Links and Search Engines: The MSN edition

I’ve been promising for a while to complete this series with results relating to MSN (and, for the record, this has nothing to do with Scoble begging for it). I finally got around to cleaning up the HTML output of Excel and can now present the third (and probably final) installment in my analysis of search engine link features.

To recap, I initially took the list of Top 100 blogs listed by Technorati on May 19th, 2005 and started doing side by side comparisons. I initially looked at distribution of links among the top 100, then followed up with an analysis of Technorati against Google, this brought me to a subsequent chapter on Technorati against Google and Yahoo! (then comparing Google and Yahoo! to each other). All this created some fair amount of buzz in the search world, with people saying it was interesting to other saying I was way off the mark. Either way, it’s time to take a look at MSN, in order to complete this round-up.

So, to create some benchmarks, let’s start taking a look at distribution of Technorati links against MSN’s:

Technorati Top 100	MSN Links	Technorati Links	Technorati/MSN Links
Boing Boing	407172	22532	5.53378%
InstaPundit	241472	15190	6.29058%
Daily Kos	184666	15833	8.57386%
Gizmodo	252869	12278	4.85548%
Fark	352289	10216	2.89989%
EnGadget	198584	15051	7.57916%
Davenetics	3334	7571	227.08458%
Eschaton	138241	8713	6.30276%
Dooce	118385	6797	5.74144%
Andrew Sullivan	96315	7680	7.97384%
The Best Page In The Universe	92232	6333	6.86638%
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall	193438	7592	3.92477%
lgf: anti-idiotarian	6067	8275	136.39360%
kottke.org	159861	7278	4.55271%
WIL WHEATON DOT NET	148587	6314	4.24936%
Metafilter	136052	7591	5.57948%
Doc Searls	95781	5690	5.94064%
(In)formacao e (In)utilidade	3272	6040	184.59658%
Wonkette	96768	5877	6.07329%
Scripting News	183067	5728	3.12891%
Power Line	92069	7477	8.12108%
Balmasque	409	4544	1111.00244%
Corante	23107	7686	33.26265%
A list Apart	220584	5536	2.50970%
Something Awful	97908	4512	4.60841%
Megatokyo	112902	4154	3.67930%
Michelle Malkin	72190	6091	8.43746%
Arts and Letters Daily	94718	3983	4.20511%
Gawker	72773	4453	6.11903%
Afterall it was the best I ever had	922	3591	389.47939%
The Volokh Conspiracy	88818	5873	6.61240%
Scobelizer	68282	5524	8.08998%
Jeffrey Zeldman	149539	4134	2.76450%
This Modern World	79038	3913	4.95078%
The Web Standards Project	211917	3810	1.79787%
Joel on Software	133853	4514	3.37236%
Media Matters for America	64867	6809	10.49686%
Television without pity	46391	3859	8.31842%
Kuro5hin	130549	4208	3.22331%
Lileks	50706	3824	7.54151%
Hugh Hewitt	64118	4573	7.13216%
Joel Veitch	23302	3774	16.19603%
Truthout	42693	6528	15.29056%
Baghdad Burning	51647	3519	6.81356%
Buzz machine	72649	4145	5.70552%
fleugel	201995	3670	1.81688%
Informed Comment	62822	3905	6.21598%
Doppler: redefining podcasting	12512	3040	24.29668%
geek and proud	714	3166	443.41737%
loadmemory (Asian site)	198	3324	1678.78788%
Photojunkie	3721	2860	76.86106%
Ross Rader	4830	2976	61.61491%
The Truth Laid Bear	51806	4127	7.96626%
Joi Ito	62642	5165	8.24527%
ScrappleFace	49953	3480	6.96655%
LexText	1741	2671	153.41758%
Google Blog	42967	3688	8.58333%
Xbox	86021	4221	4.90694%
My life in a Bush of Ghosts	12	2519	20991.66667%
Astronomy picture of the day	33625	3498	10.40297%
Crooked Timber	60675	3617	5.96127%
Vodka Pundit	58205	3085	5.30023%
Captain’s quarter	45609	3671	8.04885%
A small victory	54767	3223	5.88493%
Gato Fedorento	2294	2574	112.20575%
Mezzoblue	99511	2952	2.96651%
PostSecret	30794	2707	8.79067%
Samizdata.net	1712	2872	167.75701%
Lawrence Lessig	81047	2949	3.63863%
Counterpunch	52642	3278	6.22697%
Democractic Underground	35595	3913	10.99312%
Right Wing News	61379	2967	4.83390%
StopDesign	86165	3037	3.52463%
iBiblio	32301	3105	9.61271%
Samizdata.net (mistake?)	61443	2743	4.46430%
Abrupto	2698	2935	108.78428%
gene7299 (Asian MSNSpaces site)	28	3215	11482.14286%
Where is Raed?	24848	2409	9.69495%
B3TA: We love the web	38386	2614	6.80977%
Talkleft	60169	2901	4.82142%
Wizbang	60259	3358	5.57261%
m1net (MSN spaces site)	22	3548	16127.27273%
Hoder	1620	5422	334.69136%
CTRL+Alt+Del	32277	2315	7.17229%
Brad DeLong	48403	2715	5.60916%
Blogs for Bush	50820	3560	7.00512%
Neil Gaiman	71916	2194	3.05078%
Gothamist	47848	2729	5.70348%
Thought Mechanics	60736	2197	3.61729%
IMAO	45822	2905	6.33975%
Dan Gillmor (old weblog)	36369	2600	7.14895%
HINAGATA	176519	2186	1.23839%
Dean’s World	53150	2985	5.61618%
Defamer	49132	2372	4.82781%
USS Clueless	64725	2570	3.97065%
Dive into Mark	54167	2540	4.68920%
Pandagon	51286	2822	5.50248%
Blogging.la	8495	3061	36.03296%
Why are you worshipping the ground I blog on?	3481	2238	64.29187%
Daring Fireball	52381	2573	4.91209%

Of course, no big surprise here. This seems to be pretty consistent with what I had found in dealing with Google and Yahoo!, showing that Technorati does a good but not complete job at indexing link-backs. What’s interesting, however, is that Technorati seems to have a different pattern when dealing with MSN than it does with Yahoo or Google. Let me show you what I’m talking about. Following is the pattern of Technorati differential with MSN:

… and now is the differential between Technorati and Yahoo..

.. and finally the same graph between Technorati and Google

I’ve been trying to understand why this is and still have no clear answer, to be fully honest. Could be something, could be nothing. I’m not sure at this point and this is, in large part, one of the thing that was frustrating in working on this entry. I’m not sure there is something there, to be very honest.

Comparing the Search Engines

However, the picture gets more interesting when you get the three search engines side by side. Here’s a quick spreadsheet of the results:

Technorati Top 100	Google Links	Yahoo Links	MSN Links	MSN Links/Google Links	MSN Links/Yahoo Links
Boing Boing	45200	1880000	407172	900.8230%	21.6581%
InstaPundit	75000	2160000	241472	321.9627%	11.1793%
Daily Kos	59800	1690000	184666	308.8060%	10.9270%
Gizmodo	39300	1970000	252869	643.4326%	12.8360%
Fark	43600	1420000	352289	808.0023%	24.8091%
EnGadget	46800	2820000	198584	424.3248%	7.0420%
Davenetics	1780	66400	3334	187.3034%	5.0211%
Eschaton	62400	1400000	138241	221.5401%	9.8744%
Dooce	23600	653000	118385	501.6314%	18.1294%
Andrew Sullivan	41100	1260000	96315	234.3431%	7.6440%
The Best Page In The Universe	656	62000	92232	14059.7561%	148.7613%
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall	74600	563000	193438	259.3003%	34.3584%
lgf: anti-idiotarian	14700	49300	6067	41.2721%	12.3063%
kottke.org	32000	1200000	159861	499.5656%	13.3218%
WIL WHEATON DOT NET	16900	564000	148587	879.2130%	26.3452%
Metafilter	34500	1160000	136052	394.3536%	11.7286%
Doc Searls	33600	1150000	95781	285.0625%	8.3288%
(In)formaco e (In)utilidade	1780	110000	3272	183.8202%	2.9745%
Wonkette	28800	1370000	96768	336.0000%	7.0634%
Scripting News	39400	1470000	183067	464.6371%	12.4535%
Power Line	7510	344000	92069	1225.9521%	26.7642%
Balmasque	24	40500	409	1704.1667%	1.0099%
Corante	6770	265000	23107	341.3146%	8.7196%
A list Apart	21100	620000	220584	1045.4218%	35.5781%
Something Awful	9020	372000	97908	1085.4545%	26.3194%
Megatokyo	7310	361000	112902	1544.4870%	31.2748%
Michelle Malkin	17300	537000	72190	417.2832%	13.4432%
Arts and Letters Daily	23900	866000	94718	396.3096%	10.9374%
Gawker	23500	1060000	72773	309.6723%	6.8654%
Afterall it was the best I ever had	95	34900	922	970.5263%	2.6418%
The Volokh Conspiracy	42000	1190000	88818	211.4714%	7.4637%
Scobelizer	21800	937000	68282	313.2202%	7.2873%
Jeffrey Zeldman	22500	528000	149539	664.6178%	28.3218%
This Modern World	32100	813000	79038	246.2243%	9.7218%
The Web Standards Project	1850	59800	211917	11454.9730%	354.3763%
Joel on Software	22400	966000	133853	597.5580%	13.8564%
Media Matters for America	24800	536000	64867	261.5605%	12.1021%
Television without pity	13300	356000	46391	348.8045%	13.0312%
Kuro5hin	17300	866000	130549	754.6185%	15.0749%
Lileks	Â	39700	50706	Â	127.7229%
Hugh Hewitt	26700	929000	64118	240.1423%	6.9018%
Joel Veitch	2830	135000	23302	823.3922%	17.2607%
Truthout	8780	371000	42693	486.2528%	11.5075%
Baghdad Burning	22700	552000	51647	227.5198%	9.3563%
Buzz machine	30600	1010000	72649	237.4150%	7.1930%
fleugel	1890	201000	201995	10687.5661%	100.4950%
Informed Comment	27900	787000	62822	225.1685%	7.9825%
Doppler: redefining podcasting	4420	607000	12512	283.0769%	2.0613%
geek and proud	355	9110	714	201.1268%	7.8375%
loadmemory (Asian site)	83	1550	198	238.5542%	12.7742%
Photojunkie	1540	51200	3721	241.6234%	7.2676%
Ross Rader	1070	48200	4830	451.4019%	10.0207%
The Truth Laid Bear	23900	717000	51806	216.7615%	7.2254%
Joi Ito	23400	1050000	62642	267.7009%	5.9659%
ScrappleFace	31100	807000	49953	160.6206%	6.1900%
LexText	1970	31200	1741	88.3756%	5.5801%
Google Blog	46	297000	42967	93406.5217%	14.4670%
Xbox	6600	237000	86021	1303.3485%	36.2958%
My life in a Bush of Ghosts	6	903	12	200.0000%	1.3289%
Astronomy picture of the day	5020	113000	33625	669.8207%	29.7566%
Crooked Timber	3560	67500	60675	1704.3539%	89.8889%
Vodka Pundit	4520	169000	58205	1287.7212%	34.4408%
Captain’s quarter	27100	730000	45609	168.2989%	6.2478%
A small victory	16700	460000	54767	327.9461%	11.9059%
Gato Fedorento	1630	126000	2294	140.7362%	1.8206%
Mezzoblue	12000	278000	99511	829.2583%	35.7953%
PostSecret	5790	202000	30794	531.8480%	15.2446%
Samizdata.net	1050	18000	1712	163.0476%	9.5111%
Lawrence Lessig	30600	959000	81047	264.8595%	8.4512%
Counterpunch	11700	295000	52642	449.9316%	17.8447%
Democractic Underground	14900	417000	35595	238.8926%	8.5360%
Right Wing News	27900	794000	61379	219.9964%	7.7304%
StopDesign	10200	255000	86165	844.7549%	33.7902%
iBiblio	9730	197000	32301	331.9733%	16.3964%
Samizdata.net (mistake?)	25500	697000	61443	240.9529%	8.8154%
Abrupto	550	44700	2698	490.5455%	6.0358%
gene7299 (Asian MSNSpaces site)	58	764	28	48.2759%	3.6649%
Where is Raed?	10100	232000	24848	246.0198%	10.7103%
B3TA: We love the web	12000	839000	38386	319.8833%	4.5752%
Talkleft	7170	221000	60169	839.1771%	27.2258%
Wizbang	21000	634000	60259	286.9476%	9.5046%
m1net (MSN spaces site)	104	579	22	21.1538%	3.7997%
Hoder	1480	20900	1620	109.4595%	7.7512%
CTRL+Alt+Del	2310	171000	32277	1397.2727%	18.8754%
Brad DeLong	30100	882000	48403	160.8073%	5.4879%
Blogs for Bush	16200	824000	50820	313.7037%	6.1675%
Neil Gaiman	13700	319000	71916	524.9343%	22.5442%
Gothamist	15200	491000	47848	314.7895%	9.7450%
Thought Mechanics	4400	190000	60736	1380.3636%	31.9663%
IMAO	23800	407000	45822	192.5294%	11.2585%
Dan Gillmor (old weblog)	10800	298000	36369	336.7500%	12.2044%
HINAGATA	10100	21100	176519	1747.7129%	836.5829%
Dean’s World	30600	784000	53150	173.6928%	6.7793%
Defamer	9310	725000	49132	527.7336%	6.7768%
USS Clueless	8470	264000	64725	764.1677%	24.5170%
Dive into Mark	14600	235000	54167	371.0068%	23.0498%
Pandagon	27300	743000	51286	187.8608%	6.9026%
Blogging.la	3200	67700	8495	265.4688%	12.5480%
Why are you worshipping the ground I blog on?	1430	85000	3481	243.4266%	4.0953%
Daring Fireball	12000	221000	52381	436.5083%	23.7018%

The most interesting thing here is that MSN seems to prove the assertion I had made regarding Google not providing as many links as Yahoo does. The same seems to be true between MSN and Google. There were, however, a few surprises here, as far as I’m concerned:

• Sites located in the United States seem to fair better, on MSN, than other sites. Google and Yahoo seem to have a stronger indexing presence outside the US than MSN does.
• MSN spaces sites are not getting particularly great representation in MSN search, compared to its competitors. I was surprised by this since they are part of the same service

Conclusions and more!

So there you have, no great insight here apart from the fact that this linking stuff is interesting and that even small scale analysis can bring up some interesting trends. As I mentioned before, I am not an expert on this and thought to put together the numbers and start an analysis. Enjoy!