Case Study II-5 • The Cliptomania TMWeb Store 317Google uses PageRank to examine the entire
link structure of the Web and determine which pages
are most important. It then conducts hypertext-
matching analysis to determine which pages are
relevant to the specific search being conducted. By
combining overall importance and query-specific
relevance, Google is able to put the most relevant
and reliable results first.
PageRank Technology:PageRank performs
an objective measurement of the importance of
Web pages by solving an equation of more than
500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Instead
of counting direct links, PageRank interprets a link
from Page A to Page B as a vote for Page B by
Page A. PageRank then assesses a page’s impor-
tance by the number of votes it receives. PageRank
also considers the importance of each page that
casts a vote, as votes from some pages are consid-
ered to have greater value, thus giving the linked
page greater value. Important pages receive a
higher PageRank and appear at the top of the
search results. Google’s technology uses the
collective intelligence of the Web to determine a
page’s importance.
Hypertext-Matching Analysis: Google’s
search engine also analyzes page content. However,
instead of simply scanning for page-based text
(which can be manipulated by site publishers
through meta-tags), Google’s technology analyzes
the full content of a page and factors in fonts, sub-
divisions, and the precise location of each word.
Google also analyzes the content of neighboring
Web pages to ensure the results returned are the
most relevant to a user’s query.In summary, Google combines at least two major fac-
tors to determine the ranking of Web sites in response to a
search: (1) how well the content of the site matches the
search terms and (2) the quality of the Web site defined
primarily by the number and quality of the Web sites that
link to it.
In regard to the page content component of the rank-
ing, it is important that the crawlers find indications of the
content that people may be searching for on the page. For
example, Cliptomania has a number of what they call
“bead earrings,” but many potential customers search for
these as “beaded earrings” and may not find Cliptomania’s
store under that search term. Also, Web crawlers cannot
deal with images, so if your content is in images, it will not
show up on searches unless the images are also described
in text. For example, if you are a dude ranch that features
horseback riding and emphasize that in pictures but not in
text, the Web crawlers will not rank you high on “horse-
back riding” searches.Other Marketing Approaches
Jim experimented with “site-targeted advertising” through
Google AdSense where Google places an ad for you on
Web pages that are found via related searches. These ads
would not appear on one of Cliptomania’s competitor’s
pages, but might appear on the page of someone who sells
scarves or beauty products or on other categories that Jim
might specify. You may pay by the click or by how many
persons view your ad. Google pays the person who
allowed your ad to appear on his page and charges you for
your clicks or views. After trying this type of advertising,
Jim decided that it was not profitable and discontinued
that approach.
Jim will not accept ads for related products on
Cliptomania’s Web pages. He says:We don’t like the idea of cluttering up our store with
links that send people away and they may not come
back. Furthermore, we have worked hard to provide
superior service and achieve an outstanding excel-
lence rating. We have control over how you are treated
when you deal with us, but if we refer you out to
another site we lose that control. If someone gets bad
service from a store we sent them to, they might asso-
ciate that experience with us, and our good reputation
is too important to risk.The Santos have established another Web site, http://www.
earringinformation.com, that contains a lot of information
about non-pierced earrings including information on how
to adjust them, what styles are best with different shaped
faces, and other interesting information and ideas. This site
also extols the virtues of Cliptomania and encourages
visitors to click to visit Cliptomania, so this site is a
marketing tool for the Santos. Although Jim will not
accept advertising on Cliptomania.com, he does allow ads
on http://www.earringinformation.com and receives some
revenue from this source.
Like many Web businesses, Cliptomania also owns
quite a number of URLs with names that are similar to
Cliptomania or have to do with clip-on earrings. For exam-
ple, if someone in desperation keys in the URL http://www.
cliponearrings.com, his or her browser will pull up the
Cliptomania Web site. Cliptomania gets some business via
these URLs, and it is relatively inexpensive as it only costs
a few dollars a year to maintain a URL.
Another marketing approach involves the use of
e-mail. Cliptomania has a file containing the e-mail
addresses of all its customers. It also has a box on its home