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Posts Tagged ‘Bing’
Optimizing For Mobile & Local Search: 5 Things Businesses Need To Know About Local SEO
Christian Vuong | June 28th, 2011
The annual SMX Advanced Conference covers a vast array of information in the search industry. This year, like others, covered everything from SEO, to Social Media, to Paid Search and more. And while it did feel like every conversation touched on Google’s Panda update and its effects on the industry, there was an important underlying theme, which was that local search has grown and is becoming even more important to businesses. According to Google, local searches now account for 20% of searches on Google. Mix this in with comScore’s May 2011 report and now we’re looking at 2.24 billion queries a month on Google with local intent. Yes, that’s billion with a B. These changes aren’t just coming from search engines, but also from the mobile side. In mobile, 95% of smartphone users have looked up local information and 88% of these users generally take action within a day. Combine this with the 66% of users who use location based apps such as Groupon NOW, Yelp, shopkick & Happy Hours, and this makes optimizing and managing a business’ online reputation even more important. Besides VCs pouring in all this money for location based apps, Google is also investing, heavily marketing local search to businesses and to date has over 4 million business listings in its index. At the same time, Google has been constantly testing out new layouts for the Google Places results. Don’t assume Bing has taken this lying down though. Bing powered search continues to grow in market Continue reading…
Tags: Bing, bing business portal, foursquare, friend recommendations, groupon now, mobile search, seattle, shopkick, smx advanced, yelp
Posted in Local Search, SEO | 4 Comments
PubCon South 2011: Local Search and Hyperlocal
John Vantine | April 13th, 2011
Why has there been so much interest in local search lately? Well, for starters, 70% of users look for local information online first, and 20% of all searches are location related. Google has outbound call centers for local listing verification, so you can tell that they care. Local Search Algorithm Continues To Evolve As local seach continues to grow, Google’s local algorithm is changing rapidly. According to Brian Combs, the local algorithm now includes major pieces of the traditional (non local) algorithm because Matt Cutt’s webspam team was doing a better job at fighting spam than the local search team was. Google’s Support For Local Leaves Something To Be Desired Brian Combs said that the “report” feature in Google Places has been broken since February 21st. Reviews come and go – they disappear from the place pages completely sometimes. The “respond to review” functionality is temperamental at best. Some businesses have disappeared entirely from the listings with no explanation. I wasn’t aware of any of these issues, but it sounds like Google Places has a long way to go. What will it take to get Google to focus on support? Brian pointed out that the University of Colorado has the wrong number listed for campus security. He jokingly asked if someone would have to die in order to get Google’s attention. He said that the best way to get help at this point is to talk to a Google Tags sales rep. Good to know. The 3 Methods Of Advertising Continue reading…
Tags: Bing, Google maps, google places, hyperlocal, local search, yelp
Posted in Google, Local Search | 2 Comments
This Month in Marketing: Google vs. Bing
Kyle Ashby | February 3rd, 2011
It is no shock to hear that Google and Bing are constantly at each others throats. You would think that two giant companies would pretend to be civil about it. But, luckily for our entertainment, they aren’t being civil. Google was fed up with Bing for supposedly stealing their search results. So, they ran a sting operation and claim that they caught Bing. Google then announced catching Bing’s hand in the trillion-dollar cookie jar. Bing of course denies this outright and attempts to fire back about Google’s legal trouble. This has now escalated into a full-fledged war, very available to the public’s eyes via tweets and blogs. Who is right? I have no clue. But I can tell you my first impression: Google is right. I just assume they are. Over the years, Microsoft has not really made themselves synonymous with “trust”. I’m not saying the “Big Brother” Google hasn’t had a few poor judgment calls, but instances like when Bill Gates allegedly stole an operating system idea from Steve Jobs, tend to stand out in my mind. The way I see it, Google is Ryu of Street Fighter and Bing is Ken. Of course sometimes you pick Ken, to change it up. But everyone knows, except for your buddy whose parents don’t let him have video games, that Ryu is the champ of Street Fighter. Look how dignified and confidant he looks, nothing to prove. Ken on the other hand, has a chip on his shoulder so deep that Continue reading…
Yahoo Loses Market Share, Bing Is #2
Amanda Moshier | September 15th, 2010
There’s big, if not relatively unsurprising news in the land of search marketing today, an industry known for the three players that dominate the field. For years, Google, Yahoo!, and MSN battled for market share, advertising dollars, and brand loyalty. While Google gained speed largely due to ongoing innovation and a healthy dose of fearlessness, some of its success may be attributed to MSN and Yahoo!’s love of lagging behind. You can read more about the history of the big 3 search engines here: http://www.searchenginehistory.com/. Let’s fast forward to September 15, 2010 and the big news. Nielsen reported today that Microsoft’s relatively immature “decision-engine” Bing has surpassed Yahoo! In standing. Is anyone surprised? Hard to say. It’s not so much surprise when you consider Yahoo!’s struggles to get just about anything right and the money Microsoft has poured into Bing…but I’m scratching just the surface. The real reason behind Yahoo!’s decline may be complex. Still, if you believe that where there is smoke, there is fire, perhaps it isn’t necessary to analyze what seems obvious: Yahoo! hasn’t been able to keep up with the market and has grown less relevant over time. Here is a graphic from Nielsen that shows growth and decline of the big 3 in recent months: Top U.S. Search Sites – August 2010 Rank Brand Share of Searches MoM change % YoY change % 1 Google Search 65.1% 1% 1% 2 MSN/Windows Live/Bing Search 13.9% 2% 30% 3 Yahoo! Search 13.1% -8% -18% 4 Ask.com Search Continue reading…
Google Instant Search: What does this mean for advertisers?
Michael Block | September 8th, 2010
Today, Google released Google Instant Search, a product that displays search results on the fly. If you’ve been to Google.com today, you may have already watched as the search results magically appeared beneath your search as you were typing. This is a big step for search–probably the biggest since Bing entered the fray–even if it doesn’t seem like such a big deal on the surface. What’s truly amazing is that, somehow, Google has managed to show many more search results per search query than before with seemingly no negative effect on the speed of delivery. I’m pretty sure that a time machine has to be involved because I can’t wrap my head around the kind of technology that would be necessary for this to make sense. That notwithstanding, this video gives a nice overview of the product: According to Google’s Vice President of Search Product and User Experience, Marissa Mayer (via CNN Money), Google Instant Search will save 2-5 seconds per search, 1,000 man-years of time every week or 11 man-hours of time every second. Those are some pretty incredible figures! So, how will this affect the ads that display on Google? What does this mean for Wpromote’s clients? Well, the jury is still out; even Google doesn’t claim to know what the effects will be. On the AdWords blog, Google writes: It’s possible that this feature may increase or decrease your overall impression levels. However, Google Instant may ultimately improve the quality of your clicks since it helps users type Continue reading…
Tues News: 3/9 (Sweating the Small Stuff Edition)
Michael Block | March 9th, 2010
For the companies most involved with search marketing, it’s not always about the actual dollars and cents. Sometimes, companies focus on auxiliary projects to try and better your user experience, increase your dependence on their products or improve your opinion of their brand. Don’t get me wrong, the hope is that these sorts of investments will pay off in real dollars in the long run, but if a company can do some of the small things well, the return on investment can be both well-deserved and highly profitable. Today, we’ll take a look at three such efforts taken by search marketing leaders (Google and MSN) as well as the provider of the dominant medium for mobile ads (Apple via the iPhone). Let’s get going! Google is the master at sweating the small stuff in order to get the big payoff in the end. Just think about Google Maps. Sure, there are ads on the page but if you think that those ads paid for thousands of cars taking pictures of every street in America, you’re sorely mistaken. Google builds these sorts of products to increase loyalty to the Google brand and to build a positive rapport with the user. And it works! Recently, Google shared it’s search data to show their lighter side, depicting the winners and losers of Oscar night through their stats. As it turns out, the Hurt Locker didn’t just take home the most golden baldies, they also received quite the spike of searches. Thanks for sharing, Continue reading…
Tags: apple, apps, Bing, Google, iphone, Microsoft, MSN, search marketing
Posted in Tues News | No Comments
