Re: [. . . ] Placement -where it is headed.

Fuzzy, Jeff and Judith:

[Tech. note: My spellchecker keeps telling me all is OK and I keep finding
boo boos. If I have missed one, please forgive.]

Wow--this just may be one of the most important discussions we have seen on
the Bascis List in some time. What could be more "Basic" to all of us than
Search Engines.

Not that our opinions will change anything, but they do inspire thought, and
that's always good.

Here is a solution that I dreamed up for small businesses in a local
community. It won't work for everyone and I'll even admit, I never got to
try it out as my partner in the venture coped out and went to work for wages
...

The idea revolves around using a "Hub" website of some sort. Preferably, one
that dispenses information. In fact, that was the reason for the creation of
NewsRedding.Com. Local merchants in the Redding area would opt in by paying
a small fee and/or be clients of our services.

The magazine/hub/info site would create pages as needed to provide a Table
of Contents listing all the clients with a brief description of their
services.

At the same time, we would be setting up a commerical (and free) search
engine form on every page, such as FreeFind, www.freefind.com/ to spider all
of their webs as well as the hub magazine. FreeFind allows you to do this
and will "handle" a large number of pages. And--should one client have a
"huge" site, a second search engine can be provided just for them. Note that
the search form does NOT have to be on the same site it is searching.
FreeFind also provides an automatic Site Map and a What's New to highlight
new pages.

This sort of thing would work for a small area or subject. Examples might be
a group of Real Estate agencies that wished to go together. It would have a
central site with all kinds of local and real estate related information.
Then the "common" search engine would search all their sites and listings.

The same could be done for Auto Dealers or Restaurants or what have you.

Now back to the discussion.

I was asked if I thought that non-profit groups should pay the same fee as
commerical sites. My answer is ... You Betcha!!

Consider poor Granny Jones who makes and sells a few hundred bags of her
favorite chocolate chips each year. Should she have to fork over two grand a
year to be listed on the major search engines while the Girl Scouts get
listed for free?? Should this same inequity be forced on a restaurant when a
church up the block gets to list their "Pot Luck Fund Raiser" for free??

In both cases, one pays through the nose while their competitors get a free
ride. It costs the search engine just as much time and effort for the Girl
Scouts as it did for Granny and her cookies.

In a like vein, we all are in the same boat. Every one of us has to spend
our time at least--even if we work as a hobby.  Yet we seem to think that
while it's OK to get several hundred dollars from a local Landscapper, we
all work our tails off for free when some preacher comes around with his
hand out. Can we ask Ma Bell or the local power company for a discount
because some of our work was done for non-profit groups??

If Fuzzy's idea of two separate search engine types is ever to see the light
of day, the fees on the "major" search engines must be equal for all.
Believe me, the Girl Scouts are not going to pull away from the major
engines as long as they get it for free.

End of Rant and Best Wishes to all ...
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
www.temercraft.com/
www.newsredding.com/

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