After its loss with Yahoo!, Microsoft has been looking for a way to compete with search engine giant, Google. Recent reports show that Microsoft is going for an acquisition with Semantic Search’s Powerset. Powerset is said to be innovative in its natural language search, which boasts the ability to search for terms, understanding what the user needs (as opposed to Google, which lists the highest ranked websites first). Currently, however, Powerset is limited to only searching Wikipedia pages. Nevertheless, Microsoft brings financial backing to Powerset (the acquisition is priced at $100 million), that can ultimately expand Powerset to different possibilities.

Much speculation remains on whether or not Microsoft’s plan to acquire Powerset will give the company the edge to take on Google. After all, sources state that Powerset has been around for several years, but still has not taken off. The acquisition, which is said to take place next month, will change both Microsoft and Powerset.

One of the challenges for social networking sites has been generating revenue through ads. Facebook, one of the largest names in social networking is also included in having trouble, but a new deal (which includes Visa paying $2 million of advertising) with Visa shows promise. Visa created a small-business network for Facebook, which will help other businesses become aware of the many advantages social networking presents. As an incentive, Visa will provide the first 20,000 U.S. businesses with a $100 credit for advertising on Facebook. The collaboration seems ideal, as even search engine giant, Google has agreed to provide the business network with tools like maps, word processing, calendars and other innovative tools.

The partnership comes quickly after professional networking site, LinkedIn was valued at $1 billion . It seems as though Facebook is making its own plans for expansion, as its targeted audience begins to expand towards the business-minded.

Social Networking sites are competing to get the most users on their sites, often mirroring each other and wanting to reach similar demographics. However, professional networking site, LinkedIn has always stayed true to its mission of bringing professionals together through career opportunities. Although LinkedIn has not had the same success as its social networking counterparts Facebook and Myspace, recent reports show that the site is valued at one billion dollars. LinkedIn has also gained a reported fifty three million dollars in capital, which stems from different investors such as Bain Capital Ventures.

What sets LinkedIn apart from other social networks is its emphasis on professionalism and gaining contacts for business purposes. Even though the site has not obtained an audience at the scales of Facebook, LinkedIn has plans on improving the site, while staying true to its purpose: bringing business professionals together. LinkedIn wishes to stay true to its demographic with its improvements, which means the addition of tools that would help users find different leads and contacts for their businesses. Moreover, LinkedIn’s additions will bring co-workers together. For example, employees under the same company will have access to a private forum for that company alone. This may bring more and more professionals to LinkedIn, creating competition for other networking sites and establishing a larger name for itself.

Advertisers have taken notice of the ever-increasing popularity of blogs.  As a result, the search engine company specializing in blogs, Technorati, has launched Technorati Media. Technorati Media will create ad networks for blogs. Technorati prides itself in being a search engine that gathers and categorizes different blogs.

What will set Technorati apart, reports state, is that Technorati will cater to all blogs, not just those with high traffice. Nevertheless, Technorati Media already has a network of advertisers, which includes: Honda, T-Mobile, Sony,Visa, Universal Pictures and Best Buy (just to name a few).  As a search engine, Technorati is seen as competition to larger companies like Google and Yahoo! Its new addition, Technorati Media, may just give the company the edge it needs to make its presence known.

The speculation of a Yahoo-Google deal which arose in the last months following the end of the Yahoo-Microsoft deal have been confirmed, as Yahoo and Google have formed a partnership. In this deal, Google will have ads next to various Yahoo! search results within the United States and Canada. However, this deal is said to be non-exclusive, and Yahoo! will also display paid search ads from Yahoo!’s Panama search as well as other parties such as Microsoft.

Nevertheless, many concerns have surfaced as a result of the collaboration. For one, the possibility of Google monopolizing the search engine market has competitors worried. If Google ads continually appear in Yahoo! searches, users might be less inclined to use Yahoo! and may just switch over to Google. However, Yahoo! states that they will have final call on which terms will generate paid results from Google, or any other party.

Not to be outdone by Microsoft and Google, Yahoo! also made a deal to partner up with another company in order to reach a wider audience with their toolbar. Unlike Google and Microsoft, however, this deal is not from a computer company. Yahoo! has partnered with Acresso Software, which makes the largely used InstallShield.

According to reports, the Yahoo! toolbar is the first add-on in Acresso’s new initiative to provide add-on services when making software updates and installations. Furthermore, InstallShield is said to be used by about 71,000 organizations. Many of their customers include: Microsoft, SAS, BMC and IBM (among others), which will definitely be of an advantage to Yahoo!

Wikipedia has quickly become a go-to resource for users looking for quick bits of information. More importantly, Wikipedia is innovative in its emphasis on user participation. With Wikipedia, registered users can add and edit different Wikipedia pages. The next step for Wikipedia is conquering search. Wikia Search will begin letting anyone participate in building its index by adding, deleting and rating Web pages.

What sets Wikia Search apart from big names like Google and Yahoo! is its reliance on its audience and users to maintain interaction and keep content fresh. Although Wikipedia requires users to register in order to create and edit pages, this will not be the case for Wikia Search. Anyone will have the ability to edit information including ranking the web pages, even editing headlines and preview texts of pages and articles shown in search results. Also unlike Wikipedia, (which has moderators approve of edits and page creations), Wikia Search will have automatic updates. However, Wikia Search will always be on the lookout for possible spammers, deleting content and banning users who spam the search engine. Wikia Search also plans on evolving to include blended search, allowing for: images, videos, news articles and all of the other search results offered by larger search engines.

Wiki Search has the potential to attract many users, and Google may see some competition in the future.

Google Analytics is a vital tool for those looking to track their website’s progress. With its many functions and capabilities, Google Analytics can mean the difference between a successful campaign and a mediocre one.

There are many advantages to using Google Analytics. One clear advantage is that the service is free, allowing companies extra budgets for their marketing campaigns. Beyond its cost effectiveness, Google Analytics gives businesses an in-depth look at user behavior. Some of the questions that Analytics can help answer may include: How long are users staying on my website? How do they find my site? What keywords are searched when finding my site? Targeting keywords for a business’ website is facilitated through the incorporation of Google Adwords into Analytics.

Google Analytics also integrates a series of visual aids further providing an all-inclusive perspective on website trends and user behavior. These visual aids consist of various charts and graphs, which can track revenue, conversion rates and ROI. Furthermore, these charts track the ways in which users navigate throughout websites.

Microsoft announced its partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), as Microsoft struggles with gaining more traffic to Live Search. Microsoft will have many advantages as a result of the partnership. Beginning in January, HP computers shipped to the United States and Canada will see a lot more of Microsoft already installed onto them. These computers will have Internet Explorer and a Live Search toolbar as their default web browser. This deal will bring forth many users for Microsoft, as HP holds the title of the world’s largest PC maker. Not only has Microsoft secured this deal with HP, but they have also made a similar negotiation with Lenovo.

Nevertheless, search engine leader, Google also has a deal with Dell, which means that all Dell computers are shipped with Google toolbars already installed. It is only a matter of time before one can see the results of these partnerships.