[WEB4LIB] Re: Northern Light To Stop Free Publicly Available

[Dan Lester]

I rarely disagree with Rich, but....

Wednesday, January 09, 2002, 9:33:53 AM, you wrote:

RW> But the manner in which this decision was promulgated is,
RW> frankly, highly disappointing:

I don't understand this at all.  Comments follow.

RW> -- Word on this bombshell got out yesterday.  One of the
RW> premier Web search engines will no longer be in service
RW> as of January 16.  That's barely more than ONE WEEK of
RW> notice!  Would it have really cost the company any significant
RW> cash to maintain the service as is for a few months -- or at
RW> least 30 days?

I can't answer for them, of course, but you certainly have to have
people to manage servers, etc.  And if they're not spidering the
world, they may be able to save significantly on bandwidth fees. If
the contracts end now, that's it.  And, if they're in really bad
shape, every little bit helps, at least in appearance.  Most of us
know that appearance often counts for more than reality.

RW> -- There should be huge banner ads and red flags on the
RW> northernlight.com site right now emphasizing this news.

Why should there be.  A business might have a "going out of business
sale", but since NL doesn't have anything to sell, that seems kind of
pointless.

RW> There aren't.  I can't even find an archive of the press release.
RW> They toss the bomb on a newswire, and don't bother telling real
RW> customers on the Northern Light site itself?!?

Well, when you're getting it free, are you a customer?  (and NO I
don't want to get into what name we should give to our library
patrons/customers/users/clients/visitors/guests/etc.)

RW> NL has always marketed itself as the researcher's engine.
RW> How many libraries have given instruction on how to exploit
RW> NL?  How many have NL listed as a favored engine?  (Google counts 27,000
RW> links to NL).  How many users have followed advice and bookmarked NL?

Undoubtedly a great many have done these things.  Doesn't all of that
confirm that NL is making the right decision?  Actually, it seems to
me that search engines go through the same cycles as the "One Hit
Wonders" in popular music of any genre.  First World Wide Web Worm was
hot, then Yahoo, then AltaVista, then NL, then Google, and next will
be someone else.  (Purists can quibble with my choices and sequencing
above if they wish).

RW> Obviously one cannot complain too much when a company decides it
RW> cannot afford a free service, but you have to ask why the retrenchment
RW> had to be done with so little notice. The impression is left that
RW> this was a move of desperation, not careful business realignment.

I'm betting that it was.  But since I've not invested in them, I don't
watch them closely, either.

RW> I would not want to be a NL sales rep marketing for-fee services
RW> to a library after this move.

True enough.  However, as a talking-head-guru said on one of the
financial channels this morning (regarding Merrill Lynch cutting 9000
employees by a number of euphemisms for layoffs and firings), "they
may be just slimming down for a special date that will lead to
marriage".  It seems to me that NL has enough assets that they'd be an
attractive acquisition to some other firm.

W> It is beginning to seem as if besides superior algorithms and
RW> uncluttered interface, one of Google's strongest points is its
RW> mere stability.  Let's hope they really do have a business model that
RW> sustains them.

Again, I hope that you're right, and that they're not just the latest
search engine fad.

dan

-- 
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan at RiverOfData.com 208-283-7711
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.gailndan.com  Stop Global Whining!