Google has received some flack for their behind-the-scenes search personalization, utilizing predictive analysis to anticipate the results you’d be most interested in, before you see them.
But that hasn’t stopped Bing from launching Adaptive Search, Microsoft’s attempt at roughly the same thing. And their release of this new feature slightly downplays the release, viewing it “less as a ‘feature’ and more of what to expect from search”.
That’s how many people see it. An obvious step in the evolution of predictive search technology. Bing provides the example of an obvious film fanatic, based on prior searches, searching for ‘Australia’, you’re probably searching for the film, rather than the country. Now, these filters won’t trap users in a filter bubble, taking a huge assumption and radically altering your search results based on the prediction.
These are simple tweaks aimed at helping you find what you’re really looking for a little bit faster.
The Bing-Yahoo alliance continues to grow, with a 3% month-over-month increase. This while Google, the overwhelming search market leader, lost 1% month-over-month. These have really become the only 2 players (if we consider Bing and Yahoo to be a single player, which we should), with the next 64 search engines making up the remaining 6% of U.S. searches combined.
Secondly, it looks like longer search queries are becoming more and popular, with 5-8 word queries increasing by 3% month-over-month. In the past, users had to simplify their queries to find the information they need. As search engines become more and more sophisticated though, we can be as specific as we want and still find an answer.
Twitter has renewed their search partnership with Bing, and sort of publicly teased Google about it via Twitter. In a tweet that referenced “Search w/o Twitter = old news”, Twitter makes fun of the fact that Google’s search engine no longer carries Twitter feeds, which are turning into the industry’s most real-time news outlet out there.
It’s a big differentiation for Microsoft, specifically in terms of news searches. And they seem quite happy to brag about it.
Of course, Twitter probably can’t be thrilled about Google’s new attempt at social with Google+ and probably had a little bit of fun with these Twitter teases.
Paid search advertising is now bigger than radio advertising. It’s bigger than billboards and movie advertisements combined. It’s almost as big as television advertising, and its numbers are growing way faster.
In fact, by 2016, paid search advertising is projected to be a $60 billion industry.
Currently, Google owns 80% of the search market share, but Microsoft Bing is up to 20% and climbing. Plus, with Bing advertisers experiencing a 12% ROI increase year-over-year compared to Google’s -10%, who knows what the PPC advertising industry is going to look like 5 years from now?
All we know is that it’s going to be huge. So, make sure you’re working with a PPC expert and taking advantage of it.
Continuing their recent trend to be open with SEOs and content providers, Bing has provided another list of tips and red flags in terms of how links can affect Bing search results.
Bing suggests that you should engage in link-building because it alerts them to new content, they are a vote of confidence in your site, they can send you direct traffic from those referral sites, and over time, they establish a footprint that points to your authority on a topic.
This last one has been the cause of much debate in the search engine world for years, the invention of black-hat optimizing and the very recent Google Panda Update crackdown.
But just like Google, Bing’s not ignoring the reality that link authority plays, or how they view it. But most importantly, Bing reiterates that links aren’t everything when it comes to search engine ranking. So, don’t buy them. Encourage them through great content and social sharing.
Google Mapmaker is looking to crowdsource their maps – utilizing individuals to add walking and biking routes to their neighborhoods, since Google employees doing this by hand simply isn’t going to happen.
Bing is taking a different approach. It looks like Bing is manually entering walking routes in key customer locations. In fact, they seem to be focusing on malls. Today, Microsoft’s search engine currently contains more than 400 national shopping malls available in map form on Bing for Mobile.
These venue maps allow you to plan your trips better. “What’s the fastest way to go to Macy’s, Charming Charlie’s, Mrs. Fields Cookies and back to my car?” With Bing maps, you can program your walking route to those specific locations on your mobile phone.
I like the long-term possibilities of Google MapMaker. But, I love the short-term benefits of Bing employees doing the work for us.
The whole idea behind the Yahoo-Microsoft alliance was to combine forces, knowledge and funding in order to give Google a run for its money as the industry leader in paid search.
It turns out they’re just giving Google money instead.
Because it turns out that Bing has actually hurt Yahoo’s numbers by powering their search advertising. Before teaming up, Yahoo was better at presenting ads to match particular search queries (moving reportedly from 60% of broad matched traffic down to 40% post merger.)
And this is the secret behind search advertising. Making it match the user request. Offering up a hyper-relevant product or service at the very moment someone is looking for it. And it looks like the alliance that was designed specifically to achieve this – is failing at this.
With Bing’s integration with Facebook and the release of Google’s +1 social metric, what can you do to help your site rank higher for social search?
Well, it looks like Google has already started prioritizing content that has been socially shared, not just through their proprietary +1 button. So, encourage the social sharing of your content. Start a blog if you don’t have one. Tweet articles, posts and case studies that are relevant to your industry so that they will be re-tweeted. Post things that are more likely to be shared, such as infographics, video and multimedia.
Start making news, and create original content that’s helpful enough to be shared.
Search engine optimizers everywhere are feverishly working to understand exactly how Google +1 can benefit their site listings in search results. So, let’s give a run down.
Google +1 is a Facebook “like” equivalent. Similarly to how Bing search results incorporate Facebook “likes”, Google search results incorporate +1′s. If your friends, family or the aggregate Internet community has +1′d a page, you will see it in your search results, when signed in to Google. The idea is to screen Google’s search results before diving in. If a friend or the aggregate community have socially approved a site, there’s a tacit approval of the content that follows.
Google PPC ads will also incorporate +1 social approval when possible. Now, while Google Buzz, Google’s last attempt at social relevancy, was deemed a failure – due to non-use, there’s a legitimate fear that Google +1 may have the same fate. But, bottom line, this is a new ranking signal. Odds are that Google will prioritize it in order to promote it. Google is still 80% of the search market. Yeah, I’m going to start incorporating it. And it’s important to note that the Google +1 button is customizable for the technical Web programmers among us.
The next Windows phone OS has been announced: Code Name “Mango”. And the question is, is Microsoft simply trying to catch up to the iPhone, or leading the way in a whole new direction.
Well, there are some key differences. App Connect recommends apps via Bing search engine results. For instance, if you search for a movie via Bing, normal prioritized search results will be returned to you, but in Mango, so will recommended apps like Fandango, that lets you purchase the ticket directly within the app. A Windows rep references this predictive thinking as “from Binging to buying in seconds.”
Windows Mango OS’ “People Hub” also features deep social media integration with your contacts. It’s an interesting industry to watch right now. As mobile provider, mobile OS developer, mobile app developer and mobile hardware manufacturer all seek to develop proprietary functionality to bring in the user, who’s going to be playing catchup when the next generation of evolution comes to pass?
