Friday, July 17, 2009

Two Ways Approach Hype Worst Situation

Irresponsibly:

1. Optimizing for Bing at the potential expense of other engines that have long-term records of market share is foolhardy. At the end of the day, Bing may be new and exciting, but it still possesses a tiny amount of market share in comparison. A prudent search engine optimization company will likely recommend waiting until the numbers stabilize before charting a course of action.

2. Compromising for Bing at the expense of Google and Yahoo! is not wise. A search engine optimization company can certainly optimize for Bing, but hopefully not at the sacrifice of current rankings on more popular engines.

3. Assuming that Bing will have a static algorithm is foolhardy; if Bing does indeed gain market share in the coming weeks and months, black hat practitioners will try to "game" the system, meaning that we can expect the algorithm to change and evolve rapidly. What works on Bing right now may not work in a matter of weeks.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Hype Response

Responsibly:

1. However, a forward-thinking search engine optimization company can be prepared by creating test sites that are optimized specifically for Bing and learning as much as they can about the algorithm.

2. If ideal rankings are achieved, then your search engine optimization company can determine how these rankings translate to Google and Yahoo!. Obviously, it will be important to follow these statistics closely to see if Bing can gain and maintain ratings or if it will mimic Microsoft's history of poor engine performance.

3. Your search engine optimization company should also locate specific pieces of the Bing algorithm that do not compromise rankings in Google and Yahoo!, but that may help rankings in Bing. Finding attributes of the Bing algorithm that can be applied to your website that will garner higher Bing ratings is obviously in the best interest of the site; we just want to make sure that existing rankings aren't compromised on the road to success.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

HYPE Another Iteration

But there are a few reasons not to get so excited. Number one – we have no idea where the market will settle and if the market share for Bing will continue to grow. Without this data, there's no way to say if tailoring a website specifically for Bing is worthwhile, especially if it negatively impacts existing Google and Yahoo! rankings. Number two - no matter which stat you look at, Google still owns the lion's share of the search market; add Yahoo! to the mix and Bing is dwarfed. Number three - Microsoft has no track record of success in the search world; its developers and visionaries have tried many different search iterations, so far to no avail. The company is banking on two things: the quality of the engine and a willingness to spend money to promote it.

And, finally, number four is a byproduct of MSN's past explorations into search engines; the brand name is construed by many as a liability that carries a somewhat negative connotation

Possibly, a good option would be to take the MySpace/NewsCorp route. When MySpace was bought by NewsCorp in 2005, business went on as usual; MySpace was just MySpace. NewsCorp understood what made MySpace 'cool' was its reputation of independence. Yes, it was crushed by Facebook down the road, but that's a different story. Microsoft chooses to end every Bing commercial with blatant 'by Microsoft' wording and logos as if this is a positive - I'm not sure that it's necessary or even wise.

In light of this information, what's a search engine optimization company do?

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Truth behind the Hype

In recent weeks, we've noticed a surge in clients calling us to ask questions like "what's up with Bing?" Or, "are you optimizing for Bing?" Even "are you taking advantage of Bing?"

In other words, people want to know that their search engine optimization company is taking special steps to ensure adequate representation on the newly created, much hyped search engine. And to answer the first question, what's up is MSN's umpteenth attempt to create a search engine that garners a significant amount of market share from its more formidable rivals - namely Google and Yahoo!. Microsoft has not been shy to promote the new engine; the current advertising campaign is estimated to cost around $100 million.

How is it going so far? It depends on who you listen to. The metrics vary wildly, depending on the source you consult. In a recent analysis of statistics, Hitwise ranked Bing as the seventeenth most popular website out of 450,000,[1] while StatCounter noted that the engine was in third place behind Google and Yahoo!. ComScore's ratings showed that Bing increased MSN's average daily searcher penetration by 1.7% (from 13.8% to 15.5%).

These numbers and ranking criteria are enough to make anyone's head spin. But, when you get down to it, the event everyone is looking forward to is what will happen when the budget runs out, and the promotional period ends. Will searchers remain loyal or return to Google and Yahoo! and not look back? No one can really tell if any positive results are sustainable over a long term period.

Most reviewers put Bing in a good light, noting its ease of use and searching options, and some are even scrutinizing the accuracy and relevancy of Google and Yahoo! results against Bing. In the June 08, 2009 edition of B to B magazine, for instance, one reviewer appreciated the shopping comparison tool while another stated that searchers seeking refined results will be more likely to take advantage of Bing. Admittedly, the engine's clean, streamlined look is pretty exciting; the home page features a new, interactive image each day; searchers click on certain parts of the image and trivia, facts, or additional links pop up. But after that, a simple search will provide users with results similar to its counterparts – images, video, maps, news, and the like.