned 209 results for Ray Hartley for the thetimes.co.za domain.
For a new website trying to add accurate search functionality to their website, Google proves to be a better choice than basically any other search engine available. Their specially designed web tools and well-developed revenue sharing structures make it the search engine of choice for many prominent websites like CNN and Sky.
And with Google’s imminent entry into South Africa, The Times’ decision to opt for Media24’s search seems that much stranger.
The Times’ new website
In a progressive move The Times is investing millions of Rands in their new website, promising unprecedented integration between their print and online publications. The new website is already sporting a great deal of multimedia content and it has added opinion pieces from professional bloggers and journalists to liven up the site even more.
Through this initiative The Times is looking to take on rivals like News24, IOL and Mail & Guardian and become a force to be reckoned with in the contemporary online news arena.
With The Times’ progressive view regarding the online space and the future of newspapers it is somewhat surprising that it has partnered with Media24 in preference of the more accurate and respected Google for its online search needs.
Some observers may feel that it is risky for the company to use a competitor’s search functionality – especially since their rival will have control over the indexing of a website and the algorithms used to list results.
May be mutually beneficial
The Times editor Ray Hartley says that a detailed agreement was signed between the two companies and that he believes that it may prove to be beneficial to use the local Media 24 search engine in preference of Google.
The details of the agreement are not clear, but according to Hartley it involves revenue sharing among other things. Hartley further pointed out that the fact that Media24’s search engine was local carried some weight in their decision.
This agreement is however not set in stone, and according to Hartley there is an initial trial period of six months before a final decision will be made.
Accuracy and indexing
Google has dominated the online search space in recent years, and when comparing its search accuracy and depth with that of Media 24’s search engine the reasons for this becomes very clear.
When searching The Times website for the term ‘broadband’ Google returned 57 results, which includes various articles and opinion pieces hosted on thetimes.co.za domain. The Media 24 search engine returned only 5 results and excluded many relevant articles and opinion pieces published by The Times.
Search for The Times editor ‘Ray Hartley’ and the results are even more telling. While the 24.com search engine provides a “did not find any web pages containing Ray Hartley”, Google returned 209 results for Ray Hartley for the thetimes.co.za domain.
For a new website trying to add accurate search functionality to their website, Google proves to be a better choice than basically any other search engine available. Their specially designed web tools and well-developed revenue sharing structures make it the search engine of choice for many prominent websites like CNN and Sky.
And with Google’s imminent entry into South Africa, The Times’ decision to opt for Media24’s search seems that much stranger.