tyBit Revs Up! - Start Your Own Search Engines

July 24, 2008; 01:22 AM

If you were one of the millions of people to scroll by www.tybit.com in the last few months, then you probably know all about the new action hero and mascot “tyBit man,” the unified search method and tyBit’s unheard of commission plan. If you weren’t one of those visitors, you’d better play catch up quickly, because tyBit is revving up to take off fast and just made the cover story for Opportunity World Magazine. Now, according to company officials, anyone can have their own search engine and social network.

In mid-June, tyBit announced the first production release of the long-anticipated tyBit search engine and toolbar. The innovative new search system is on schedule for a third quarter 2008 release, when partners, affiliates and advertisers will be able to sign up and begin using the application for profit. This release will be the culmination of months and months of steadily increasing buzz, during which tyBit has been tested, researched and further pushed toward the goal of tyBit founder and CEO Clarence Briggs and his top crew of programmers, designers and marketers.

The research staff at tyBit collected both qualitative and quantitative data throughout tyBit’s six months of beta testing, and they’ve reported spectacular growth. In May 2008, tyBit searches hit an all-time high of 3.8 million, up from 3.2 million in April. According to tyBit general manager Kitti Jo Finch, “The site didn't really go live until November 2007, and, in six months, it has achieved double-digit growth in terms of searches and traffic. I think it’s very clear now that we will be a serious player in the search space market. We anticipate we will hit 8 to 10 million searches by end of August.”

One of the many reasons why consumers, Web hosts and competition alike should take tyBit so seriously is because of its highly lucrative PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ad module. “We have 6,000 advertisers using our PPC module in beta alone,” says Finch, who expects to see a serious reaction to the affiliate advertising program once tyBit hits the market. In a lot of ways, tyBit can be likened to an underground rock band. The audience starts out small, but, as word of mouth grows, so does the fame. In the same way, the whole Internet community is slowly catching wind of what’s sure to be an amazing opportunity. And while tyBit may never sell out The Garden, it still might compose the next big hit in the search engine industry.


The tyBit Revolution

Conceptually and developmentally, tyBit is a major shift for the online search industry, moving away from the centralized search engine model to a patent-pending, decentralized application that distributes web crawling, indexing, and browser content delivery. According to Sean McCoy, chief marketing officer of the company, “tyBit will impact the search industry overnight. By enhancing the user experience, improving interactive ad ROI for advertisers and sharing 40 percent of revenue with partners who want their own private-labeled search engine, essentially, everybody will win. We now have a mobile version as well that works with over 90% of the PDA and Internet enabled phones.”

And winning is nothing new to the team at tyBit, because tyBit is an affiliate of two-time INC 500 company Advanced Internet Technologies Inc., www.AIT.com, a multimillion-dollar Web hosting and technology company serving over 8,000 resellers and 200,000 Web sites. Briggs, who is also the founder and CEO of AIT, has commented that tyBit is an excellent vehicle for entrepreneurs who understand the reseller business model. “This is their chance to get in on the ground floor via tyBit’s Web search affiliate program. This reseller opportunity just wasn’t possible with Google, Yahoo or MSN search platforms when they started,” he says. “Right now, tyBit is everything that Google is and more, while catering to niche markets and appealing to small and mid-sized businesses.”

"The initial spark that drove the development of tyBit was our dissatisfaction with the search industry's PPC model and the associated click fraud," says Briggs, who recently led a class-action lawsuit against Google. Briggs says he will now attack the problem head-on with tyBit. “We have over 45 major partners and hundreds of affiliates who will receive their private labeled versions of tyBit,” says Briggs. “This includes media companies, telcos and carriers, OEMs, software providers, governing agencies, educators and an army of entrepreneurs who are ready to go.”

Briggs proudly reports that revenues for tyBit affiliates will set the new standard in search engines. Based on last year’s PPC rates and percentages, it’s estimated that tyBit partners and affiliates with one thousand visitors a day can potentially earn $140 a day, while those with ten thousand can earn $1,400 a day and so on. The heavy hitting sites - those with a million subscribers or visitors to their Web site – have the potential to earn staggering gross revenues of $140,000 a day!

CMO McCoy also adds that tyBit will increase search relevancy and eliminate incentives for click fraud, which costs online advertisers billions of dollars each year. “We’re going to give advertisers an itemized bill detailing charges,” says McCoy. And there are other benefits, too. "We also believe that, with respect to interactive advertising, tyBit will actually revitalize the traditional print and broadcasting industries, which have been losing 12 to 14 percent in ad revenue yearly to the online search giants,” he adds.

The tyBit Future

Shattering the existing search model, tyBit provides accelerated search and maximizes relevancy by allowing users to search the Web quickly and thoroughly. By instantly submitting searches to multiple online directories, major engines and other data sources in the public domain, tyBit offers unprecedented results while displaying all of the data in a single window on a desktop or PDA.

As the information on the Web grows exponentially, search relevance becomes more difficult. tyBit answers the relevance question with grid computing and the ability to learn subscribers' preferences, search multiple sources, display the most current information and search local content based on a subscriber's actual location. It also offers privacy protection, reduces click fraud and, with the formation of a partnership with a leading security software manufacturer, “tyBit now has the ability to protect users from bots and malware in real time while they are browsing the Web,” says Ryan Sherstobitoff, product technology officer for Panda Security.

Company officials say tyBit will unify search and make it so relevant that the term “search” will become synonymous with “find.” “While the major search engines seem preoccupied with becoming media content moguls, tyBit seems intent on redefining the search paradigm to produce greater relevancy, reduce fraud and offer channel partners a piece of the search advertising pie. It's an interesting development that we will definitely keep our eye on,” says Berge Kaprelian, president and CEO of Beka Publishing.

tyBit is working with several interested capital firms to complete an $80 million first-round financing. AIT has never taken outside equity investment, but instead built its business out of cash flow - tyBit is definitely more ambitious. The five-year plan for the company aims to achieve annual revenues in excess of $6 billion. "tyBit is an interesting initiative. It combines unique technology with a business model that allows traditional media to get back into the game and earn their share in the advertising market," comments Paul Stapleton, managing director of DH Capital, LLC.

The profit potential of tyBit is due mostly to Briggs’ dedication to his customers. “While some of the bigger guys don’t even tell their affiliates their percentage, we come straight out and say that our search affiliates will be sharing an unheard of 40 percent of gross revenues,” says Briggs. While a lot of people have had a lot to say about tyBit, probably the most poignant statement is the one that requires no statement at all. According to Kevin Pollard, director of the World Trade Center of New Orleans, “The fact that Clarence Briggs has announced stepping away from his position as CEO of AIT in order to devote his full attention to tyBit speaks volumes about his personal commitment to the tyBit vision. His personal leadership and long-time management team have propelled AIT to 11 years of profitability and success. I've known these guys for years and the one thing that they do exceptionally well is execute."

Gentlemen, start your engines