8 replies to this topic

[projectphp]

I have a few quick questions on Site Match Xchange and MSN that I can't seem to work out, so I'll just blert them out

When a site submits to Site Match Xchange, what happens to the naturally crawled URLs? Do they stay in the database, or drop out?

My tests on this topic have been inconclusive and with MSN no longer including Trusted Feed data in their SERPs, this is somewhat of a concern. It some cases, it may mean improving Yahoo traffic but effecting MSN traffic.

Assumming URLs do drop out, does anyone know how long it takes to be reincluded/recrawled, or if craslws just top at that point? Also, does the geo-targetting make a difference to any of this? I have seen a site targetting one region with most URLs included in different country indices, but this may be a coincidence.

My research into this topic is pretty inconclusive, and any help greatly appreciated.

[Jill]

I've seen similar things, PHP, where MSN is not including pages that are in SiteMatch. I don't have conclusive info either though, and it's possible that they URLs will eventually be included again at some point.

[Trellian]

An answer to one:

does the geo-targeting make a difference to any of this? I have seen a site targeting one region with most URLs included in different country indices

In SiteMatch, if you are geo-targeting, the naturally crawled URLs are/should still be active in the other non targeted regions.

This part I myself did some research on to find out if that was the case and all tests seemed to agree with the above.

It would also then follow that the naturally crawled URL will be in the MSN index for all regions, if it was present in other regions not covered by SiteMatch.

Cheers
David

[Jill]

David, can you geotarget with the trusted feed program as well? And what if you really have a national type site and geotargeting isn't much of an option? Any way to get back into MSN without dropping the feed altogether?

[Trellian]

if the URLs have been naturally crawled by yahoo, they should be included... regardless if or not the client is in SMX, as the PFI urls are served from a different cluster and then blended into the main db, where then the algos are then applied so that they all get the same ranking treatment. (that is what was explained to me a long time ago)

Also being in SMX does not stop the site from being crawled naturally (unless it has been black listed for spam etc...

HOWEVER NOTE:
- not all yahoo/inktomi powered engines, such as MSN, display all the results in the feeds they have access to, as they apply many layers and filters based on their own algos etc..

Hence why some URLs never show up in MSN. This was the case even when MSN were taking PFI URLs, there were always a few that were not being indexed by MSN... this was very frustrating at the time...

So to make sure if indexed naturally by yahoo, suspend the SMX feed, or part of the feed, within 2 days the SMX feed should be out, this is when you check if the natural URLs are indexed as the natural URLs should be displayed as soon as the SMX are out.

You can check by the click path to see if they are SMX based or natural... if not sure, look for the letters "MI=ic" in the URL path in yahoo SERPS, this signifies that the URL is from SMX.

see this SERP:
http://search.yahoo....-top&fl=0&x=wrt

and look at the listing: Hotels.com - Save up to 70% on Rooms

Cheers
David

[Jill]

Thanks for the tips, David!

With one of my clients that uses trusted feed, pretty much as soon as MSN dropped the PFI data, their pages have been steadily dropping out of the index altogether. It's pretty frustrating to say the least. Was hoping they'd go live with their own engine by now!

[Trellian]

Was hoping they'd go live with their own engine by now!

Since they extended their contract with yahoo till next min 2006 this is not looking likely to be anytime soon

Cheers
David

[keywordmonkey]

Since they extended their contract with yahoo till next min 2006 this is not looking likely to be anytime soon

The contract extension is for Overute PPC results on MSN, not natural listings.

MSN (natural) search is schedulded for a Q1 2005 launch (some press releases suggested it will go live before the 25th of this month, we shall see).

Some users have reported seeing MSN's own search engine up on the MSN US homepage in the last few days; they seem to be testing it and asking users for feedback. Deleting MSN cookies may trigger access to this, according to some reports.

Source: Threadwatch - MSN Beta Moving to MSN Main Site? [http://www.threadwatch.org/node/607]

[Trellian]

thanks for the clarification.

Cheers
David