Although the stats still clearly put Google on top of the search engine pile, many industry experts are predicting Bing will continue its steady rise in popularity – thanks mostly to its incessant innovation.
A recent addition to Bing’s growing list of useful tools is the ‘Taxi Fare Calculator’, an app built into Bing Maps that allows the user to determine the cost of a cab when planning journeys.
This follows on from other recent developments like ‘Weatherbug’, which takes weather forecasting to a new level of detail with radar imagery and live satellite videos to help the user predict the weather days in advance.
While each of the features Bing rolls out are not enough to topple Google on their own, the constant innovation is starting to change the search engine landscape and position Bing as a valid competitor to Google.
For anyone with a vested interest in search engines and where you are positioned in them (just about everyone!) – then Bing’s continued development is important for two main reasons:
1) Bing’s innovation is slowly changing the search engine industry and causing a shift in what searchers want. If you are in the business of reaching people via search engines then attention will need to be paid to what Bing is doing and how you can position your site within it. For example, the ‘More On This Page’ tab used in Bing’s SERP’s is in addition to the page’s meta tag information – so you need to ensure this contains exactly what you want your prospective customers/visitors to see.
2) As Bing continues to develop, innovate and take a slice of the market share, attention will need to be paid to their algorithm as more searchers begin to use Bing to find you. Although both are highly secret, we know that the Bing algorithm is slightly different than Google’s – which needs to be considered when optimising your site. The best place to start researching is the Bing blog.
Bing steadily becoming a valid alternative to Google could be seen as a bad thing if it means more time is taken up to optimise for it – but this view ignores the possibilities Bing is opening up to online businesses. While their focus on innovation seems to be inspired by the desire to increase market-share, eventually they will be more concerned with monetizing their developments. Just like Google transformed the advertising industry with their Pay-Per-Click model, it is within the realms of possibility that another significant, and equally successful, transformation could be inspired by Bing – so it’s best to keep an eye on what they’re doing and how your business could benefit.
Posted by Luke Glassford
