Inktomi Search Engine Optimization Strategy

Inktomi is a scalable search results provider. It does not provide search engine results directly to the public, but rather, sells its database or index, to the search engines. Its index and technology are used by web giants such as MSN, iWon and HotBot, among others.

Inktomi was founded by a group of scientists from the University of California- Berkeley. Up until early 2000, it was the engine powering Yahoo’s search results until that contract was won by Google. In the Fall of 2000, Inktomi became the first pay for inclusion search engine. If you do not know what pay for inclusion is, please read this section on pay for inclusion search engines.

Please Note: Inktomi is no longer accepting new subscribers to its Search Submit™ program. Their partner, Overture Services, now offers a new program called Site Match™. Furthermore, Index Connect is now sold through Overture and its resellers.

In December 2002, Yahoo! purchased Inktomi Search. This will likely mean that as soon as Google‘s contract with Yahoo! expires, search results will be drawn from the Inktomi database.

Inktomi’s partners often use a combination of different databases and have their own set of algorithms for generating results. So, while there are similarities between all Inktomi-powered search engine results, ranking well on one Inktomi-powered search engine website doesn’t mean that you will rank well on another. If you opt into Inktomi’s pay for inclusion program, they guarantee that your web site will be re-spidered every 48 hours. Inktomi claims that its spider, Slurp, can spider 10 million pages per day. If this is true, both web searchers and webmasters will benefit from the database’s freshness. Any updates made to a web page will be reflected within 2 days.

Inktomi Optimization Rules, and The Keywords Tag

When you place an order with Inktomi for their pay for inclusion service youare provided with answers to two of their most frequently asked questions. In a statement sent after placing your order, Inktomi confirms their reliance on keywords, which should be an important stepin your search engine optimization strategy. Using the Metamend service ensures that your keyword tags will be formatted and present in your web site according to Inktomi’s rules.

Q: How does the SureListSM service determine what keywords are relevant to your Web pages?

A:Instead of trying to determine which specific keywords are relevant to a Web page, SureList indexes both the full text of the Web page you submit as well as the meta-tags within the site’s HTML. For example, when a searcher enters a keyword to conduct a search, SureList will first look for the presence of that keyword on your Web page. If the keyword is present, your site will be included in the search results.

If the keyword is near the top of the page, in a headline or title, in themeta-tags in the site’s HTML and/or appears frequently on the page, your site will appear sorted higher in the search results.

Q: How is SureListSM service different from a paid search engine submission service?

A:Imagine the time it would take to submit your Web site individually to hundreds of sites via each site’s free submission feature. There are search engine submission services that can save you time by submitting your Web site to hundreds of search engine databases for a fee. However, these services don’t guarantee you will get into any or all of the search services, be added in a timely fashion, or even stay in for any amount of time. A SureListSM subscription ensures that your URL gets in and stays in. It gives you the confidence that your Web site is in an index that powers the world’s most popular search sites– the SureList index.

Inktomi Search Engine Database Size

According to an Inktomi spokesperson, their map of the Internet contains approximately 1.6 billion pages. This includes not only fully indexed pages, but also some information about pages that were referenced, or linked to, by the websites they have indexed. The amount of fully indexed pages in Inktomi’s database is estimated to be closer to approximately 550 million distinct web pages.

Whether or not you are a Metamend client, if you would like to subscribe for an expresslisting in any of the search engines powered by Inktomi, we have builta client interface to allow you to subscribe for these services. Please visit our Pay for Inclusion Search Engine Signup Form.

Because of its reach, this is an engine you can’t afford not to get listed in. If you only participate in one pay for inclusion program, this is one we strongly recommend.

Among the engines that Inktomi supplies data to are:

  • http://www.about.com
  • http://www.bluewin.ch
  • http://www.blueyonder.co.uk
  • http://www.espotting.com
  • http://www.everyday.com
  • http://www.fi
  • http://www.goo.ne.jp
  • http://hotbot.lycos.com
  • http://www.hotbot.co.uk
  • http://search.iwon.com
  • http://www.looksmart.com
  • http://search.msn.com
  • http://www.overture.com/
  • http://www.soneraplaza.fi
  • http://www.terra.cl
  • http://www.tocc.co.jp/search