By Sandor Panton, Contributor
ACCORDING TO recent statistics released by Onestat.Com, during March and April of this year, Google had a global average usage share of 55.2 per cent. Simply put, it means that Google is currently the most popular search portal on the web, with Yahoo a somewhat distant second with a global usage share of 21.7 per cent. Although no official numbers are available for such an analysis from a Jamaican perspective, it's hard to deny Google's reach, and it is very likely that Google is just as popular among Jamaican surfers as it seemingly is across the globe.
Despite this, there are regional and local search engines and directories that exist primarily to serve the Jamaican market, and offer Jamaica-specific search results. It's not uncommon to find surfers who prefer using these local search portals and directories so that they won't have to wade through the inaccuracies and non-targeted commercial content that is often served up by the more global search properties. What were once unbiased global information search services are now (in general) sophisticated marketing systems where cash speaks louder than content, thus causing many Surfers to bypass this and use regional sites.
A look at some of the more popular Jamaican search engines & directories:
NetsearchJamaica.Com - Netsearch Jamaica is a search engine and portal all in one. It offers a quick and easy search box, a comprehensive directory sorted by popular categories, and quick links to popular Jamaican web sites. Online since 1998, it was one of the first fully dedicated Jamaican search portals.
Top5Jamaica.Com - Top 5 Jamaica is a search directory offering links to web sites with Jamaican or Jamaica-related content. The sites, from the seldom visited to the extremely popular, are sorted into almost fifty different categories. Also on-line since 1998, it currently ranks under 100,000 for Alexa.Com's measurement of popular web sites, thus making it one of the more popular Jamaican properties on-line (using that measure).
Jalive.Com.Jm - Jamaica Live is a relatively new (on-line since 2002) search portal that also allows Surfers to rate (vote on) the quality of its listed sites. Sites in the Jamaica Live database are typically ranked for search queries based on the average rating received via Surfer votes, with the better-rated sites being ranked higher.
Jamaica-Whereru.Com - Unlike other search engines, Jamaica Whereru allows you to search for people, not items. You can post your own profile, as well as search for old school mates, friends, even family that you may have lost touch with. Notably also, from my own personal knowledge as well as from testimonials on the site itself, there have been quite a few success stories about individuals who've been able to get in contact with 'long lost' friends or family via Jamaica Whereru.
There are a few other sites including the Nlj.Org.Jm (National Library of Jamaica) and Caribseeek.Com that offer good listings of Jamaican web sites, although this is not the primary focus of these sites. So, if your search at an international search engine or directory has proven futile, remember there are a few good Jamaica-specific options that may have what you seek.
Sandor Panton is an Internet specialist and consultant. If you have any comment, contact him at feedbackjamaica-gleaner.com. This series is brought to you by www.go-jamaica.com, the portal website of the Jamaica Gleaner.
