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July 29, 2009
The Yahoo-Microsoft Deal from Searchers' Perspective
So by now, you've probably heard about the Microsoft - Yahoo search deal. You may even have read my take that this will be good for advertisers. If not, go back and start there, so we're all caught up.
I got responses from several other search marketers saying the deal looked good from their side too. We'll be putting up a collection of industry responses later today. In the meantime, I wanted to look at the deal from a searcher perspective. Is it good for them too?
For most searchers, Google = search. They don't know or care about the fact that Microsoft just launched a search engine, and unless they have Yahoo as their home page (likely decided by their ISP), they don't have much use for Yahoo Search either.
Will a combined Microsoft-Yahoo search change any of that? Not likely.
"The deal is both good and bad for searchers. Bad in that there will be less choice. I personally prefer to have more options rather than less. Good for searchers in that Bing is actually a pretty good search engine," said Amanda Watlington, owner of Searching for Profit.
Basically, it's going to depend on just how good Bing is, and how good it will become, given the additional volume pumping through its platform. That volume should generate more relevant ads, since there will be more competition. It should also allow Microsoft to innovate with its algorithms faster, since it will have more data to work with.
Andrew Goodman, principal at Page Zero Media, agrees: "It's a good deal for searchers. Running a high-quality consumer search property is expensive and requires constant innovation. By consolidating resources these companies can focus on their strengths," Goodman said. "Microsoft has done a great job developing a consumer-oriented search engine in Bing. They may also have access to data from Yahoo that can help them to refine it."
Microsoft has proven with Bing and adCenter that they can not only keep up with Google, but actually improve on what's already out there in the marketplace. With a huge surge in traffic through those platforms, they should theoretically be able to improve on their ideas, refining their algorithms, adding features and improving relevance.
But, as has been said many times before, it's going to take something more than just "a little better" than Google to get searchers to switch. What may happen is that Yahoo-Microsoft becomes a more credible number-two. That in itself could be good for searchers, if only because it forces Google to innovate a bit quicker, given that it's nearest competitor will be quite a bit nearer than it's used to.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 29, 2009 12:24 PM
Comments
alex July 29, 2009 6:36 PM
Interesting post Kevin. I do indeed agree with you that Microsoft and Yahoo can now focus more on their strengths after this deal, although it still puts them no where near Google. What is your opinion on how successful the Bing/Yahoo combo will be at competing with Google? Even now, they are around 30% of the search market after the deal while Google is over 60%. How much focus do you recommend SEO's put into the new Yahoo/Bing in comparison with Google?
Joel Gross July 30, 2009 3:23 AM
This is essentially Microsoft's long-awaited takeover of Yahoo's web search portal, but packaged in a way that will be more palatable to Yahoo. It's a deal carefully crafted and cushioned, to minimise the hurt caused to Yahoo's tender pride. It's more than a "deal" and it's more than a merger. . This is a takeover by another name.
"That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
http://www.timacheson.com/Blog/2009/jul/yahoo_upgrades_their_search_engine_to_bing
Tim Acheson July 30, 2009 4:36 AM
Hi Joel,
I don't see Bing/Yahoo toppling Google any time soon, even with the added volume and any benefits of Yahoo's technology they're licensing.
That said, it's a lot easier to catch up when you're at 30% than when you're at 10% or 20%, as Bing and Yahoo were individually.
The 30% combined share gets the attention of those advertisers that couldn't be bothered with building campaigns for the two separately.
How much you put into Bing/Yahoo is going to depend on how it performs, of course. Initially, it would make sense to test out a few campaigns, and if those are successful, expand from there.
Basically, if you weren't running ads on either Yahoo or Bing before, this makes it worthwhile to start. If you already were running ads on one or the other, you'll need to spend a bit of time tweaking those for the combined engine.
Kevin Newcomb July 30, 2009 8:43 AM
This is a major move forward in the advancement of the internet...
Thomas Crown July 30, 2009 3:46 PM
I have to say that this is all more of the same - now we'll have two Google and a bad market for search competition.
The only thing that makes me feel better this week is seeing old time players like Infospace sweeping into the search realm again with what looks to be an actually impressive search site that includes Twitter and a very unique organization of metasearch.
Check it out - http://www.infospace.com
RT
TammyCs August 5, 2009 7:32 PM
This is very good news was well informed that the followers of the issue I am. Thanks...
blu ray ripper November 29, 2009 1:08 AM
Really? What business does Y! have other than Search which is profitable? It has done nothing but decided to stop the hard work and get money in interest on their technology which they developed till now. I did not ever expect that such a loosing deal is possible, its even a shame to call it a deal, its a loot for MS.