Posts Tagged ‘microsoft’

3 Ways The Microsoft-Yahoo! Deal Could Affect SEO

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

The Microsoft-Yahoo! deal will change a lot of things for a lot people. One thing that will definitely change is SEO. Of course, performing SEO on your website for Google will still be the same, but SEO overall will be a little bit (not much, but a little bit) different.

Here are three ways I think SEO will change in the next few years:

  1. Link popularity will become more difficult to measure – MSN has not been reporting inbound links for some time now. Google doesn’t report them all. The only search engine that has consistently reported inbound links is Yahoo! and they’ve been somewhat inflated. I think that once the deal is complete, MSN will not report any links at all. It will be much more difficult for webmasters to know what their inbound link count is.
  2. Bing will become more competitive and begin to offer some of the same tools that Google has to make the lives of webmasters easier. Webmaster Tools is one of them. Imagine having one account at Google and one at Bing just so you can know how to present your information to both of the leading search engines. It will make SEO a little bit more time-intensive, but easier overall.
  3. Bing will become as much a haven for spam as Google is. Since Bing is much better now for SEO than MSN Live ever was and since they are acquiring even more market share, they will be a major player in the search market. That will attract more spammers. Soon you will start hearing people complain about Bing spam.

What do you think? How do you think the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal will impact SEO?

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Posted in search engines | 3 Comments »

A Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Could Be Good For Small Businesses

Monday, July 20th, 2009

It looks like Microsoft and Yahoo! are about to close a deal that may lead to Microsoft owning Yahoo!s search business and sharing the revenue with Yahoo! for a number of years. I have a few observations about this:

  1. Microsoft, with Bing, has already proven itself more adept at search as well as more interested in pursuing a real competitive stance in that arena.
  2. The partnership could mean close to 30% market share for Microsoft, which would put them in the competitive ballpark.
  3. Microsoft and Yahoo! seem to serve the same demographic so it may be a great match.

According to HitWise as reported by WebProNews, about 24% of Yahoo!s search business, and 20% of Bing’s, is in the small business/retail category. Here are the numbers:

  • Yahoo! Computers/Internet 22.2%
  • Yahoo! Entertainment 13.5%
  • Yahoo! Shopping and Classifieds 13%
  • Yahoo! Business and Finance 11%
  • Yahoo! Education 6.1%
  • Yahoo! News 5.9%

  • Microsoft Computers/Internet 27.8%
  • Microsoft Entertainment 13.4%
  • Microsoft Shopping and Classifieds 11.7%
  • Microsoft Business and Finance 9.6%
  • Microsoft Education 5.1%
  • Microsoft News 6.6%

Now do you think this will be a good partnership? Will be good for search?

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Posted in search engines | 2 Comments »

Is Bing The Answer To Your Small Business Search Questions?

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Bing, Microsoft’s new search brand, made its initial public debut on June 1. I think the question for small business owners is whether or not Bing will solve a problem or help people find them better.

Initial impressions of Bing seem to be good. Upon first glance, it looks a lot like MSN Live did. Not much of a change. Minor cosmetic differences is all. But when you delve into Bing’s search features, that’s a different story. I must say that I am impressed.

It seems that Bing’s biggest problem may just be the fact that it took so long to happen. I mean, Google still has a sizable lead in search and that doesn’t appear to be letting up any time soon. But I do see an improvement in search results. The question is whether or not local searchers looking for local businesses to patronize will be able to use the search engine to find what they want. If that happens then I think you’ll see an increase in market share for Bing. That increase might not make a difference in overcoming Google. It may make a difference in overcoming Yahoo!

I’m interested in your opinion. Do you think Bing is going places?

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Posted in search engines | 4 Comments »

Icahn, Yahoo! Exchange Affects Small Businesses Too

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

I guess Yahoo!s latest correspondence with Carl Icahn is a definitive no. Mr. Icahn’s five-point plan to improve Yahoo! consisted of this:

  • A replacement of Yahoo!s “poison pill severance plan” with another plan
  • Replace Jerry Yang with a “talented and experienced” CEO
  • Encourage Yahoo!s board to communicate to Microsoft that it will not accept less than $33 per share as a buyout offer
  • Ask the Yahoo! board to sell Yahoo! to Microsoft in a “friendly and cooperative” manner
  • Alternatively, to seek a search partnership with Google if Microsoft doesn’t want to buy Yahoo!

It looks like neither Mr. Icahn nor the Yahoo! BOD are going to get what they want any time soon. And that means Yahoo! users are pretty much stuck with what Yahoo! has to offer right now. No major changes to the search landscape any time soon. I guess that’s good or bad for small businesses depending on how you want to look at it.

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Posted in search engines | No Comments »