Archive for the ‘Search engines’ Category

Google’s Search Market Share Fallen Behind in Asia? Not Exactly.

July 30th, 2010

Don’t call it a comeback, but Google might actually be gaining a lot of ground in the Asian market very soon. Yes, the Far East (the focus of Reform’s International Search Review series so far) – where only a few months ago Google left China, Yahoo dominated Japan and few people in Korea even used Google at any point – has changed drastically.

Yahoo Japan has about a 57% share of the market there, while Google’s share is just over 35%. Microsoft has a share of about 3%. But with Yahoo and Bing merging results elsewhere and Yahoo Japan being independently owned to some extent (unlike in other markets, the Yahoo Japan branch is actually majority owned by Softbank). As a result, they’ve opted to go with Google instead of Bing for its results, on both the SEO and PPC side. Microsoft quickly protested, citing that Google will suddenly have close to a 95% share of the 3rd largest search market after the US & China, thus monopolising it in a similar way to Microsoft’s dominance of the PC market until recently.

As for China, Google is back to work in the market that they shocked many people with by threatening to leave earlier this year. Only a couple months ago, Baidu was pulling away with a clear lead in one of the fastest growing markets (and potentially largest) in the world.

But earlier this month, Google managed to work out a deal where operations in China could resume through 2012, and the google.cn domain no longer redirected to Hong Kong. But the relationship has been short lived, as while http://www.google.cn/ is back, trying a query as of July 30th takes you to Hong Kong once more. So, the comeback is still a work in progress there. In fact, you can take a quick look at day to day status via http://www.google.com/prc/report.html#hl=en

Google has also cut ties with two of the twenty five “authorized advertising agents” in China, which account for most of the paid search spend within China.
Moving over to Korea, where Google’s market share is even lower (under 5%), they’ve worked on a new strategy – going away from search and moving towards mobile and even TV. Working on partnerships with local companies, Google has shown progress in the mobile market there (which rivals such as Naver were late to enter) and are working with companies such as LG and Samsung on integrating search with other forms of media, such as TV, where Samsung is potentially working on launching a Google TV that would run on Google’s Android Operating System.

Still, contrary to what some people felt a few months ago, Google hasn’t given up on Asia yet. And the search market in countries like China, Japan and Korea is still ready for new competition. Find out more about these markets and more via our market research pieces:

Search Marketing in China

Search Marketing in Korea

Search Marketing in Russia

Search Marketing in India – Coming Soon.

The SEO community starts to test social media search optimisation strategies

July 2nd, 2010

When we think of search we think of external search i.e. search engines like Google that act as windows onto the web. From these windows we can find and access news, videos, social media forums, maps – as well as a wealth of branded content and information about businesses, products & services.

But of course people search elsewhere on the web. After email communication search is the primary web behaviour. And there is another kind of search engine: internal or enterprise search. In the US in March of 2010 Facebook’s internal search engine, for example, saw its usage soar by 48% to total 2.7% of all US searches carried out on the Web in that month. OK, so compared to Google’s 64% share of the US search market that might not seem to impressive. Still, that’s a whole lotta searching going on – and mostly for people’s names.

As brands and businesses start to saturate social media properties like Facebook, SEOs are already trying to fathom what the ranking factors are, so that they can lend their services to help brands become more visible in social media search. This article by Marty Weintraub entitled “Facebook SEO Ranking Factors, 2010 Study Results” suggests that criteria such as the Facebook Suggest Box, inserting generic keywords into name fields, population of the Interests field, encouraging as many Fans and “Likes”, might become the focus of SEO test strategies.

However, as Weintraub points out it’s early days in terms of cracking the social media search algorithms. But that won’t stop the more innovative and curious SEOs from having a go!

Blog post by Amanda Davie, Managing Director of Reform

The importance of search

March 25th, 2010

In a world where technology has evolved so quickly over the last few decades it is good to see an increasing understanding that technology in its own right is of little consequence. The key is the way that technology interacts with its users. An MP3 player is not much use without its headphones, a mobile phone is not much use unless two people want to communicate, 3D films need an audience and for all their GHz and RAM PCs have not yet learned to think for themselves.

So when one looks at technology in the marketing space it is probably important to consider how capable the human body is to interact with digital traffic. For the most part consumers have two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, ten fingers and millions of taste buds, but only one mouth. This suggests that they are immensely well equipped to enquire of their environment but their ability to establish a presence in their environment is very limited. Messages can be received by hearing, seeing, smelling, touching and tasting but can only be actively delivered verbally.

Perhaps this explains why the emergence of Search is fundamentally changing the way that marketing works. Over the last 30 years the technological advances have provided new platforms through which marketers have been able to broadcast their messages to recipients who are largely ‘programmed to receive’ – one message, multiple recipients. Now the tables are turning and the increasingly ‘aware’ consumers are extending their receptor attributes and using accelerators such as curiosity and self-help to go in search of a more fulfilled life.

As these consumers take control of what they want, where they want it and when they want it, the brands that will succeed are the ones that will be ‘found’. So if someone has a product or service that they want to be seen, heard, smelled, felt or tasted, then they need to make sure that they have optimised their delivery through both SEO and PPC.

Blog post by James Kilpatrick, non-Executive Director of Reform

Search Engines in 2009 & Predictions For 2010

December 22nd, 2009

It’s that time of the year again. End of year roundups and predictions for 2010. It’s been a busy year in search, well in fact its been a busy decade (but we won’t go there)! If 2009 was the year of Bing, Wolfram Alpha, Google Caffeine and expansion of AdWords usage, along with everyone’s attempts at Real-Time search integration, then what does 2010 have in store for the search industry?

From a user perspective, search engines were looking east. Taking from insights in the far eastern search markets, Bing and Google focused more on becoming a one stop destination hub. From the second you type your query into Google, suggestions are sent your way. In 2009 they upgraded the suggestions to include direct links and elements such as the latest weather reports, or even parcel tracking information, all before you even click “submit”.

Personalisation was a key objective for search engines too, as user data continues to get used to determine future results and trends. However, it met a lot of critique, from many who cited that personalisation may take away from independence (with less and less “new” perspectives given to users). Just like the improvements in audio/video searches and real time search though, 2010 looks to be a big year for the development of these technologies.

As far as traditional SEO and PPC goes, Google impacted these strategies too. Lines began to blur between the two, as Google integrated local results (map results) and expandable PPC ads (integrating PPC and Google Base results together) to include sitelinks and product prices / listings. From an SEO perspective, Google spent the latter part of 2009 emphasising the need for speed – advising that a sites load time may become a big factor for optimisation in 2010.

And Google didn’t stop there, continuing their foray into a vast range of things – some of which it has been working on for a few years, such as voice recognition search, along with working on more efficient translation tools and various apps for the Android operating system. And then there were the many mash-ups of their existing offerings, such as City Tours and Social Search.

It wasn’t all bright lights for Google though, as they continued to seem out of place when it came to other forms of media, including a much criticised attempt to push the Google Chrome browser on TV and print media ads. They also took what many people felt were a step back with a more traditional pricing on “paid placement” local listings, and YouTube ads, opting away from their cost per click rates – and instead going towards the old CPM rates in some cases.

At the same time though, marketers looked closer at the impact of TV on search. Going beyond slogans that say “search for (name of brand) on Google” – marketers looked at having the celebrity presence on their search listings too. Hilary Swank, Scarlett Johansson, Oprah Winfrey and Jessica Alba were celebrities used to endorse PPC ad copy in 2009.

The merger between Bing and Yahoo looms ever present for 2010, while Yahoo Search Submit Pro calls it a day. Yahoo site explorer is rumoured to be next in line, which was the source of many an online SEO tool that analysed links. When this will happen is unclear, but it does remind many of a search marketer of the times when the Yahoo / Overture keyword tool was silently put to sleep.

And of course, it wouldn’t be an end of year / new year posting without some predictions, so here goes. Among our predictions for search in 2010, are:

1. SEO will become the darling of marketing, as recession strapped companies look to get the most of their budgets

2. SEO’s will need to know how to communicate with designers and developers (and vice versa), as factors such as load time, script usage and site coding become key SEO factors

3. Data (advertiser and customer) debates will heat up over the year, as companies like Facebook, Google, Bing, etc tread the line between insight and privacy

4. Local and retail advertisers will see Google Maps and Google Base traffic volumes soar

5. Launched in 2009 – Scoopler.com will become one to watch in the “real-time search” race

6. Search becomes the marketing channel for geniuses (or genii), as from keyword research to semantic psychology – things are about to get really interesting!

7. International SEO and PPC strategies will evolve fast in 2010, as search engines such as Baidu spent late 2009 moving towards a more westernised search methodology in both paid and natural search listings

8. Real time search still needs a fair bit of work and will look vastly different this time next year

9. Mobile search will finally catch up to all the hype its received in the last few years

Drop us a line and let us know what you think is in store for search in 2010.

Blog post by Niall Madden, SEO Director of Reform

Why I don’t want my search ‘personalized’

December 8th, 2009

So, now Google thinks it knows me. Even when I’m not logged in to one of their products. Well, Google, I’m not happy about this and I don’t want you deciding what I see and when.

Obviously Google has a massive influence on what we see on the internet these days and as the number one search engine in the UK, that’s unlikely to change, but I have to object to them taking all the fun out of search as they seem to be doing with this personalized search yoke.

If I’m searching on Google (or any other search engine for that matter) I will have some idea of what I’m looking for and I might be in one of three key search modes; navigational- getting to a site whose domain I’ve forgotten, transactional- researching with intent to make a purchase, or information search- just looking to find out something to enhance my own knowledge. I might be looking for a recipe,  I might be looking up the answer to a trivia question to settle an argument.

What I expect from Google in return is a set of relevant search results based on content from the whole of the world wide web. I don’t care what I searched for recently or what Google thinks I’ll like best. I want to decide. I am a moody searcher and my mood swings shall decide whether I’m looking for something old or something new.

When any user searches, they normally have some idea of what they want to find. There is obviously a big difference between someone looking for an apple phone and an apple pie recipe and Google can easily distinguish between simple behaviours each time we are searching to show appropriate result sets. But, sometimes I am looking for something out of the ordinary. How is Google supposed to know that? Sometimes I’m looking for something on behalf of someone else, or I just feel like branching out. Sometimes, heaven forbid, I’m interested to see what’s new out there.

I’ll be clearing my cookies and deleting my history so Google can’t try and understand me. If you want Google to be your friend and predict your inner thoughts and desires go spend some time on your igoogle page, but I say Bah Humbug to giving my soul to Google.

Bing & Wolfram Alpha? Research Based Search Engine Results Could Bring That Personal Touch

November 16th, 2009

You may (or may not) have heard last week about Microsoft’s deal with Wolfram Alpha – which has been in talks for the last few months and now allows Bing’s search engine to integrate Wolfram Alpha’s database results (in the US only for now). It should be noted from the start, that Wolfram Alpha is not a search engine itself, but more an information database.

The results will generally be integrated for certain niches, such as health (like nutritional information) and statistics (population, GDP, history, etc), but with a very unbiased and real time approach (with results you can interact with). And perhaps this is not huge news to some people, but it sort of hit me as big news.

It’s better than news of other recent Bing developments, such as how natural results on Bing offer content snippets and related keywords along with dividing the results across the keyword you entered, videos, local listings and several variations – a souped up version of Google’s “universal” project, or even the fact that the first page of results now includes several keyword variables, that results in 20 natural listings on the first page (which is quite a bit longer, but still shorter than the results page of Naver in Korea), because face it, its not new. Same goes for the Bing “XRank” thing they implemented, where users find out how popular the name of someone they entered is. Nothing new there.

So why is this still good news for Bing in my opinion? Because its about time! It’s about time Bing (previously known as MSN, Live, etc) started looking towards a different direction for providing search results. It had been wasting way too much time and probably too much money trying to be like Google in recent years.

FINALLY, Bing may be thinking “long term”, with this acquisition. Maybe it will use this and its Facebook share to give more of a “person to person” feel in results (even the real time Twitter results could help, if they figure out a way to get past the “junk”). Combining Wolfram Alpha with Wikipedia results (which Bing US already integrates under its own site) might help too.

Maybe even add a bit of new colleague Yahoo and their Yahoo Answers offering? Suddenly, instead of a commerial search engine going against commercial search engine, we’ve got one that is taking potentially taking the more “person to person” and “research based Wiki” approach. The one that looked many steps behind for a while now, is starting to look more modern? Strange, but its starting to hint at that.

Many innovative search engines have come and gone over the years, but the main reason many of these failed were that they simply lacked the budget to get seen, let alone have competitive results. Microsoft’s Bing at least has the budget part checked off.

But how about this Bing, forget about profit for a while. Let Google concentrate more and more on its increasingly aggressive marketing model (by this I mean, behind the scenes and how AdWords teams are concentrating on generating client spend. Not conversions, not traffic. Spend.) Take some more time behind the scenes and develop a more “personal” based search offering. Do it right and become a research based medium – and traffic might come back over (more than the single digit percentage share you have right now).

Then, when you’ve established a new type of user experience, turn up the profitability a little – in order to cover increasing resource and overall company management. This sort of approach worked like a charm for someone else, um, what were they called? Oh well, I guess this isn’t 100% new either.

Anyway, here are some reference points (saved as screenshots for non US users).

1) Wikipedia Content being served under Bing.com URL

2) Screenshot of a long page in Bing’s results for “auto insurance” featuring several keyword variables

Do I think Bing’s improved in the past couple of months? Yeah, but I also think it’s got a long way to go. Still, it’s finally looking in a different direction though, and thats a start.

UPDATE: You can integrate WA results on Google too, but only if you install this Firefox plugin – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12006

Blog post by Niall Madden, SEO Director of Reform