Eureka! No, It's Eurekster & SLI ... Search Happenings From NZ

Eureka! No, It
Stephen Spencer

By Stephan Spencer

Google's launch of their Custom Search Engine, based on Google Co-Op, may make things a bit more interesting for Christchurch-based Eurekster. Or not.

Eurekster is a social search engine that launched their "Swicki" service last year. With a swicki, a blogger / site owner can add to their site a search box along with a "buzz cloud" that shows -- in a "tag cloud" sort of way -- the hot search terms that are relevant to that swicki.

Over 36,000 swickis have been created so far. Eurekster's impressive traffic improvements over 2006 as seen on Alexa.com are a testament to Eurekster's success.

Not to mention the presence of swickis on such leading Web 2.0 blogs as TechCrunch and Read/WriteWeb is quite a feather in Eurekster's cap.

Eurekster isn't overly concerned with Google's entry into Eurekster's market, as reported on Read/WriteWeb.

They'll just keep innovating and Google will keep struggling to keep up. What's Eurekster up to now?

According to Gary Franklin, their VP Product & Services, Eurekster is rolling-out an advertising program that allows swicki creators to monetize their search results page with either AdSense or their own Swicki Preferred Placement.

They are also developing increased community input and interaction with swickis that allows swicki users even more ability to influence and improve search results.

Christchurch is also home to another mover-and-shaker in the search space: SLI Systems. SLI provides a hosted site search service that learns and improves its relevance the more searchers use it.

Overcoming the geographical challenges, SLI has made serious inroads into the U.S. market over the past five years -- in particular with big online retailers. Despite being practically neighbours, I bump into them more often at shows overseas -- e.g. Etail, Internet Retailer, Search Engine Strategies -- than I do here in Christchurch (where I'm based).

Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems, informs me that, in the past, SLI hasn't targeted the Australian/NZ markets, but the uptake of ecommerce here is changing that for them. T

heir local customers include Qantas, Dick Smith and Noel Leeming, but they are hoping to grow their local customer list significantly over the coming months.

(By way of disclosure, Eurekster is one of Stephan's SEO clients).

  • Both Stephan Spencer and Dr Shaun Ryan will be speaking at Search Engine Room in Sydney next March 20 & 21. 
  • Stephan is the founder and Managing Director of web ecommerce and search engine optimisation agency Netconcepts. Netconcepts has offices in Auckland, Christchurch, and Wisconsin, USA. Clients include such U.S. giants as Discovery Channel, AOL, Home Shopping Network, REI, and Verizon SuperPages.com, along with local NZ clients such as Vodafone, Westpac, and House of Travel. Stephan is a columnist for Practical Ecommerce, a Senior Contributor for MarketingProfs.com, a frequent speaker at conferences such as Search Engine Strategies, and an avid blogger. Read his blog blatterings at www.stephanspencer.com, www.naturalsearchblog.com, www.mpdailyfix.com, www.businessblogconsulting.com.

November 29, 2006

 

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