Internet Business

When you search for something in Google there is a list of results presented. Did you ever wonder how that list is ordered? Google uses a semi-secret algorithm to decide which site should show up on the top of the list and which second and down the line. Gaming that algorithm is big business and it can mean the difference between success and failure for an internet business. If a person searches for say "basketball shoes" they are much more likely to go to a site and buy a pair of shoes if it appears high up on the results list. In fact being on the first page of the list makes all the difference since people will rarely go to the second page and beyond unless they are looking for something very specific.

I'll let you research how the list ordering is determined, the internet is full of information on that. And there are lots of search engine optimization (SEO) companies that will gladly sell you expensive services to improve your sites listing. Be aware that a lot of the information out there is not very useful. The game is always changing since as SEO companies learn to beat Google, Google in return will adjust their algorithm to result in what they think is a list that accurately represents how the search results should be displayed.

Consider how a small company with good SEO can carve out a profitable niche for itself. For example: airport-data..com. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) publishes on an hourly basis the current weather conditions at airports throughout the country. They are nice enough to present the data in a standard format that is very convenient for others to pick up. That's what airport-data.com does, it's computers grab the data from NOAA's sites and publishes it on airport-data's site. Doesn't sound like much of a business but in fact it's brilliant. The other thing that's on airport-data's web site is advertising. Companies have paid to have airport-data's site littered with ads that they think people looking at airport information will be interested in. Airport-data.com has also been set up to show up high on the Google search results. For example if someone, like me, searches for "weather ccr" like I do for a local weather report, airport-data shows up first on the list, I click on it and get my information and airport-data makes a few pennies from the ads. It's a beautiful little money spinner, the data is free, setting up and maintaining airport-data.com doesn't cost much and the money rolls in.

As you're clicking around the net thinking everything's free and wonderful, take a moment to consider who's making money and the ways you are actually paying. You pay in ads cluttering up your screen and you pay in sluggish response while all this ad stuff happens behind the scenes.

Notes: ccr is the Concord airport near my house.
this article is an interesting overview of web advertising.