Archive for February, 2010
Will Bing Powering Yahoo Make SEO Easier?
There is an interesting discussion going on in our WebProWorld forum about search engine optimization post Microsoft-Yahoo deal. For those unfamiliar with the topic, Microsoft and Yahoo recently gained regulatory approval on a search and advertising deal announced last year, which will see Yahoo using Bing’s algorithm in its search results. The discussion is about whether or not this means businesses and webmasters will only have to worry about optimizing for 2 search engines (Google/Bing) rather than 3 (Google, Yahoo, and Bing). Will you focus your efforts more heavily on Bing? Discuss . What Bing Coming to Yahoo Means It’s important to note that Microsoft and Yahoo still have plenty of details to work out before anyone knows just how the product of this deal will function. We know that Bing will be used in the back-end of searches on Yahoo, but we don’t know what other elements Yahoo will still be incorporating into the search experience. For example, Yahoo said last week that the companies will still be discussing how SearchMonkey and BOSS figure into the mix. Optimizing for Yahoo is not going to be limited to showing up in Bing’s results. That’s not to say that showing up in Bing’s results won’t have its advantages for Yahoo search, but there is a lot more going on at Yahoo than that. The company has been stressing that it is still very much focused on search , and under the deal with Microsoft, Yahoo will still be controlling the user experience at Yahoo.com. Right now, Yahoo.com has plenty of elements to consider, from news and trending topics, to a whole slew of “applications” that users can customize on their Yahoo homepage. Among these are Facebook and Flickr. If you want to get in front of Yahoo users, it’s not limited to Yahoo search results. That said, Yahoo search results also have their own thing going on. Keep an eye on the box that appears under the search box after you enter a query. It contains related queries, and “related concepts”. This is one area that could conceivably be independent from Bing (although that remains to be seen at this point). Yahoo is not shy about putting brands in these “related concepts” either. You can find WebProNews in there for a query like “ebusiness news”. The point is, Yahoo has made it clear that it will continue to control the user experience, and that means there should be plenty of areas within Yahoo that are out of Bing’s control. This leads me to presume that Yahoo will not be something you’ll want to ignore, just because Bing is integrated into it. Remember that at this point, Yahoo controls a much greater percentage of the search market than Bing. All of that said, you may want to pay closer attention to your Bing rankings if you haven’t done so in the past, because while Yahoo will still be Yahoo to its users, the deal also means there will be significantly more eyeballs on what Bing determines to be the most relevant results to searches. Why Stop at Google, Yahoo, and Bing? These may be the biggest three search engines in terms of market share in the United States, but there are still plenty of people using others. For one thing, YouTube is number 2. Not Yahoo or Bing. If you are concerned about simply being found where people are searching, you should have a YouTube presence . That of course means having a video strategy , but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have a huge video budget . There are still people using Ask as well. In search industry coverage, it often gets overshadowed by the others, but there are still a lot of people using it. In fact, the Ask Network’s market share grew by 6% from December to January. Ask.com’s market share grew by 1%. A lot of people search with AOL . AOL’s search is powered by Google, but it doesn’t always return the same results as Google. Facebook’s search market share grew by 13% in that same period of time. You may not think about Facebook for search as much, but people are spending more and more time on Facebook, and it stands to reason that they’ll be conducting more and more searches from Facebook. Granted, Facebook’s web search feature is powered by Bing, but that’s only a piece of the Facebook Search puzzle. If you don’t have a Facebook strategy , you may be missing out on a lot more searches. By the way, did you know that Facebook recently passed Yahoo as the 2nd most visited site (just under Google)? These are just a few examples. People are searching from a lot more places. Rather than just optimizing for Google, Yahoo, and Bing, perhaps you should think about all of the places where your site/business would make sense when a user searches (consider niche sites as well). Does the Yahoo/Bing deal make optimization easier? Weigh in with your thoughts .
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Will Bing Powering Yahoo Make SEO Easier?
Google Testing a Revamp of the Search Results Page
Update:? Danny Sullivan reports that “slight variations” of this design are “live in the wild,” and “still being shown to a randomly selected group of people,” and that Google doesn’t have an expected launch date for a complete roll-out. Original Article (11/19): ?Google is testing a new user interface for its search options feature. If you are unfamiliar with the search options feature, it is the link on your search results page that says “show options” and brings up a menu on the left-hand side of the screen providing a number of ways to filter your results. According to Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land, a “small number” of Google users will see the new interface starting today. The aim of the new interface is to provide users with a cleaner display. Sullivan says that if the testing goes well, Google may roll it out after the New Year . He quotes Google’s Marissa Mayer as saying, “We’re basically looking at a new look and feel for Google. It’s an overall cleaning up of the search engine results page.” Do you think Google’s results pages need a new look and feel? Tell us what you think . Images of this new look and feel look strangely familiar – similar to that of a certain “decision engine.” Take a look: Of course, the Google’s search options and Bing have been compared in the past (and other search engines utilize a similar design too for that matter), in terms of the general layout. Their functionalities differ on various levels. It’s important to note that this will just be how the search results pages will look, without having to click the search options link to get to it. There has been discussion in the past about how much users actually use Google’s search options, simply because the feature is easy to overlook. Such a change would put the options right in your face. ? Besides being visually different, the options themselves are different in some areas. For example, a “see also” section has been added, which suggests related queries. There is also a section called “show search tools,” which now contains things like the Wonder Wheel, Timeline View, and “more shopping sites.” Google may start messing around with the top navigation on search results pages next year, but the company has acknowledged that it works well right now. It will be interesting to see the change in use of this top navigation if the left-hand options go mainstream. What do you think of this re-working of Google’s search results pages? Do you want to see it go mainstream, or do you like it better how it is right now? Share your thoughts . Related Articles: > Google Launches Search Options > Google Presents New Image Search Options > Google’s Search Options Increase
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Google Testing a Revamp of the Search Results Page
AP Extends Digital Strategy With Gateway Unit
A news organization that was founded in 1846 is making another attempt to transition to the digital age.? The Associated Press has announced the creation of a unit called AP Gateway, and with the unit, the agency intends to “facilitate development of fresh news consumer experiences for the Web as well as mobile phones, tablets and e-readers.” This is meant to be truly cutting-edge stuff.? For example: it’s already been decided that one of the first products out of AP Gateway will be an iPad app, even though the iPad hasn’t launched yet.? Other in-development and new devices are supposed to be in the business unit’s sights, too. Then one other important aspect of this move is the fact that “different” AP Gateway apps won’t just have been altered to account for screens of various sizes.? Tom Curley, president and CEO of the Associated Press, said in a statement, “Rather than just repurpose our content across formats, we now have a real opportunity to innovate and create differentiated experiences of the news across formats that will excite all of us, from producers to consumers of news.” It sounds like the AP’s trying hard to adapt.? We’ll see how things go as AP Gateway comes out of the figurative gate.? The 200-plus newspapers participating in the AP’s News Registry service will have the option of becoming involved, so it may get off to quite a start.
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AP Extends Digital Strategy With Gateway Unit
