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Will the new TV campaign impact on Bing market share

You may have read over the weekend that Microsoft have launched a new multi-million pound advertising campaign to hit UK screens this week aiming to increase its market share within the UK search market.

The three-month campaign, which includes three new TV ads created by the design ad powerhouse JWT, starts on Wednesday and uses the strapline “Bing and decide” – and will be aimed at highlighting Bing’s evolution as a decision engine. The TV campaign will feature ordinary people asking for information and getting their answers from Bing and will run for a month and then on a two-week bursts until Mid-June. This will be supported by an equally massive digital campaign across Microsoft’s network and other media including social networking sites such as Facebook.

“This is a big moment – we are taking out our slingshots and taking on Goliath,” said Microsoft’s UK managing director, Ashley Highfield, adding that he believed Bing met a real desire from both consumers and advertisers. He went on to suggest that people worldwide may have forgotten that there is an alternative search engine to Google.

Whilst its good to see Microsoft putting their money where their mouth is however how much of an impact this will have will be difficult to gauge. Following some significant traction following its launch, Bing market share has stagnated recently. This increase in exposure is likely to cement its position as the second largest player in the UK search engine landscape – however just how much of a bite out of Google’s apple it will take is still to be seen – particularly given around $100 million was spent on the initial launch of Bing.

Given their current position in the UK market therefore it is no real suprise to see some above the line activity come into play during at this stage – and one would suggest that this will result in some pickup of market share – and that market share is likely to come from Google – however the potential return is still open to debate. Given Ask.com undertook similar activity in order to increase their UK market share with limited success , one has to query whether this is likely to result in any significant market gains from Google.

Their best point of attack still stands with their product – however this is something Google have always been very good at competing against. Google have a hell of a head start in terms of their product – however this hasn’t stopped them consistently integrating new products and technologies – and whilst I am not a fan of many of the recent incarnations – it does highlight their consistent drive for better performance.

If Bing are to compete – this is where they will have to do it. There is no point throwing money at something if their is little substinance to back it up – or as one of my colleauges would say – ‘Just because you put on an engine on a set of draws – does not make it a sports car’. Bing need their product to evolve – to provide similar primary features as Google and then some.

They have certainly taken a different tact with one of the primary aims of the campaign to contrast the “visually rich” Bing with the relatively austere-looking Google. “It is a battle not just of mind but of heart as well,” he said. “We are wanting to make an emotional connection – we are ploughing a different furrow here.”

Ploughing a different furrow they might be however I can’t help thinking gains from this activity will be small in the medium to long term if this activity is not backed up with further developments on the platform itself. However if as Highfield suggests that Bing can make that emotional connection – then we may at last have a fight on our hands. I however won’t hold my breath…..

Google culls Searchwiki – One we saw coming!

Much like many of Google’s recent triumphant new products the market, Google SearchWiki appears to have gone the way of Notebook and others before it. Launched amongst a wave of controversy from search marketeers and brand reputation experts about 16 months ago, Searchwiki which allowed people to remove or influence their search results based on their preferences has now been replaced with a significantly refined system Google have branded stars or starred results.

Source: Search Engine Land

Starred results will be seperated from Google’s algorithmic results (appearing above the traditional organic results) and using this feature won’t change the traditional 10 organic results that Google returns in reply to a search. The starred results is also integrated with Google Bookmarks and the Google Toolbar for quicker access to starred items.

It should also be noted that starred results will also work across other Google channels ie if you star a result in Google Maps, for example, it may also appear as a starred result the next time you search on Google.com. For people who did use SearchWiki, Google also says that all your edits will be preserved in your Google account.

In my opinion its hardly a surprise that Google have taken this step. The Google landscape of 16 months ago was a very different beast to that which we use today, and new technologies such as Personalised Search, Real time search and Caffeine have meant that we are looking at a much more different and dynamic framework than that which was the case when SearchWiki launched.

Further to that, I would suggest the uptake of this has never been as big as Google had expected. Perhaps this is down to the subtlety of its incorporation or merely because people like to keep things simple – however Google are now utilising other and in my opinion more advanced ways of providing people with social feedback such as Google Social Circle results.

I would suggest this wont be the last of Google product culls in 2010, certainly I can’t help thinking Wave has a limited lifecycle particularly given the recent introduction of Buzz. However as regards SearchWiki, I for one won’t really miss it – and by the sound of it neither will alot of people. I will close with Google’s changing perception of Wiki taken from Matt McGee’s post on Search Engine Land

As for SearchWiki, at the time of its launch, Google told Search Engine Land:

Before we launched SearchWiki, hundreds of thousands of people tested it and the feedback was positive.

But in today’s announcement of the new Stars in Search, Google is sending a somewhat different message:

In our testing, we learned that people really liked the idea of marking a website for future reference, but they didn’t like changing the order of Google’s organic search results.

Other stories on this

Related articles by Zemanta

• Stars make search more personal (googleblog.blogspot.com)
• Report: Google To Launch Caffeine Index In Upcoming “Months” (seroundtable.com)
• Google Puts SearchWiki Out Of Its Misery, Replaces It With Cute Stars (techcrunch.com)

5 great reasons to come to Sascon and get 12.5% of with Holistic Search

In advance – I will apologise for the shameless self promotion of this post, however as many of you will know I have been involved with the organisation of the Search, Analytics and Social conference on April 28th along with a number of other organisations including Latitude, Pushon, MediaEdge (WPP), Dont Panic (Event organisers), iSpy Search and of Mediavest. As a not-for-profit event this has presented some significant challenges but I am pleased to say we have a number of fantastic speakers now in the offing.

As well as a moderating debut for myself (the speaking cherry having long since gone), the event features some stalwarts from the Search Marketing, Social Media and Analytics fraternity with some of the key highlights being

1) Holistic Search Panel – Jonathan Beeston (Efficient Frontier), Dixon Jones (Receptional and Majestic SEO), Jon Myers (Mediavest) and Neil Jackson (Tamar) discuss how to integrate and optimise your search (thats ppc AND seo) campaigns for maximum performance

2) Running a Pan European Search campaign – Some great speakers from here and across the channel including Andy Atkins Kruger (WebCertain), Guillermo Villoroag and State of Search founder Bas Van Den Beld. With many organisations expanding their services beyond these shores make sure you see catch this

3) Search and Social Media – Well we had to save one with a load of big names, and we’ve gone to town on this one. Joost De Valk (Orange Valley), Massimo Burgio, Anthony Mayfield (iCrossing) and not forgetting the one and only Lyndon Antcliffe (Cornwall SEO). Think we may be booking some extra seats for this one

4) Conversion Rate Attribution – This is one where not all the panel speakers have been confirmed however with Etai Rosen (Kenshoo), Ben Jesson/Dr Karl Banks(Conversion Rate Experts) and James Yancey (Search Ignite) on the panel it should for a very interesting and thought provoking panel

5) Who is best to exploit the Social Media opportunity – Wow this one should be a humdinger. Will McInnes (NixonMcInnes), Judith Lewis (iLevel), Massimo Burgio and Paul Fabretti (Gabba) make up the panel.

Here at Holistic Search, being a blog partner for the event we are able to offer readers 12.5% off the current early bird rate by quoting HOLSEA001.

To order tickets to the event, go to the Sascon website or call Nicky Wake at Dont Panic on 00 44 (0)1706 828855

Google becomes even more … Local

The speed of innovation at Google is immense at the moment, not a day seems to go by where we don’t see a new tool (no matter how badly thought out they are), tweak to the algorithm or change to their search page. Google is a company in transit at the moment, from pure search engine to multi-platform player – but it would seem that is not to the detriment (in terms of refining) their core products.

The announcement on the Webmaster blog today of the ability to further localise search results is interesting in the context of what they are currently doing – and a further refinement on the burgeoning ’search options’ facility they have now incorporated into the search results.

From now on there is not the need to refine your search via the traditional search box, Google now provide you with the facility to search local results via the ’search options facility’

You can choose to see results nearby either your default location or a custom location, and you can narrow down to results at the city, region or state level

From initial tests its certainly a work in progress as my search for nightclubs didn’t many of the results I expected with a number of entries for Toronto, Las Vegas etc – but to be honest we’ve come to expect a bit of cross country canabalisation in our search results recently

Are Google going all Bing?

Don’t ask the reasons why I performed the following search – however I was surprised to see Google playing round with yet more layout tweaks during a recent search for fellow UK Search Marketeer, Andrew Girdwood from Bigmouthmedia.

My first thought was that this may be down to some configurations on my browser – however this does appear to be quite a distinctive tweak to the search page particularly if you compare this with my Mediavest colleague Jon Myers

You will notice the following characteristics

• Integration of side navigation
• Results font smaller and bolder
• Show more results not underlined
• Blue bar removed between search box and results

Anyone else seen this in the wild  or is this yet more fun and games from the mighty Google

Paid, not paid – who cares any more

Its interesting seeing the evolution from Google to an organically heavy SERP page, to an engine driven by P & L. There seem to be an ever increasing number of search engine real estate evolving into paid results. It should therefore come as no suprise that Google Local has become the latest Google product to see paid search real estate moving into previously ‘organic’ results.

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Source: Search Engine Land

The above image highlights how Google are now testing sponsored listings within the main 7-pack local results (denoted by the square yellow icon below the main result – and the sponsored disclaimer to its right). Whilst the move of integrating previously organic real estate with paid services is nothing new, this is interesting primarily due to its proximity to the organic search results – in fact its full integration with the organic results. That is something we have – as yet – seen very little of from Google.

It should be noticed, in order for the above sponsored result to display, you have to already be organically displayed so I guess one may argue this differs from a traditional paid search result by proxy – however I would suggest this may not be the end of these integrated results within the Google SERPs, and of particular interest over the coming months may be:

• Google Products – Already we have seen the results integrated into the main paid search results – one woiuld suggest it may be only a matter of time before sponsored results are displayed within the universal search results.
• Google News – We have seen a lot of twoing and froing this year with the whole Rupert Murdoch/Google scenario. This could be one to watch moving forward.
• Google Cinema – Why not? The current results are very limited in terms of scope. Integrating this with a paid result may allow for greater expansion of services via these results.

One things for sure – the lines between paid and organic are already blurring – and this wont be the last of the tweaks to Google.

Other stories

Search Engine Land – Google Blurs The Line Between Paid & Unpaid Results Again

SES London – Highlights of day 1

Today sees the first day of SES London 2010, bringing some of the best speakers within the search industry to London. For those that haven’t been to SES before, its a three day event hosted at the Business Design Centre in Islington, with events away from conference often as interesting as those on it.

This year, Day 1 promises to be as good as ever with a host of great speakers on the agenda with big guns such as Rand Fishkin and Avinash Kaushik getting things going with a bang. For those going today Holistic Search have compiled our list of recommendations for the first day at the conference.

Keynote:
One not to miss – Analytics “evangelist” Avinash Kaushik gets things going with his opening salvo. Avinash always talks a lot of sense so its certainly going to be one to watch if your interested in your analytics, conversion attribution etc.

Session 1:
Has to be From ‘Real-Time Search to Dynamic Discovery panel’ featuring Mike Grehan moderating and Aaron Cahlow and Bill Scott on the speakers list. The other two panels (as much as I like Brian Eisenberg and Judith Lewis are both introductory panels.

Session 2:
The ‘PPC or SEO? The Ultimate Search Marketing Battle’ features a host of Twitterati on the panel including Ralph Tegtmeier (aka Fantomaster), David Naylor, Rand Fishkin, Andrew Goodman and Paul Mead. To be honest its the standout panel on the day, and one that will surely be filled to the rafters.

Session 3:
Had to go for this one but anyhow – Session three sees my recommendation go to ‘Meaningful SEO Metrics: Going Beyond the Numbers’ with Jon Myers (Head of Search at Mediavest) moderating a panel that includes Jeff Ferguson (Local.com) and Brian Clifton ( Author, Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics)

Session 4:
Another standout panel on the day featuring Rob Kerry, David Naylor, Richard Baxter, Allan Stewart, David Fairhurst and Andy Atkins Kruger Moderating – the ‘Industry Specific Search Strategies: Under the Hood’ panel should be an interesting one particularly given both Rob (gambling) and Richards (flights/travel) previous experience.

Session 5 – Keynote Panel:
More heavyweight UK speakers are wheeled out for this one with Teddy Cowell (Guava), Anders Hjorth(Outrider), Kirsten Mangers (WebVisible) and Jonathan Beeston (Efficient Frontier) taking ‘a hard look at the current value proposition of search in the UK and how we got to where we are today’

If you want to know the other panels going on day 1, the full breakdown of the speakers can be found on the SES Website

There is no such thing as magic wand SEO

Before I start, this isn’t a digg at any particular recent event, just really a thought of a number of recent conversations with fellow professionals. Spend in SEO has never been better, with more organisations ciphening more of their digital budgets towards SEO and Social Media – as highlighted by this study published by eMarketer last year.

The study above does not include that of social media which has been seeing an even more significant spike in spend over the last 12 months, however there is no doubting that along with this increased spend, comes increased consumer awareness – and ultimately increased an increasingly competitive marketplace.

That ultimately means that what may have been adequate before, no longer is – and you have to work consistently harder to ensure you maintain your prominence within the SERPs. Further to that , Google’s state of flux in terms of the new products/factors being introduced on a near weekly basis means you can’t simply sit back and enjoy your work.

Ultimately if you are working as a client side SEO or an SEO agency – you need to be ticking all the boxes. Technical SEO, Content Development and Optimisation, Link Building and not forgetting your social media factors all have their part to play. For those not currently directly involved in optimising your sites, buy in is essential and consistent nourishment of your SEO provider is absolutely essential if you are going to get that success.

Simply leaving your SEO (whether inhouse or outbound) to do what SEO’s do isn’t likely to give you the long term results you want. I have had the opportunity to work or speak to some of the most prominent brands in the search engines, and many of them exhibit the same consistent streak. Complete buy in from the organisations not only through their SEO function but via the various channels which SEO may share such as PR, Video etc. This in turn provides their SEO providers with the tools and knowledge whereby best to maximise their content, either by its deployment on site or via its seeding externally. A few ways you could get more could get more could include:

• Bring your SEO consultant into your web development process. Let him no of changes as early as possible.  An issue fixed before it occurs will never become  a problem – fixing it before it goes live is always easier than having to retro fit something.
• Give your SEO consultant equal footing to your designer. At the end of the day both parties are trying to achieve the same thing – and that is a better result for you – however deployed seperately and not managed collectively is geared for failure
• Give your offline PR to your SEO. This can be used to get linkage to your site, or even better – even more exposure about your brand/site.
• Your videos are just as valuable as your PR. These can be optimised the same way content can

For those looking to enter any SEO commitment, it makes sense to do your homework and make sure you get a reputable agency on board, however your SEO commitment does not end there. Make sure you work with them – as you would through any other channel – and you will be amazed at how much more effective these channels operate. SEO is and can be just as transparent as any other marketing channel – and you have to go into it with your eyes open and with no expectations of just expecting magic wand SEO and long term sustained visibility. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen but cases are few and far between.

Incorporating SEO into tactical campaigns – learnings from the belgian agencies?

McCann Lowe, Kunstmaan, VVL BBDO, Saatchi, Punta Linea, VVL and FamousI read with interest the current agency scenario going on in Belgian at the moment. For those that have not been following the story, much of it comes down to the way organisations in Belgium have traditionally gone about their new business – and the pitch process therein involved. This historically has involved a maximum of 3 agencies plus the incumbent however recently this appears to have changed – thus the agencies in Belgium have taken action against this as follows:

Its a fantastic idea, fantastically implemented with a number of high profile agencies involved including

• McCann Lowe
• Kunstmaan
• VVL BBDO
• Saatchi
• Punta Linea
• VVL
• Famous

My thoughts looking at this immediately sprung to its impact on SEO, particularly in terms of how they were handling – or appear to have considered the impact of their actions on SEO. Perhaps they didn’t consider it – but one has to remember that SEO is not about the hear and now – and its effects often go further than just the current scenario.

To put this in context – I looked at the code for the site – and noticed the following:

<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=iso-8859-1″ /> <meta name=”title” content=”Why Belgian advertising is offline this week.” />
<meta name=”description” content=”Although the websites of Belgian ad agencies are offline this week, there’s still a good reason to visit them.” />
<title>Website closed</title>

It would appear that some consideration has been considered – however consider this. What happens when the strike is over – and all returns to normal. The title and description will not necessarily automatically change back to their original defaults – and thus a lag will occur between campaign cesation and that of the SERP’s returning to normal.

Whilst they can to a certain degree guarantee a significant level of traction in terms of PR and linkage to the site, one has to suggest this is likely to be heavily biased towards the BBDO site where the campaign trail starts, rather than some of the deeper participants such as McCannLowe and Saatchi BE.

It may have therefore have been a better idea to factor in some degree of appropriate SEO remediation prior to campaign launch – particularly given the assertiveness of the title line – website closed.

I cant help thinking it had been me – the incorporation of some robots management or appropriate server response code utilisation should have been considered to manage the short to medium impact on the campaign in terms of SERPs.

Thats not taking away anything from the campaign itself – which if you haven’t seen yet – I would highly recommend you do now…..

To view the campaign in full – click here

Which UK Search conference are you going to be attending

Further to the earlier post regarding the must go-to UK search marketing conferences for 2010, we thought it would be interesting to see where readers will be going this year. Our early front runners appear to be that of SES and SasCon – both of whom strangely are the two nearest events in the current calendar.

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