The next time you type a key word in a search engine, like, to wit, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, you may get more than one lakh links to the cricketer’s exploits on and off the field. So, have you ever wondered how a particular website invariably comes up at the top, while other websites, with probably more information and images of your queries, show up at the end of the search. Probably link number 10,001, which, in any case, the search engine user will not have the patience to click.

The process of ensuring that a particular website gets a large amount of visitors, and, therefore, eyeballs, is called SEO, or search engine optimisation. What does SOE do? SOE, which critics claim could be illegal, helps to ensure that a site is accessible to a search engine and improves the chances that the site will be found by the search engine. The search engine itself is a programme that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords are found, according to Webopidia.

Apparently, SEO is a good business to be in, in the technology space, though it is a highly specialised area. Says Suresh Reddy, chairman of Ybrant Technologies, a Hyderabad and Palo Alto-based technology company, which, among other things, offers SEO services, "Most online content providers and advertisers need SEO to be seen on search engines like Google."Ybrant Technologies, founded by Mr Reddy, started life in an earlier avatar as the purveyor of online greeting cards. "The online cards business was sold, because nobody was willing to pay us for the cards they were sending from our website, and SEO and custom services offer a more robust business model," he says.

According to Mr Reddy, an IITian with a masters degree from the US, SEO services were much in demand because of the explosive growth in online advertising and content. "SEO service providers like Ybrant Technologies work with clients, to ensure their return on investment," he says. But does SOE guarantee a marked increase in traffic to websites? "Nobody can guarantee that, but SOE helps in getting the client’s website reach a place where it can be seen quickly," he says.

Mr Reddy sees the demand for SEOs expanding, and is planning for Ybrant Technologies, which has 150 people working for it in Hyderabad and in Palo Alto, to acquire similar E-Marketing companies in the US."These acquisitions will give us depth in the SEO and custom software space," he says.

CDMA major Tata Indicom is exploring possibilities of bringing a mobile broadcast to India in a year’s time.The mobile broadcast would enable mobile phone users to access their favourite programmes live, even while they are on a move. Users can listen to their favourite music, catch-up on latest news or follow their sports team.

A senior official from Tata Teleservices Ltd’s told this correspondent, "The Digital Mobile Broadcating-Terrestial (DMB-T) is only running in Korea, at the moment, while the trials are on in the US and Europe." We are exploring the logistics of introducing mobile broadcast in India, he said at the GlobalComm India exhibition.

"We expect it to change the TV viewing habits to mobile users, as DMB-T has done in Korea," he added. Incidentally, DMB-T users would get to see Football World Cup live in Europe."It will take about a year’s time, since there are licensing requirements to be met, apart from issues of spectrum, tie-up with channels and handset manufacturers, that need to be sorted out," he said.

For the mobile broadcast in India, Tata Indicom is looking at video streaming at 25 frames per sec. The existing video streaming is seven frames per sec."This would require us to set up a very high-capacity delivery system," he added.On another note, the CDMA major is also launching a Tata Indicom Walky phone.

India and China should leverage the skills of their respective IT industries to collaborate on a global scale rather than compete against each other, Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said here Tuesday.

Inaugurating the second Sino-India software industry cooperation summit, Mr Karnik said Chinese industry should make best use of India’s software expertise for adding value to their products and services. "Since India has a head start over China in software, Chinese firms can leverage our skills and add value to their products across verticals such as manufacturing, consumer durables, commodities and services like the banking and financial sector," he told an audience that included a 20-member delegation from Beijing.

"Instead of competing against each other, Indian and Chinese IT firms should collaborate in big projects to complement their respective strengths for a win-win situation in the global arena. They should bid for major projects jointly to make optimal use of their resources."Beijing vice-mayor Fan Boyuan said Chinese industry was willing to join hands with its Indian counterparts in software, hardware, electronics and manufacturing for cashing in on the rapid economic growth in both countries.

"We look forward to more and more Indian companies setting up their operations in China, especially Beijing, and capitalising on growing opportunities to grow their business by catering to domestic and export markets in the Far East," Mr Fan said. Mr Karnik pointed out that India’s knowledge sector had made the best use of convergence technologies to provide a range of services and utilities, and China could replicate this success by using Indian expertise.

"Similarly, we see immense potential for the small and medium enterprise sector in both countries to collaborate and complement their strengths for designing and manufacturing products that can be marketed across the world at a competitive price," Mr Karnik said.