Microsoft launched a new, rebranded search engine called Bing on June 1. Retiring the Live brand to its Office and Windows products, Microsoft is touting the company's new search brand in an ambitious ad campaign estimated to cost between $80 million and $100 million. Bing's unique value proposition is that it's a "decision engine" that divides queries into categories, making it easier for a user to find desired information. Bing director Stefan Weitz is the guest on this week's SEM Synergy podcast. Tune in to WebmasterRadio.fm at noon Pacific on Wednesday, June 17, to hear what Stefan has to say about Bing's webmaster support, branding efforts and search technology.
Bing Search Share
The accuracy of early reports on Bing's search market share has been called into questioned. However, according to digital marketing intelligence provider ComScore, Bing has witnessed growth in search penetration and market share, based on results for its first week of search activity. In the U.K., online intelligence agency Hitwise reports an early spike in searches that leveled out to place Bing's search share above that of Yahoo and Ask.
Bing and User Behavior
Along with a shifting search share, it appears that searcher behavior is also different with Bing. An eye tracking study by User Centric compared user behavior on Google and Bing. Those searching with Bing looked at sponsored listings longer, with transactional queries logging more ad viewing time than informational queries. The time spent viewing organic results was the same for users of both engines. As users become more familiar with Bing's interface, the result of eye tracking studies may vary.
Bing and SEOs
Bing has introduced a number of features which may benefit professional SEOs. Bing's search result pages present a higher number of results, each with a greater amount of data. For instance, category navigation gives users fast access to additional results through common query refinements and longer snippets are available through a rollover display. Bing has published a white paper for webmasters and publishers, answering questions like "what do I need to do for SEO with Bing?" and "how does Bing affect my SEO efforts?"
Shuffles
Yahoo has taken on a new CFO, Tim Morse, who comes to the lucrative position from Altera Corporation. In another executive move, AOL confirmed that its European CEO Dana Dunne is leaving the company, to be replaced by VP of Business Expansion Ariel Eckstein on an interim basis. AOL also made headlines by acquiring two companies, Patch Media Corp. and Going, Inc. Both acquisitions are intended to strengthen AOL's local network.
Google gave up two of its executives this month. Facebook hired Grady Burnett, Google's former director, online sales & operations, to head up Facebook's global online and inside sales. Multicultural marketing specialist Don Moore is leaving his position at Google as agency team leader for the central and western U.S. to become president of Burrell Digital, the interactive division of Burrell Communications.
Several changes at Ask.com made the news this month. Former CEO Jim Safka left the company to become CEO of Chegg, an online textbook rental company. Also, Ask.com decided not to renew its contract with LookSmart for their Sponsored Listings services.
Search industry blog Search Engine Journal merged with Search & Social to become "Search & Social Media, LLC," which intends to offer full-featured services and media. Mashable overtook TechCrunch in May as the most popular tech blog in terms of unique visitor counts.
In another sign that social media has become mainstream, The New York Times has hired its first social media editor, newspaper veteran Jennifer Preston.
Sound Bytes
If you like what you've read in the SEO Newsletter, there's more Internet marketing expertise where that came from. Check out SEM Synergy every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern and Noon Pacific on WebmasterRadio.fm. Bruce Clay and the other hosts discuss industry news, SEO tactics and marketing trends, while expert guests share their insights on methods, best practices and upcoming events. Check out the show schedule below for a look at recent shows and upcoming topics.
June 3
(Listen Now)
| Searchology | Richard Zwicky | Data Visualization |
June 10
(Listen Now)
| SMX Advanced | Larry Kim | Inbound Marketing |
June 17
(Coming Soon) | Bing | Stefan Weitz | News |
June 24
(Coming Soon) | PageRank Sculpting | TBA | Search Engine Updates |
Got something to say? Contact the SEM Synergy team and share your thoughts, comments and questions. You might even hear your question answered on the show.
Shindigs
The Semantic Technology Conference has begun and will run through June 18 in San Jose. Search Engine Strategies is presenting an SEO Training Workshop in New York City June 16. Also this week, the Affiliate Convention in Denver runs June 17-21, and attendance for affiliate marketers is free.
An e-commerce and affiliate marketing virtual conference, eComXpo, happens July 8-9. In other virtual offerings, Alterian has two Webinars coming up: Addressing Retail Trends through an Integrated Approach on June 18 and Persuasive Content: Using your Web Site to Grow Your Customer Experience on July 16.
Bloggers can attend the BlogHer Conference July 24-25 in Chicago. Across the pond, PubCon Europe takes place July 4 in London.
SES San Jose and the search marketing community will descend on the West Coast August 10-14. You can start the conference running by taking Bruce Clay's full-day SEO Training class August 10.
SEOToolSet Training courses coming up:
- July 13-17 (standard and advanced) in Simi Valley, CA
- July 21-23 (standard and advanced) in Cape Town, South Africa
- August 10 (one-day standard) in San Jose, CA
- August 18-20 (standard) in Simi Valley, CA
Attaboys
Facebook has made vanity URLs available for profiles and fan pages; however, pages with less than a thousand fans can claim a custom address after June 28.
Computer maker Dell reported that, since 2007, the company has earned $3 million in revenue directly from Twitter. Since it first began offering coupons and product info on the microblogging site, Dell has remained a high-profile example of successful marketing through social media.
Yahoo now supports a new semantic tagging format called Common Tag. Unlike free-text tags, the Common Tag open tagging format aims to make content more discoverable through complete Meta data and well-defined concepts.
Google has updated Webmaster Tools with a new interface that features a one-stop dashboard and improved navigation. The new tools also provide a Change of Address tool, enabling webmasters to easily indicate that a site has moved domains. The search engine also previewed a hybrid communication platform called Google Wave, planned for release later this year.
Word on the
Wire
Ask appears to be experimenting with results in frames and a pseudo toolbar. Critics note that framed pages and framesets are difficult for both users and engines to navigate.
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz announced that Yahoo is not a search company, and that social, mobile and video technologies are its top priorities. Chief Technology Officer Ari Balogh hinted at an acquisition and partnership strategy focused on social and mobile media.
A new site, Hunch, enters the "decision engine" arena with a service that asks users a series of questions which help refine best results for the query.
Facebook has a new merchant program in the works and has instituted new payment terms.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone announced the microblog platform would not pursue an ad-based business model, preferring to offer tools and add-on services for potential revenue.
Nielsen has reported the average time users spend on various social networks. Twitter, Facebook and Tagged.com lead with the highest year-over-year growth rate. Nielsen also reported that online video usage is up 53 percent from last year.
The British government plans to release its Digital Britain report this week, which purportedly lays out an action plan for rolling out broadband to everyone in the UK, dealing with Internet piracy, and making the switch from FM/AM radio signals to digital.
