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YouTube Passes Yahoo As #2 Search Engine
Posted by
timothy
on Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:27 PM
from the your-safe-search-is-showing dept.
from the your-safe-search-is-showing dept.
Dekortage writes "According to the latest ComScore rankings, YouTube's search traffic for August surpassed Yahoo's. The latter dropped roughly 5% in traffic from July. Among other things, this means that Google now owns both of the top two search engines. AdAge further speculates on Google's experimental 'promoted videos' cost-per-click advertising on YouTube, suggesting the obvious: more money."
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Yeah, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
"Search engine"? (Score:5, Insightful)
Calling YouTube a "search engine" by comparison to Google and Yahoo is...interesting. I mean, I guess it's technically true, but it's about as relevant as comparing Google with Slashdot site search.
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:5, Interesting)
A lot of people search the videos for information, talks by Richard Dawkins, car reviews, whatever. I think it's perfectly valid to call Youtube a search engine, even though it's a very specialized one.
Parent
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:5, Insightful)
Would "grep" be considered a search engine, then?
I use it to find stuff at work all the time.
Parent
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:4, Informative)
People use Google or Youtube when they're not sure where to look. grep is for people who have a specific set of data to search through and need a line containing a specific term.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
No, you tube, I often use grep -r; or find and grep together; or locate and grep; or rpm -qa and grep; or ypcat and grep; or heck, a for loop, wget, and grep.
I think you don't grok grep. I'm not sure where to find the info, and that's why I use grep to pull it out.
My "specific set of data to search through" could be, by way of argument, a database of user-submitted videos. I might use a left join rather than grep, but you get the idea...
Neither grep nor YouTube are search engines, in the accepted sense of t
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:4, Informative)
Neither grep nor YouTube are search engines, in the accepted sense of the word. YouTube employs a search engine to return results, but it isn't one in its own right.
Well then the search engine Youtube employs has overtaken Yahoo.
This argument was a waste of my screen space, moreso than the very debatedly inaccurate summary
Parent
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:5, Insightful)
video.google.com might be a search engine, because it can find videos from multiple sites, but mainly its own and youtube, but youtube is just a website with a search facility.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Google is also a website with a search facility.
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:5, Insightful)
youtube is just a website with a search facility.
Google is also a website with a search facility.
YouTube is a website with the ability to search its content. Google is a website with the ability to search other sites' content.
Basically, Google is a search engine, and YouTube has a search engine.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
YouTube's search is like looking through the user manual, Google is like browsing at a dealership.
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:4, Funny)
Oh you're so coy.
"My mineral growths with chewing ability are aching! Please take me to a monkey with dentistry abilities! In a vehicle with powers of self propulsion!"
"I'm sorry monkey with paying abilities, we're going to have to pull the lot, using a tool with pulling abilities."
Parent
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:5, Insightful)
What a useless way of using words.
Parent
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:4, Insightful)
Only true if Amazon traffic was higher than YouTube traffic :)
Essentially the point is that more people are searching within YouTube for videos than within Yahoo!, for everything. Which says something about marketshare. Even Amazon is listed, and it ranks below Microsoft's Live search site.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Yahoo! has more people using its search feature.
YouTube has more searches taking place.
There may be some correlation between number of searches and market share, but that's not necessarily so. You could have what the submitter would call the "#1 search engine" by having a script query your servers 24/7, but if you were the only unique visitor your market share would be nil.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Except that amazon is listed right there in the article, at the very bottom (168 million). This is a misleading headline anyway, since it's Google, then YouTube/Other Google Sites, then All Yahoo Sites. Who knows, maybe all those searches were on google maps and gmail?
Re:"Search engine"? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
True, a better comparison to Youtube would be wiki, when you already know where the content is, but need to filter it.
Re: (Score:2)
Some people would say that it's like comparing apples and oranges. I think it's more like apples and watermelons.
My apples are round, and juicy.
But your watermelon is bigger and juicier. It doesn't make your watermelon the better apple.
Youtube is primarily driven by its searches. That's why it has more search traffic. It's not off-site traffic though. Google and Yahoo (generally) link to offsite resources, not to their own content on their own site 100% of
YouTube is not a search engine (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:YouTube is not a search engine (Score:5, Funny)
I actually search for all of my Web needs on YouTube first. I find that it really reduces the number of Wikipedia links I have to surf past ;-)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
And the fact that it might not technically be a search engine, makes exactly what bogus?
Re:YouTube is not a search engine (Score:5, Insightful)
The story isn't bogus... If a general purpose search site that searches the whole web, and used to be number one, now gets fewer searches than a single-purpose video search site, it really underscores how low yahoo has fallen!
-Taylor
Parent
Re:YouTube is not a search engine (Score:5, Informative)
People who search on yahoo are not looking to stay at yahoo. People who search at youtube are looking to stay at youtube. This story is bogus.
It should be pointed out that the article doesn't call YouTube a search engine. It lists rankings of the 5 major search engines, then it does a separate ranking of "search activity", which includes any kind of searching within a website, and includes such searchable sites as MapQuest, MySpace, and Amazon.
Parent
Competition (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Wait, are you saying that youtube is going to start making their own brand of computers called "Oranges" to compete with macs!?!?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
No, because France Telecom might object.
Re:Competition (Score:5, Funny)
But is YouTube in competition with Yahoo? This is apples and oranges.
I say that comparing the comparison of yahoo with youtube to that of apples and oranges is comparing apples with oranges!
-------
I wish I had something useful to say.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
One of the key sources of revenue of search engines is the market indicators collected by recording and indexing the search patterns of consumers. In that regard, YouTube and Yahoo are in direct competition. Advertisers can research and target fertile markets just as precisely with the market info gathered from either site.
I remember reading back in the early 80's that Road & Track magazine made more from selling its subscriber list than from advertising in the magazine itself. I inquired about it wh
Without porn?!? HOW??? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm inclined to doubt this. Youtube doesn't host any porn. That's easily 70% of the internet right there.
You mean to tell me that people are now more interested in videos of people getting hit in the nuts and TV clips that are not SNL or daily show than they are in sex? LIES!
Re:Without porn?!? HOW??? (Score:5, Informative)
There is a special keyword to use on youtube to get to the porn section. You must not have elite access. Just email them asking for elite access with a hacker resume of sorts and you should be able to gain access. Just keep it on the down low though.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Without porn?!? HOW??? (Score:5, Informative)
If porn is what you're looking for, there are sites very similar to YouTube where that's all they do.
http://www.youporn.com [youporn.com]
http://www.pornotube.com [pornotube.com]
Just to provide two examples.
Parent
What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Last I heard Yahoo still beats both Google and Youtube in total number of unique visitors and that is the stat that matters to advertisers.
Regulatory Problems? (Score:2)
How did all these people end up on YouTube in the first place? What search engines feed the most people onto the site?
Does a mechanism even exist for gauging the objectivity of search results?
I use Google apps, gmail, etc.. but I am worried about the changes that take place when any company gets too deeply entrenched at the top of their niche. I would feel better about Google if their side projects were doing a little less well.
Re:Regulatory Problems? (Score:4, Interesting)
That's a good point. For most google searches these days I tend to get something like this:
1. Wikipedia entry
2,3 youtube videos
4. google news
5.... everything else, still sprinkled with videos, mostly youtube
If google owned Wikipedia then most of their top search results would be leading back to google sites.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Just riffing on the concept...
Search is weird because it currently can't work by returning 'objective' results.
Engines get ahead by returning the 'best' results. With 'best' being defined by the wisdom of the crowds, and the wisdom of the crowds being heavily influenced by advertising, and the advertising ultimately paying for the search infrastructure that provides the results...
Who is going to regulate this industry? Not the people in power right now, or in the immediate future from what I can tell (my
Re: (Score:2)
*ack* Last line should read "who is capable of regulating this industry? Not the people in power..."
Apologies.
Re: (Score:2)
Why is it important to regulate the industry at all?
Other than for malicious intent I mean. If people want to find what other people think, what's wrong with this setup?
Email (Score:2)
Email
Re: (Score:2)
Wrong wrong and wrong (Score:3, Informative)
The article is being read incorrectly. "YouTube/All Other" is surpassing Yahoo!, meaning anything that is part of Google! could be included, such as the book, code and news searches. Or groups. Or Picasa. All combined.
Take a look at Microsoft's stats. It's split into Live and Microsoft.com/All Other
Que? (Score:2)
When I search on google, doesn't that automatically pass through to youtube in many cases (and thus count as a search for youtube)?
So that means... (Score:3, Funny)
Google is number 2 to Google? How long till that new upstart 'Google' takes number 3?
Re: (Score:2)
Not Suprising..... (Score:4, Interesting)
This is no suprise..... Yahoo has long allowed their service to degrade in favor of profit. The thing that made Google *the* search engine when they came out was that the page consisted of just a logo that said GOOGLE and a field to enter your search into. If you wanted info on other services GOOGLE had to offer, all you did was click a little hyperlink and you would then be taken to another page with the services on it.
Yahoo, on the other hand, crammed their page with every advertisement, product plug, sales pitch, and "junk" shopping service they could possibly fit onto the page.
Google is a simple, easy to use search engine, and it is absolutely no suprise it has become as giant as it is. This is mainly due to the simple, uncluttered sales-pitch free interface. The simple interface ade people want to use it, thus generating more money, thus allowing it to grow bigger.
Yahoo has turned itself into the America Online of serch engines: Nothing but advertisements, sales pitches, product tie-ins, marketing, and "junk" services.
Re:Not Suprising..... (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
But is it even fair to compare Youtube and Yahoo?
Well, they both start with "Y" and contain the same vowel sound...