• About
    • History of Dallas SEO
    • SEO Expert Witness Services
  • Contact
  • Topics
    • Bing
    • Blogging
    • Branding
    • Domain Names
    • Google
    • Internet Marketing
    • Link Building
    • Local Search
    • Marketing
    • Public Relations
    • Reputation Management
    • Search Engine Marketing
    • Search Engine Optimization
    • Search Engines
    • Social Media
    • Tech
  • Advertise
  • Email Newsletter

Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Search, Marketing, Tech, and Domains.

SEMrush

Home » Search Engines » Throwback Thursday: Search Engine Watch Circa 1999

Throwback Thursday: Search Engine Watch Circa 1999

Posted on July 31, 2014 Written by Bill Hartzer

Today is Thursday, and every Thursday I try to feature one search engine or search engine website. Today, because of the official announcement that Danny Goodwin is leaving Search Engine Watch, I thought I would feature Search Engine Watch.

Let’s take a look at what Search Engine Watch looked like back when Danny Sullivan owned and operated it, back in 1999:

search engine watch 1999

SEW was a part of Internet.com, and Danny Sullivan was the editor. In today’s post, Danny Goodwin noted in his comments on the Webcology radio program that Search Engine Watch was considered to be dead when Danny Sullivan left.

At that time, the site wasn’t really considered to be a news website. In fact, it was more about educating people about search and SEO (search engine marketing). My favorite part of that site was the “what people search for” section, which listed these resources:

Live Search Displays

WebCrawler Search Voyeur
http://webcrawler.com/SearchTicker.html

Displays real-time searches in a news ticker format. A Java-capable browser is required. Also known as the WebCrawler Search Ticker.

MetaCrawler MetaSpy
http://www.metaspy.com/

Choose to see either a filtered or non-filtered sample of top, real-time search terms from this popular meta search service. Page automatically refreshes every 15 seconds.

Magellan Search Voyeur
http://voyeur.mckinley.com/cgi-bin/voyeur.cgi

Displays a sample of recent searches. Page automatically refreshes every 15 seconds.

Ask Jeeves Peak Through The Keyhole
http://www.askjeeves.com/Peek/peek.asp?r=x

Shows 10 recent search requests, updated every 30 seconds.

But there were also some keyword research type of sites and resources, which were very helpful, as well:

Keyword Databases

GoTo.com Inventory Search
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/clienttoolkit/

This is easily the best and freshest way to find what people are searching for on the web. The link takes you to the GoTo Client Tool Kit. There, you’ll find a link called “Search Term Suggestion List.” Click on it, and a new window will open. Enter a term you wish to research, and you’ll be shown how many searches were done for that term and other terms that include it, for the previous month.

Search Spy
http://www.searchspy.com/

This is a database of search terms available for desktop use. You enter a term, and the program scans to find matches. You can sort results by count or by keyword. Data is gathered from various live search displays.

Back in 1999, you could become a website subscriber and pay to get access for more information about search. Search Engine Watch site subscribers had “access to additional information about some of these resources, including tips on how to see more terms or terms displayed faster.” The annual subscription rate was on $34!

Filed Under: Search Engines

SEMrush

About Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer is CEO of Hartzer Consulting, an SEO Consulting firm that includes services such as search engine optimization, technical SEO audits, domain name consulting, and online reputation management. As an SEO Expert, Mr. Hartzer frequently serves as an SEO Expert Witness and Domain Name Expert Witness in legal cases worldwide.

Recent Posts

  • All Domain Names Need SSL: Parked Domains Are Losing Traffic, Revenue March 17, 2023
  • Google is Finally Sunsetting Google Glass March 16, 2023
  • Microsoft Teams Free Classic Shutting Down April 12, 2023 February 21, 2023
  • GoDaddy Customer Loses Domain Name Due to Auto Renew Fail February 9, 2023
  • dotDB is Not Shutting Down February 1, 2023
  • Someone Stole My Domain Name: Here’s What You Do January 4, 2023
  • Web Hosting Services Market to Grow to $254.86 Billion by 2029 December 13, 2022
  • This SEO Blog Post Was Written by ChatGPT December 8, 2022
  • Facebook Rolling Out Facebook Articles December 7, 2022
  • Doing SEO is Better Than… December 6, 2022
  • Tucows and GoDaddy Report Q3 2022 Results November 6, 2022
  • How to Measure App Events Sourced by Organic Search and SEO September 20, 2022
  • Google Allegedly Eavesdrops and Monitors the Brain 24 hours a Day to Control Humanity September 14, 2022
  • Why You Shouldn’t Hire SEOs Based on An Email September 13, 2022
  • Global SEO Market to Reach $122.11 Billion by 2028 September 9, 2022
  • Bluehost Launches New Commerce Solutions for WordPress September 8, 2022
  • Which CMS? How to Choose the Best CMS for Your Purposes August 29, 2022
  • Accidental SEO Manager: Interview with Ash Nallawalla August 15, 2022
  • Sometimes Google Isn’t Family Friendly August 1, 2022
  • Something’s Seriously Wrong with Facebook Notifications July 12, 2022

US Agency Awards Judge

DFWSEM logo

Bill Hartzer is a Brand Ambassador for:



Industry Friends

I Love SEO
WTFSEO
SEO By the Sea
Jeff Lenney
Jeff Gabriel
Phil Drinkwater
Dixon Jones
Brian Hartzer
Navah Hopkins
DNAccess

Connect With Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Twitter
Bill Hartzer on Instagram
Hartzer Consulting on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on YouTube

Categories

  • Advertising (19)
  • Bing Search Engine (6)
  • Blogging (42)
  • Branding (12)
  • Domain Names (212)
  • Google (237)
  • Internet Marketing (25)
  • Internet Usage (85)
  • Link Building (53)
  • Local Search (39)
  • Marketing (181)
  • Marketing Foo (30)
  • Pay Per Click (3)
  • Podcast (18)
  • Public Relations (8)
  • Reputation Management (9)
  • Search Engine Marketing (44)
  • Search Engine Marketing Events (48)
  • Search Engine Marketing Firms (19)
  • Search Engine Marketing Jobs (33)
  • Search Engine Optimization (164)
  • Search Engines (204)
  • Social Media (192)
  • Tech (7)
  • Web Analytics (17)
  • Webinars (1)

Note: All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only, and are mentioned only to help my readers. All other trademarks cited herein are the property of their respective owners. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement.




Hartzer Consulting



Website, Content, and Marketing by Hartzer Consulting, LLC.

Copyright © 2023 ·