If you can't find what you're searching for on the Web maybe you need to change your thinking about how to search the Internet.

We need to realize the limitations of search engines and directories. We still need to use them a lot but we should also be using portals, the "invisible Web," and fee-based services.

Search engines get better every day but not all the information on the Web is free. Fee-based, value-added services save time and money, and in many cases are the only sources of certain types of data.

According to the market research firm IDC, "the market for online content is being driven by businesses and consumers that are increasingly willing to pay for reliable sources of timely, accurate and complete information." The firm forecasts worldwide spending this year to top $100 billion.

Not only does it appear that paying for data on the Internet is a continuing trend, but we are also less averse to compensating those who gather information and add value to it by putting in searchable, database form.

You'd have to be living on Pluto not to notice the intense competition between the various search engines. They want to be the biggest and fastest Internet database while returning the most relevant search results. While the results generated by search engines are for the most part relevant, it is unfortunately getting harder to tell which results are the "real" results generated by your search and which results are paid for by advertisers. Google is an example of a search engine that does an excellent job clearly identifying these ads by segregating them in a coloured box and clearly labeling them "Sponsored links." Other search engines do not make this distinction so clearly.

There is a common myth that every bit of information you need to find is on the Internet, and it is free. Yes, you can find a lot of great information on the 'net for free. Sometimes the data exists on the Internet, but in a fee-based database like LexisNexis. And sometimes the information you need is in the local library and not on the Internet at all!

In many cases, it may be worth your while to pay for information from a fee-based service simply because it is much cheaper time-wise to go directly to a service and pay for an article rather than spend 30 minutes looking for it "for free" on the 'net. At THRG our information specialist Ainsley Magno says "the high-priced value-added information services such as LexisNexis, Dialog and Factiva are incredible tools for in-depth research. You'll find content there that will never appear on the Web-articles from industry newsletters, market research reports and financial information on companies from around the world."

We strongly encourage you to consider subscribing to one of these services if you find your information needs are increasing and can no longer be met by free and low-cost Websites.

It is important to repeat that, despite popular belief, everything ever published is not available on the Internet, and that all information on the 'net is free. In addition, because your time is valuable, it may make more sense to spend five minutes on a fee-based service and pay for the data rather than spend five hours trying to find it for free on the 'net.

Author & Editor: Peter Henderson
The Henderson Robb Group
www.hendersonrobb.com

About the author: We are a advertising and marketing communications agency located in Toronto, in our 18th year of business. We like to poke fun, criticize and question current trends. We like to be enlightened and aim to enlighten through our articles we would like to share with this marketing community.