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Volume 8, January 2006 |
ISSN 1538-893X |
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When is a Googol not big
enough? by Tony Valente, CBC Communications Corp. |
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As an aside, the name "Google" is a play on the word "Googol," which was coined by Milton Sirotta, nine-year-old nephew of U.S. mathematician Edward Kasner in 1938, to refer to the number represented by 1 followed by one hundred zeros. The googol is of no particular significance in mathematics, nor does it have any practical uses. Etymology, courtesy, Wikipedia, The Free Enclyopedia Google™ derived its company name from young Milton Sirotta’s description of the “…no particular significance…” numbers between 10100 and infinity. The irony is that in evolving Google™ co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave us a most particular and significant research tool. With every advance the world has enjoyed there always follows critiques of “at what price,” and almost without exception the critiques and prices were hollow drum beats. I am no drummer! It's only if you're a serious traveler or an advertiser with a need to reach your market that the caution to not embrace the 800-lb gorilla named Google™ is valid, unless it’s to buy their stock. Why Google™ Limits You While CT Expands Your Reach It's simple. If one doesn't know the Key Word, or what to type-in, how can you “discover and explore?” For specialty travelers it's about what they don’t know, but, indeed, wish to discover and learn about? How would you know to ask for Hypogeum at Rahal il-Gdid — in Malta? Or about the Key West Literary Seminar (Key West, FL) where some will divert to Cuba for “Havana Dreaming, from Graham Greene to Papa Hemingway.” These are just quick examples taken from two of this issue’s stories. There are, seriously, 1,000s of such examples in this online travel news magazine. Ok, some numbers and facts: CT (unlike any site in its niche) maintains that a significant portion (38% in our case) of visiting travelers (now nearing two-million per year) would wish to scroll through a well presented directory of tour operators rather than always being forced to SEARCH (the etymology of search will become something like the "algorithmic El Dorado for venture capitalists bent on reductionism"). Hardly a way to discover and explore.
Why it works! That 38% of visitors “discover and explore” for an average of 16-minutes per visitor session is because their site is hit over 2,000 times per day by search engines (thank you, Google™). Seems it’s Google™ who needs CT—how else would they know about Hypogeum at Rahal il-Gdid (oops, in Malta!)? So, About Those Key Words—Drill Out, Not Down Key words: what is bid for (and bid up) and need constant attention at bed time turning them on and off—like a thermostat in order to maintain control of a modest advertising budget. And who are specialty tour operators bidding against in what appears to become an unending spiral up? It’s the little gorillas, the ones who repackage 122 varieties of the same commodity tours—the very thing a specialty traveler is trying to get away from, or, worse, it’s other directories in this niche marketplace who use key words to drive traffic to their sites, and, in turn, charge tour operators for advertising on their sites! Online directories buying key words seem an interesting brokering equation, but something of a self-cancellation. Key words, by definition drill down. That means penetrating what is already there—those who know the right key words to enter. Drilling out means extending or expanding a market potential to include those who did not exactly know what they were interested in, those who just wanted to discover and explore! Arithmetically extending “Discover and Explore” pages (CT’s Theme and Region Directories) could mean a market size increase of a third—that’s an arithmetic extension worthy of attention. Is what's good for advertisers good for travelers? The question is better stated the other way around,
of course. In CT's case it applies, either way. As an example, so many
sites we've seen in this niche marketplace offer trip listings (few
offer directories or directory searches). Common sense says it would be
nice for the traveler to learn about the company offering the trip before or at the time of trip interest! That's how CT works.
Company directories, trip listings—even travel stories—are all
cross-referenced. Try it. And, if your an advertiser, posit the question
of where do you believe the challenge of brand-awareness is best met?
Notes: So, What Is It That the Advanced CT Site Offers—That’s Different?
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