Google +1 is here. And it’s simply Facebook’s Like button. I wish it wasn’t that simple. But, that’s what it is. And it’s a huge testament to Facebook discovering the golden egg. Because Google has had time to think about this and re-think about this. But they came up with +1. Which is essentially the exact same product.
The only difference? Well, Google +1 lives outside of Facebook of course. It’s primarily designed to make your search results better. If your friend has +1′d a page that comes up in your search results, you’ll probably try there first.
Of course, Bing already offers this with your friend’s “like’d” pages.
This Google +1 feature will slowly roll out over the next few months on ads and sites as well.
Yahoo’s leadership team is getting flack for falling in the search market rankings. But, this is unfair. When Microsoft bought Yahoo! Search, it was a sign to the market that Yahoo had given up. So, if Bing is now where this dual power is going to be, that’s where I’m going to go. Plus, Bing’s advertising campaign has been blaring for two years now, without a single Yahoo search ad.
Yet, Yahoo shareholders are pouting that Yahoo’s search ad share will fall to 8.1 percent this year, and is predicted to plummet to a new low of 6.5 percent next year. News flash: That’s what happens when you sell off your search market. The really bad news is on Microsoft’s end. Because Google AdWords is still growing – predicted at 75.2% this year, and up to 76.6% in 2012. And Microsoft is climbing at a tortoise’ pace, up from 10.2% last year to 10.8% this year, and 11.1% in 2012.
The online video rankings have been shaken. While Google sites are still strongly affixed among the top of the charts, Microsoft has jumped 5 spots, into the #2 position, gaining 10.7 million visitors between January and February, according to ComScore.
Microsoft has had quite a year or so with Bing and Windows 7 Mobile, and I’m becoming very glad they’re playing this strong underdog role to Google. Because it keeps Google on their toes. Makes them better.
And who knows? Perhaps Microsoft will come out with a game-changer that makes us rethink the #1 spot. After all, there’s plenty of undiscovered digital territory for the next-generation Magellan to discover. Google’s plans to move to professional-level HD video on YouTube are going to switch things up. We’ll see how Microsoft counters.
Experian Hitwise released a study that Bing users click search engine results 81.54% of the time, well over Google’s 65.58%. Their theory? Bing results are more accurate and relevant than Google’s, thus commanding the greater click-through rate.
Although, if Bing is really copying Google’s search results, how would that even be possible? Yeah, I went there.
Some Google defenders point out that since Google has a 3:1 market share lead over Bing, then the margin of error makes those numbers apples to oranges. But from a market research standpoint, the huge sample size should make the numbers statistically relevant.
So, what’s another possibility? Perhaps Bing users are users who never switched their PC’s default search engine browser, and simply click the first result they see, relevant or not. Whereas, Google users are more selective in clicking, because they know what they’re looking for. But even if that’s the case, that shows that Google users aren’t finding what they’re looking for quickly enough, and Google search results do indeed need to be improved.
Recently, Google has accused Bing of directly copying their search results. In fact, after having these suspicions, Google added hidden gibberish in their search database and showed that Bing copied it directly over a period of months.
Bing denies it. Google is outraged. They don’t deny that Bing has their own search system. They’re only pointing out that Bing is incorporating Google clicks within their own search results.
To-may-to? To-mah-to?
Here’s the reality. Bing is using what they’re using to provide their users with the best possible search results. And that’s what consumers are looking for. Who owns what in very real, but quasi-tangible world of Web? That may be for the courts to decide.
After a discouraging 2009, U.S. pay-per-click advertising made a huge comeback in 2010, with 18.5% year-over-year growth in paid search, according to a new report from SearchIgnite.
Especially within the 4th quarter, which saw major rebounding across all economic sectors. In the paid search world, the 4th quarter saw a 35.5% increase over the prior year, with a 44.8% December increase year-over-year.
What does this say about 2011? That it should be a good one for the search world and online advertising overall. With Google working harder and harder to get rid of spam, and Bing working harder and harder to get back in the game, users and advertisers alike should experience the best year of search to date.
2010 was the year of the “privacy debate“. The beginning of a conversation regarding what it is, what it means and how to protect it. From Wikileaks in the political sphere to Facebook’s all-access to personal data, people have become more and more fearful of who has access to their “private” information.
So, from a branding perspective, what does that mean? In a technological era where data access is the key to providing a unique user experience, how have user’s perceptions of the big Web brands adjusted this past year?
Well, the answer is, not well. Google. Yahoo. Bing. Facebook. MySpace. All suffered losses of positive public perception over the year. The only brand to improve? AOL. But perhaps that’s simply because at the beginning of the year, public perception was that AOL no longer existed….just kidding. Kind of.
Bing went down by the least amount of the major search engines, which makes sense based on all the positive PR they’ve received from their unique search engine enhancements. But it still has to be a bit of a buzzkill that overall, their public perception is a net loss. And despite the brief uptick in perception due to MySpace’s relaunch, they’ve currently fallen even further than where they originally were before it.
As we become more and more aware of the power these companies have over us, is it even possible to keep a positive impression of them over the long term?
Bing has officially gone social. If you make a search in Bing, and one of your Facebook friends has “liked” one of the pages that returns in your search results, you will see their “like” highlighted on the results page.
Instant social authority feedback. And they’ve beaten Google to the punch with the greatest authority in social media, Facebook. Other incorporations include seeing which movies your friend’s have liked on IMDB. FanSnap sports ticket information directly within the search experience. And more.
Plus, Bing is also playing detective and trying to guess what you’re looking for with their “instant answer” information, similar to what Google already offers. So, the big question is, will this help Bing increase its market share? We’ll see. But this search engine social integration en masse is a very good sign of things to come.
If it wasn’t clear before, Facebook is much more than just a social network. In fact, after reviewing the new data that Facebook has shared regarding their online activity between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it seems as though Facebook has become truly integrated with online e-commerce at large.
On Black Friday, users made 6x the number of status updates related to retail purchases as compared to the following Friday. Retailer referral traffic increased by 70% over this holiday period. 1/2 of the top 25 retail sites now have Facebook integration. And 17 of the fastest growing 25 retail sites.
Amazon. eBay. Levi’s. Sears. All integrated with the Facebook like button and other integrations.
Etsy. Yardellr. Bing. Kembrel. All creating completely new e-commerce experiences, built for Facebook and predicated on your social ties.
As search engines begin to publicly announce how they’re incorporating social media into their organic search engine rankings, let’s take a look at what Bing has said and how it should affect you.
While Bing has been very public about their Facebook integration, and perhaps showy about their close ties with the social juggernaut, contrary to Google’s “on-the-outs” relationship, Bing also measures the social authority of Twitter users. In fact, they’ve gone specific and stated that they look at how many people the user follows and how many follow them. Now, in order to factor in spam accounts, you would think that followers would increase your Twitter reputation score and that the number of people you follow would hurt it, but Bing doesn’t come out that far and say such a thing.
Bing does have privileged access to Facebook personal walls, unlike Google, and does incorporate personal wall links to value organic content, unlike Google. And the incorporation of Facebook and Twitter links by both major search engines is a good incentive for companies looking to expand their search engine presence to expand their social media one as well.
