Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, has had a good first year. Comscore reckon it’s taken 12.7% of the US core search market since its inception. That’s getting near Yahoo’s 18.9%, (NB: most of Yahoo’s search is now powered by Bing, although Yahoo Japan have, in a surprising move, gone for Google ), though still pretty far away from Google’s massive share. Other reports from other net-research bodies have differing figures, but the consensus puts Bing a respectable third place behind Google and Yahoo.
So, what happens next? What scope is there for expansion in Bing’s market share? Microsoft appear to be taking opportunities where they’re available – helped of course by a healthy amount of investment – and have been targeting mobile web users. With 23 million mobile web users accessing Bing (and 4.3 million downloads of Bing’s iPhone app) it seems to be paying off.
According to Erik Jorgensen, senior vice-president for mobile at Microsoft : “People drive themselves crazy trying to type on these mobile devices so the more we can understand what they are trying to do and provide an easier way to get to it through visual, voice and touch is a key insight into how mobile search is going to evolve.”
How much bigger can Bing grow before they hit the brick wall that is Google’s market dominance? Or could Bing be the legendary Google-killer? Give us your thoughts in the comments.
August 5th, 2010 - No Comments »
Posted in Search Engine Marketing | Tags: bing, comscore, microsoft, search, yahoo
Google’s sometimes controversial Maps service has a new feature. Property search allows people to find houses or flats for sale or rent within the Google map interface. Google have identified and implemented this enhancement in the way they always do – and the way which has ensured their success – by spotting an application for their service which suits both individual and commercial users… and by making it really easy to use.
“In a survey conducted just before Google Street View launched across the entire UK, a fifth of those surveyed said they had used the service for househunting [source: YouGov Plc February 2010].”
That’s from Google’s Lat Long Blog. Which is also quick to point out the ways in which property search syncs with other Google Maps services:
“Search can be refined by choosing features like sale or rent, bedrooms, bathrooms, and price. The map will update to show the properties matching those criteria – and also dynamically update as you scroll and zoom around the map…layers and features like Photos, Videos, Satellite, and Earth view can be turned on as well.”
Not that we’d expect anything less.
It’ll be interesting to see how Google develops property search from here. They’ve been testing location tagging in the USA, which allows business owners to Tag their premises with extra information and custom messages on Google Maps. For a fee, of course. How long will it be before Google launches paid upgrades to property search listings?
June 17th, 2010 - No Comments »
Posted in General | Tags: google, maps, search
