Google And Bing Updates For Internet Radio
Written Aug. 5, 2009 by Larry Rosin in Internet Radio with 1 Comment
Here's something I haven't checked up on in a while -- what do you get when you search for "Internet Radio"?
Type the words "internet radio" into Google and the winner is Pandora (it comes up first) followed by Live365, Shoutcast, Yahoo, then AOL Radio. Rounding out the first page is Slacker, then Jango, then Radio-Locator, Sirius, and finally Windows Media Guide. Sponsored links seem to be taken by public radio stations (!) and NPR. Hmmm...what do they know that commercial radio seems not to know?
Adding the word "Stations" to the search only changes things a little -- radiotower.com and radio paradise join the front page.
Even more interesting is to narrow the search to a city. I picked Los Angeles. Type "internet radio los angeles" into Google and this interesting site comes out on top (note that it is just a pointer site that doesn't point to any commercial stations.) Kudos to market stalwart KABC-AM, which is the only commercial player to make the front page -- in the bottom slot. Of course KABC is beaten out by several public radio stations -- who just seem to have the "SEO" (search engine optimization) thing worked out so much better than anyone in commercial radio can seem to do.
Finally, typing "Internet Radio" into the updated Bing search engine from Microsoft shows no connection to commercial radio, if one excepts AOL radio being 'Powered by CBS Radio". Bing takes the search off into other interesting directions, including reviews of actual 'internet radios'. It is worth checking out the differences.
A point made many times on this blog - no one is going to listen your online station if they can't find your stream. And no one is going to find your stream by accident unless Google or Bing finds it. Contact me if you would like more information on what you have to do to get your station higher in Google and Bing searches.
Reader Comments
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Amen.
Same goes for searching for musical genres, which is a lot of volume when it comes to searches.
The problem runs deeper though, it has to do with branding. Unless they buy paid advertising targeting those keywords, they are unlikely to show up in those search results even with your help. The problem is the way they are marketing themselves. By and large, anything with call letters and trying to be position itself as being very local, will not make the list. Only exceptions are a few legendary stations out there, but otherwise it's a hopeless cause in my opinion. They better invest money in good domain names (say, ClassicalMusic.com), rebrand as an online entitiy, and market themselves to a global audience. That is, if they want a chance for those search results.
my 2 cents anyway.
-Ari