Seznam – The Forgotten Search Engine
Seznam, the Czech Republic search engine, has been lost in a sea of “big players” and I plan to help promote it and explain why this engine is still important. Non-Google engines like Baidu and Yandex get all the glory and all the news for fighting against the Google monopolization. Is it time to give Seznam some respect too?
A bit of background first. Seznam was created in 1996 providing a portal-style platform which included news, local interest, business listing and quickly followed email and search. What makes Seznam unique is, unlike many other ‘local’ search engines in Europe, it uses its own technology to power its search. Meaning that the results that Seznam.cz produces are extremely different to that of Google.cz.
So who is using Seznam?
In mid to late 2000’s the answer was easily most of the Czech population. In 2008, it had a huge market share of 60% vs 30% Google share. But there is undoubtedly been a momentum shift in this decade with Google.cz updates and general Google brand push beginning to close that gap.
Furthermore, Google claimed that they had actually overtaken Seznam in Czech market share in 2011, an accusation which was strongly denied by Seznam quoting late 2010 data which marked them at 68% market share.
Why is Seznam popular in Czech Republic?
It boils down to localization! The Czech republic are fond of local products because it is generally tailored to their needs and wants.
Kofola cola out-sells Coca-Cola because it is tailored to the Czech market and undergoes local market advertising.
Similarly, Seznam provides local Czech search in a language Google has not focused on in a market it has not advertised well in.
How can I utilise Seznam?
Seznam runs the same algorithm as Google did about 5 years ago. But don’t think that means it’s out-dated. Simply, there is no-where near the content levels that Google indexes compared to Seznam so it can afford to be less stringent on its SERP. Updated: Meta-keywords are not part of the current ranking algorithm. As rightly pointed out by Dušan Janovský - they are junk! Normal elements and on-page optimization applies.
Link building is still important but does not hold the same value as in Google because there isn’t as much content to link to. Also, make sure your landing page looks good – it is displayed on SERP.
Don’t forget there is also Sklik – the PPC tool for Seznam. Again, it is slightly dated but a very useful bidding tool, with adequate reporting levels and optimization elements. It also has a very nice currency change system whereby you can upload bids in £ or $ and it will convert them for you. Only issue from an international marketing perspective – it is all in Czech.
What is the future for Seznam?
Google claim to have retrieved majority market share in Czech Republic but Seznam is right to question this. Seznam is the number one most visited site in the Czech Republic and is used not only for search but also email, portal, news feed etc. It even has its own Google Maps and Google Route Planner (mapy.cz)!
Whilst the younger generation move more between Seznam and Google,
Seznam still holds strong with the mid-older generations and whilst this is the case – it has a strong future!
In conclusion…Don’t forget about Seznam! If you are targeting Czech Republic it’s still the engine you need to be on.
Make sure you choose an agency which targets Seznam and other local search engines. Google has not taken over the world.
Long live the local search engine!!
How do you feel about Seznam? Does it have a future? Or should we all focus on Google?
Seznam really sucks. Google gives more relevant search results. Seznam is used only by old people and BFUs, who have it set as their homepage.
Seznam hater – I will not even describe, what do I think about you. The point is not whether seznam.cz is better search engine or not. The point is that there is a strong local competor for Google and anyone who wants to have website target to czech area should know it. This post is great and author should be thanked, instead of writing dumb teenage comments.
I know many people around age 30, who use Seznam Mail, Mapy.cz (btw – maps from Seznam are far better than those from Google, at least in Czech Republic area). Seznam is web portal – you can read news, read mail and search on the same page, many people find that convenient. There for sure is future for Seznam. Even if it may not keep 50+% market share, still this is massive success for local search engine versus global corporation.
Must agree with both of you guys. Most (or a lot, I do not know any numbers) users are really not experienced people, for which Seznam index page = internet. If they just want to browse, thy click on ‘e’ icon on their desktop, IE opens with Seznam as home page and then they enter what they need into search field (as many BFUs around the globe do with Google as well, as there was no any adress bar at all…).
BUT mapy.cz is much better app at the moment (of course in local scale). Not only UI, but also implemenation as plugin for you site. I was doing both for one web (CZ version mapy.cz, EN Google Maps) and spent much more time to customize GM, must say.
Resume? I very rarely use Seznam for searching, but always prefer mapy.cz.
Thanks everyone for your comments. Positive and negative comments are all welcome!
There is no doubt that Google updates have aided in producing much better Czech results and Google have made a definitive effort to master Czech search language as it has done across other European countries.
However, I think there is still a place in the Czech market for both these search engines. Google may have the technological edge but Seznam has the history and the local benefit.
I personally am proud of Seznam’s work in this market. Having one search engine dominate the world (Google) is not good for the industry or for search development. You forget that if it wasn’t for Seznam, Google would not have made all the recent updates and would leave Google.cz useless. I wish there was a “Seznam” for every country – giving people a choice and also forcing search engines to be more relevant for a specific market and advance their own technologies.
Put it like this, if Nintendo had no competition, we would all be still playing Mario-Kart on the SNES. But as it is, competition from Playstation and Microsoft have rocketed the market to the PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii era we’re at now.
If there were more engines like Seznam then imagine where the search market would be now?!
Hi guys,
I will try to add one more point from marketing point of view, it seems like you guys are overlooking it.
As a marketer, you have to know your target group & how they behave. Seznam is primarily used by middle aged generation, conservative internet users & people who aren’t so comfortable with using all the internet. If you you a startup with a focus on Android apps, you probably won’t find Seznam as the best search/advertizing platform & you will optimize more for Google & its AdWords, but you would be foolish to just dismiss it.
All I’m saying is that what matters the most is defining your target groups & choosing the best ways to market yourself to them.
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Let’s not forget Zbozi.cz & Firmy.cz which are also run by Seznam. Zbozi.cz heavily used product comparison site & when you are running an e-shop in Czech Republic you simply have to be there.
Firmy.cz is a tool for searching companies by their name, location or type. Also vital tool for CZ marketing.
Hi, I’m one of Seznam’s search developper. Mark, thank you for mention us!
We don’t use meta keywords, it’s junk. Meta description are sometimes good for snippet creation, but that’s the only usage of those data.
If you have any other questions about Seznam search technology, feel free to ask me via email.
Mark, great post. Thanks for drawing out such a nice comparison of Google and Seznam. It is a fair assessment, and I like that it honestly reviews the strengths and weaknesses of both search engines in the region.
I use google, so I would not comment on seznam as a search engine. What I know for sure that gmail search mail is far superior, seznam mail search is terrible.