Google's tilt towards the semantic indexing of Web pages and establishing relevance through this brilliant statistical method may have been the influence of Applied Semantics, the company known as the innovator of the semantic text processing technology. Google, in an aggressive move which spelled growth and astonished onlookers, took over Applied Semantics in April 2003. The acquisition had several interesting pros and cons and shook the SEO fraternity with expectations and skepticism, at the same time. Let's have some insight on the main concerns.
The acquisition seemed pretty interesting mainly because of the business focus and the growth path followed by the two companies. The Applied Semantics representative even mentioned the similarity in the work culture between the two companies. To compare, both Google and Applied Semantics (initially known as Oingo) started as search engines with funky names in the late 1990s. While Google maintained the trend, so to say, Applied Semantics diversified business into developing software applications for online advertising, domain name, and enterprise information management markets.
Applied Semantics had already proved their leadership in managing and processing content, especially in the field of semantic text processing, for which they are considered the innovators. The foundation for this expertise lies in the CIRCA technology patented by them. This technology is designed to recognize, organize, and dig out information from Web sites and information stores on the Internet or any computer in a way that is almost similar to the way the human mind and brain scans for related information. Naturally, this was expected to give results that are closer to relevance and importance. In short, Applied Semantics first showed the way to apply Artificial Intelligence more closely into the search engines periphery.
Google expected to gain mainly from this enterprise that promised immense potentiality in the world of advertising and indexing and ratings for the search engine. Undoubtedly, Google started to make use of the accomplished Applied Semantics engineering team and went on to launch AdSense, which is a Cost per Click (CPC) service that seemed to have brought huge revenue for Google. Note that AdSense was another key application of the CIRCA technology. It helped Web publishers in understanding a particular theme on a page and deliver advertisements that are highly relevant and targeted for that Web page.
Another interesting edge of this takeover was Applied Semantics' relation with Google and its major rival, Overture. This relationship was actually getting redefined. Overture was into a contract with Applied Semantics in which the latter fed the traffic to Overture's paid listings. This was again one of the best services offered by Applied Semantics and formed an USP for Overture. The contract was supposed to continue till August 2003; however, Google's acquisition of Applied Semantics jeopardized the whole idea. Until the takeover, Applied Semantics' technology behind the Overture listings were considered better and could have beaten Google technique anytime. |
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