New Seach Engine

I tried to free myself from Google and failed

On this day, 235 years ago, the Second Continental Congress voted for a Declaration of Independence. From that perspective, July 2nd is America's independence day, but the document wasn't ready for another two days. So it's perhaps appropriate timing to discuss the declaration I made on April 4th to free myself from Google. At the time I asked: " Can you give up Google? " Maybe you can, but I couldn't.

Google's antitrust troubles motivated me. In December, the European Commission opened an " antitrust investigation into allegations that Google Inc. has abused a dominant position in online search ". An investigation loomed in the United States and, as of late last month, is underway. The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing Google's business practices .

As I explained in April: "Over the coming weeks, I will disenfranchise myself from as many Google products and services as possible. This is a personal exercise to assess just how dominant Google really is and how much of its stuff can be reasonably replaced. If it can be reasonably replaced then Google might not be the dangerous monopoly some people worry that it is".

I had planned to do a series of ongoing stories describing my experience and other services compared to Google's. But almost from the start I hit wall after all with blazing speed and explosive crash and burn. My experience raises the question of how much Google products or services are woven into the very fabric of the World Wide Web.

A Fresh Start

Day 1, I ditched Google TV for Apple TV. That was easy, although I found Apple's product to be inferior. Yes, the user interface is prettier, but I had more content choices on Google's product. That benefit overcame the clunkier user interface's negative attributes. I also swapped the delightful Google-branded, Samsung-manufactured Nexus S for iPhone 4.

Email choices are aplenty. I didn't need Gmail but couldn't do without it. The most logical webmail alternatives, Windows Live and Yahoo, don't (or didn't then) support IMAP. POP3 isn't an option -- and it's simply unthinkable -- in this era of synchronization across devices. My most important email address is hosted with Google Apps. It's a bargain at 50 bucks a year. If Microsoft offered IMAP, I would have pointed the domain to its service. I already had Apple's rip-off MobileMe service, for $99/year, with excellent mail features -- and it could replace Gmail. Since starting my Google-free exercise, Apple has announced free iCloud will replace MobileMe , which shuts down next year .

WebAdvantage.net Adds Four New Search Engine Marketing Clients ...

Aberdeen, MD (PRWEB) September 18, 2003

- WebAdvantage.net (http://www.webadvantage.net), a full-service emarketing agency, announces that the acquisition of four new search engine marketing clients: Zurich North America, NatureMadeÂ’s Vitamin Herb University, Science MagazineÂ’s ScienceCareers.org, and the Foster Wheeler Corporation. WebAdvantage.net will be providing annual search engine optimization and pay-per-click keyword campaign management to these companies, respectively.

Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving a web site’s “natural” search engine rankings through techniques affecting at least eight different web site and external elements. Zurich North America, a leading commercial property-casualty insurance provider, ScienceCareers.org, a job searching community for those looking for careers in the fields of science, and NatureMade’s Vitamin Herb University, a site designed to provide health care professionals with science-based education on dietary supplements, have all contracted WebAdvantage.net for search engine optimization.

Foster Wheeler, which provides engineering design, construction and maintenance services to the petroleum, chemical, power generation, and pharmaceutical industries, has signed on for WebAdvantage.net’s new SearchAdvantage search engine marketing package. SearchAdvantage is a hybrid program combining Pay-Per-Click Keyword Campaign Management (“Sponsored Listings” on Google, Overture, and Looksmart) along with search engine optimization.

Founded in 1998, WebAdvantage.net is a private company with a staff of eleven. Its core competencies include online advertising and pay-per-performance campaigns, email marketing and search engine optimization. Company president Hollis Thomases is an editorial contributor to both online and off-line publications and public speaker at Internet-related conferences and educational events. For more information, visit WebAdvantage.netÂ’s web site at http://www.webadvantage.net or call 410-297-9495.

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