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Chasing Bing: The Truth behind the Hype
By Scott Buresh (c) 2009 Medium Blue

In recent weeks, we've noticed a surge in clients calling us to
ask questions like "what's up with Bing?" Or, "are you
optimizing for Bing?" Even "are you taking advantage of
Bing?"

In other words, people want to know that their search engine
optimization company is taking special steps to ensure adequate
representation on the newly created, much hyped search engine.
And to answer the first question, what's up is MSN's umpteenth
attempt to create a search engine that garners a significant
amount of market share from its more formidable rivals - namely
Google and Yahoo!. Microsoft has not been shy to promote the new
engine; the current advertising campaign is estimated to cost
around $100 million.

How is it going so far? It depends on who you listen to. The
metrics vary wildly, depending on the source you consult. In a
recent analysis of statistics, Hitwise ranked Bing as the
seventeenth most popular website out of 450,000,[1] while
StatCounter noted that the engine was in third place behind
Google and Yahoo!. ComScore's ratings showed that Bing
increased MSN's average daily searcher penetration by 1.7%
(from 13.8% to 15.5%). These numbers and ranking criteria are
enough to make anyone's head spin. But, when you get down to
it, the event everyone is looking forward to is what will happen
when the budget runs out, and the promotional period ends. Will
searchers remain loyal or return to Google and Yahoo! and never
look back? Nobody can really tell if any positive results are
sustainable over a long term period.

Most reviewers put Bing in a good light, noting its ease of use
and searching options, and some are even scrutinizing the
accuracy and relevancy of Google and Yahoo! results against
Bing. In the June 08, 2009 edition of B to B magazine, for
instance, one reviewer appreciated the shopping comparison tool
while another stated that searchers seeking refined results will
be more likely to take advantage of Bing. Admittedly, the
engine's clean, streamlined look is pretty exciting; the home
page features a new, interactive image each day; searchers click
on certain parts of the image and trivia, facts, or additional
links pop up. But after that, a simple search will provide users
with results similar to its counterparts – images, video, maps,
news, and the like.

Another Iteration – This Time with a Pretty Bow

But there are a few reasons not to get so excited. Number one –
we have no idea where the market will settle and if the market
share for Bing will continue to grow. Without this data,
there's no way to say if tailoring a website specifically for
Bing is worthwhile, especially if it negatively impacts existing
Google and Yahoo! rankings. Number two - no matter which stat
you look at, Google still owns the lion's share of the search
market; add Yahoo! to the mix and Bing is dwarfed. Number three
- Microsoft has no track record of success in the search world;
its developers and visionaries have tried many different search
iterations, so far to no avail. The company is banking on two
things: the quality of the engine and a willingness to spend
money to promote it.

And, finally, number four is a byproduct of MSN's past
explorations into search engines; the brand name is construed by
many as a liability that carries a somewhat negative
connotation.

Possibly, a good option would be to take the MySpace/NewsCorp
route. When MySpace was bought by NewsCorp in 2005, business
went on as usual; MySpace was just MySpace. NewsCorp understood
what made MySpace 'cool' was its reputation of independence.
Yes, it was crushed by Facebook down the road, but that's a
different story. Microsoft chooses to end every Bing commercial
with blatant 'by Microsoft' wording and logos as if this is a
positive - I'm not sure that it's necessary or even wise.

In light of this information, what's a search engine
optimization company do?

Two Ways to Approach the Situation

Irresponsibly:

  1. Optimizing for Bing at the potential expense of other
     engines that have long-term records of market share is
     foolhardy. At the end of the day, Bing may be new and
     exciting, but it still possesses a tiny amount of market
     share in comparison. A prudent search engine optimization
     company will likely recommend waiting until the numbers
     stabilize before charting a course of action.

  2. Compromising for Bing at the expense of Google and Yahoo!
     is not wise. A search engine optimization company can
     certainly optimize for Bing, but hopefully not at the
     sacrifice of current rankings on more popular engines.

  3. Assuming that Bing will have a static algorithm is
     foolhardy; if Bing does indeed gain market share in the
     coming weeks and months, black hat practitioners will try
     to "game" the system, meaning that we can expect the
     algorithm to change and evolve rapidly. What works on Bing
     right now may not work in a matter of weeks.

Responsibly:

  1. However, a forward-thinking search engine optimization
     company can be prepared by creating test sites that are
     optimized specifically for Bing and learning as much as
     they can about the algorithm.

  2. If ideal rankings are achieved, then your search engine
     optimization company can determine how these rankings
     translate to Google and Yahoo!. Obviously, it will be
     important to follow these statistics closely to see if
     Bing can gain and maintain ratings or if it will mimic
     Microsoft's history of poor engine performance.

  3. Your search engine optimization company should also locate
     specific pieces of the Bing algorithm that do not compromise
     rankings in Google and Yahoo!, but that may help rankings
     in Bing. Finding attributes of the Bing algorithm that can
     be applied to your website that will garner higher Bing
     ratings is obviously in the best interest of the site; we
     just want to make sure that existing rankings aren't
     compromised on the road to success.

The Proof Is in the Pudding

Not surprisingly, this is not the first time we've had clients
calling us because of some new search engine. And like any other
search engine optimization company, we've certainly seen this
hype before. There was a time when people were asking us if we
were optimizing for the search engine iWon. (Anyone remember
that? Didn't think so.) To a lesser extent, when Ask.com
launched a media blitz a couple years ago touting its new
features, many of our clients asked (no pun intended) what our
course of action was. With a historical 3% market share, the
answer was "not much." We watched as the numbers blipped
upwards for a very brief, but stellar moment, and then fell back
to previous levels. Of course, any good search engine
optimization company will follow these types of numbers closely,
but they won't take the reliable engines that they've been
driving for granted.

Citations

1.  Crum, Chris. "More Bing Numbers Than You Can Shake a Stick
at," WebProNews, June 13, 2009.
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Scott Buresh is the founder of Medium Blue, an Atlanta-based
search engine optimization company (http://www.mediumblue.com/).
His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including
MarketingProfs, ZDNet, SiteProNews, WebProNews, DarwinMag,
ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide. He was also a contributor to
The Complete Guide to Google Advertising (Atlantic, 2008) and
Building Your Business with Google for Dummies (Wiley, 2004).
Medium Blue has local and national clients, including Boston
Scientific, Cbeyond, and DeKalb Medical, and was named the number
one organic search engine optimization company in the world in
2006 and 2007 by PromotionWorld. To see how we can help you
achieve your online marketing goals, please contact Medium Blue
(http://www.mediumblue.com/contact.html).
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