2008/5/29 Jeremy Stone <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > A few interesting points "picked out by the guardian" ;) > Yes, they do have a rather vested interest. I have to say that I do rather agree that the BBC search engine is bloody awful. It comes as no surprise that people are not using it! Ever tried to find a breaking news story using it?
Also, I have to say that the idea of a "trusted guide" is so- so- old-fashioned. I thought we were all over portals. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Brian Butterworth > Sent: Thu 5/29/2008 5:20 PM > To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk > Subject: [backstage] "BBC website review: Site failing to act as 'trusted > guide" > > A few interesting points... > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/29/bbc.digitalmedia1 et al > > The BBC Trust also found that bbc.co.uk's internal search engine "is not > effective and its usage is declining". > Referrals from the internal search engine declined from 24% of total > bbc.co.uk traffic to 19% between the last quarter of 2006 and the same > period last year, the trust noted. > > The trust cited figures of low levels of usage for the BBC's web search > service - around 3 million monthly users, compared with 28 million for > Google and 6 million each for Yahoo, MSN and Ask. "In the context of a web > search market which has become increasingly commercially attractive, we > have > considered whether there is a role for a public service engine," said the > BBC Trust. > - > > bbc.co.uk's service licence states that it should act as a "trusted guide" > to the internet, "guiding users to the wider web and linking to external > websites with high public value" - the BBC Trust said it was "disappointed" > to see findings that showed that in July 2007 there were just 4.6 million > click-throughs by UK users from bbc.co.uk to external websites, with an > overall pattern "trending downwards" - comments from the public > consultation > and research "suggest that the ineffectiveness and inaccessibility of the > links is the main factor preventing greater usage". > > - > > "We are [also] not convinced that BBC management's ambition to be 'part of' > the web rather than 'on it' by embedding BBC content on other sites, such > as > YouTube, plays any role in acting as a 'trusted guide' to the wider web," > the BBC Trust added. "Rather, this is mainly a way of marketing BBC content > to those who might not otherwise access it." > - > > The report pointed out that as recently as January 2008, BBC executives had > predicted that bbc.co.uk would only be about 5% over budget for the > financial year. > > In fact, the trust's own review carried out in December 2007 was showing > the > bbc.co.uk annual budget had been blown by 48%. > > --- > > Brian Butterworth > > http://www.ukfree.tv - independent digital television and switchover > advice, > since 2002 > > -- Please email me back if you need any more help. Brian Butterworth http://www.ukfree.tv - independent digital television and switchover advice, since 2002
