Jul 15, 2009 at 1:58pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Now a third major ratings service has released search engine share figures for June 2009, and like the others, they show that Bing made only a tiny gain in the wake of its launch and major ad campaign. The comScore figures have gone out to the financial analyst community, and the comScore press release with them usually arrives a week after that. But Mark Mahaney at Citigroup gave permission to cite figures in his report, which includes analysis for investors (too early to call, Bing has a "solid product" but faces "large uphill battle"). For June 2009, here's the search share handle [...]

Funny: “Googling With Bing”

Jun 29, 2009 at 9:22am ET by Barry Schwartz

Monday's can be rough for many people, so I thought I share with you a funny video named "Googling with Bing." It basically is a Bing commercial, but they replace the word "search" with "Google." See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor. Hat tip to TechCrunch for spotting this. [...]

Bing Zaps Commercials On The Daily Show (& More Shows Coming Soon)

Jun 12, 2009 at 12:46am ET by Matt McGee

Microsoft's ad campaign for Bing took a(nother) turn for the clever tonight on The Daily Show with a new campaign called "Fast Forward." It's the first in a week-long run of advertising that will see Microsoft paying for several minutes of commercial time, only to air a 30-second spot in place of several ads. The ad that aired on The Daily Show is somewhat tough to describe, and Microsoft has yet to make a copy of it available publicly. It begins with a Snuggie commercial, but after a few seconds the video fast-forwards (with accompanying sound) through the Snuggie spot ... a hair replaceme [...]

Schmidt: Bing Can’t Buy Search Love With Ads; Gotta Earn It

Jun 9, 2009 at 8:31pm ET by Danny Sullivan

CEO Eric Schmidt has weighed in on the Bing launch -- and he's not sounding panicked, not that I would expect him to be. But he certainly puts out a conflicted message that Bing isn't a serious competitor and yet argues that it's serious enough that talk of a Google monopoly seems "unwarranted." Plus, a somewhat passionate message that Microsoft can't expect to buy its way into search share. A look at his interview with Fox. First the clip, then below that selected quotes along with some analysis: Schmidt: It's not the first entry for Microsoft. They do this about once a year. Well [...]

Hulu Hosting ‘Bing-A-Thon’ Tonight

Jun 8, 2009 at 6:30pm ET by Matt McGee

In less than two hours, you'll be able to watch Microsoft's latest promotional push for its new Bing search engine: a live "Bing-a-thon" that starts at 8:00 pm EST on Hulu.com. There's no information about the Bing-a-thon on the Bing blog or the Hulu blog, but the AgencySpy blog describes the event as "an hour-long commercial, with commercials and Fred Willard." It'll be co-hosted by Olivia Munn (of the G4 TV channel) and Jason Sudeikis (of Saturday Night Live). For a preview of what to expect, you might read what Ms. Munn recently posted on her blog after her first time using Bing: " [...]

The Bing TV Commercials

Jun 4, 2009 at 12:27pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Joe Wilcox compiled many of the early Bing commercials. Microsoft has a Bing YouTube channel where many of the commercials and other bing-related videos are available as well. Bing - Search Overload Is Over Bing Search Overload Syndrome: Cell Phone Bing Search Overload Syndrome: Hawaii Searcher Feedback A Product That Solves the Evolving Needs of Users Microsoft Bing "Decision Engine" Launch One of the videos is apparently about a "Bingathon" on Hulu on June 8th. The Seattle PI has posted another commercial, although as it's not yet on Bing' [...]

State Of Search: Google Will Stay Strong Despite Bing & Yahoo

May 28, 2009 at 11:31am ET by Danny Sullivan

Just because a product -- toothpaste, laundry detergent, whatever -- calls itself "new and improved" does not mean consumers will abandon a brand that they already use and like. Microsoft's new search engine Bing faces this same challenge in taking on Google. Google's not broken; people like it, and there's no compelling reason for them to switch to Bing, much less the more established Yahoo. Consider this a "state of the major search engines" from my perspective -- how they're likely to fare against each other in light of Microsoft's latest salvo in the search wars and Yahoo's weake [...]

Microsoft’s Bing Vs Google: Head To Head Search Results

May 28, 2009 at 11:29am ET by Greg Sterling

Let's just get it out of the way: no, Bing is not a "Google Killer." It's also safe to say that Microsoft doesn't see it that way either. My understanding of what Microsoft believes it has in Bing is a much more competitive product than Live Search. I entirely agree. Over the course of the next two or three weeks there will be countless articles and blog posts discussing Bing and whether or not it can dethrone Google. Microsoft has told me that the company sees Bing as a start (or restart) and that improvements will continue to roll out over time. One can be skeptical of that position or no [...]

Forget Kumo — Will Microsoft’s New Search Engine Launch Soon As Bing?

May 20, 2009 at 2:19am ET by Danny Sullivan

It's not long now. Microsoft's new search engine has been widely expected to launch soon, and now it appears likely to happen within the next week or two. And might Bing be the new name? The latest report is that Microsoft will demonstrate its new "Kumo" service during next week's D: All Things Digital conference. As Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is one of the speakers, it makes a lot of sense he'll want to show Microsoft's latest entry in the search struggle against Google. Exactly when Ballmer is speaking hasn't been posted, so if the demo comes out, expect it between May 26 and May 28. [...]

Microsoft Kumo Features Being Tested In The Wild?

May 18, 2009 at 5:15pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Ars Technica reports Microsoft's new possible search brand, Kumo, is testing features in the public space. The features of Kumo are being seen in Live.com by some users. This can mean that Live Search might remain the brand of Microsoft's search engine. It can also mean that Microsoft is looking for a way to test certain features without changing the domain and brand. We expect Kumo to launch at SMX Advanced in Seattle next month. So time will tell if Kumo is the new brand or if Microsoft sticks with Live.com or goes a totally different direction. [...]

Goodbye To Microsoft’s SearchPerks, “Search & Give” Programs

May 5, 2009 at 12:13pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Softpedia reports that Live Search's Search and Give program is coming to a close on June 1st. In addition, those that have participated in Microsoft's SearchPerks program are being notified to cash in on their prizes now or lose them forever. If you visit searchandgive.com, you will see the notice on the home page, which reads: Beginning June 1st, 2009 the Search and Give program will be decommissioned. We plan on releasing a new program similar to Search and Give in the coming months. You may continue earning money for the charity or school of your choice per the program Terms and Condi [...]

Microsoft Integrates Cashback And Products Vertical

Apr 16, 2009 at 1:43pm ET by Greg Sterling

Microsoft announced yesterday that it had folded its Cashback program into Live Search Products. Cashback began as a incentive program for consumers to use Live Search as well as CPA-based advertising vehicle for retailers and e-commerce sellers. Cashback icons appeared beside ads responsive to commercial queries for participating marketers: Cashback icons (like Google Checkout icons) drove more clicks, but Microsoft didn't get paid unless or until users actually transacted. (In other words: free impressions and brand advertising.) The program was based on technology and the CPA model e [...]

Microsoft To Throw $100 Million At Their Search Market Share Problem

Apr 2, 2009 at 8:38am ET by Barry Schwartz

AdvertisingAge reports Microsoft is going to spend between $80 and $100 million in an effort to take market share away from Google and Yahoo in the search space. Microsoft has had a tough time branding their search portal, they even mocked their own attempts yesterday, on [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Microsoft: Marketing | Top News

How Google Shot Microsoft After It Took A Knife To A Gunfight

Mar 27, 2009 at 2:20pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Google's a split-personality company. On the one hand, it wants people to believe that it could lose its customers at any time, lest it get viewed as a monopoly. But question its ability on the technical front, and the Big G will go off on you like nobody's business. That's what happened this week to Microsoft. Cast your mind back to the end of January, when Google briefly flagged the entire internet as malware. Google CEO Eric Schmidt made a point of mentioning recently how this caused people to head over to Yahoo and other competitors. See, Google really needs as much evidence a [...]

St. Patrick’s Day Search Logos, Maps & Images

Mar 17, 2009 at 9:50am ET by Barry Schwartz

Today is St. Patrick's Day and the search engines have created special logos and maps for the day. Let's start of with a collage of logos, that I compiled at the Search Engine Roundtable. The Live Search Blog has a blog post that shows how Live Search Maps has several maps that shows few collections of favorite destinations for St Patrick's Day. For example, Boston, New York, Chicago and Seattle are some of the US cities that have parades today. Finally, Andrew Girdwood spotted some risky images on Google for a search on happy st patrick's day. I saw them myself last night, but Go [...]

Preview Of Microsoft’s Kumo Home Page?

Mar 13, 2009 at 9:25am ET by Barry Schwartz

The LiveSide blog posted a screen shot of one example of how the Kumo, Microsoft's possible new brand for Live Search, home page might look like. Here is that picture: Very similar to how Live.com works, but it simply reads "Kumo" instead. In other home page news, Yahoo has been testing a new home page again. TechCrunch has screen shots and more details on that news. [...]

Microsoft Cashback Comes to the MSN Toolbar

Mar 6, 2009 at 10:54am ET by Greg Sterling

Although I don't personally use it I'm a fan of Microsoft's Cashback. That sounds like a contradiction I know. But I thought it was a very clever consumer-advertiser proposition when it launched in May of last year. It gives advertisers a way to stand out in search results* (and only pay if there's a sale) and offers consumers money back or rebates on their product purchases. On paper there was a kind of alignment of interests and it didn't seem simply like a bribe to users. Shortly after it launched there was a bump in traffic but it has failed to contribute in any meaningful way to the [...]

Kumo: Microsoft Tests Search Ideas With Its Own Employees

Mar 2, 2009 at 9:32pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Like many others, I saw the mention that came out on LiveSide earlier today about Microsoft's new search interface and potential "Kumo" brand change. Now we, along with others, have received an internal memo about the changes along with some further screenshots Before jumping in, let's talk about the brand change. I've lost track of the number of times now over the past year that Microsoft has said they are considering changing their search brand or definitely will do it. It's just an open source fact at this point: the brand is going to change. The question is, to what? Kumo? We hea [...]

The Big List Of Search Engines & Their Employees On Twitter

Feb 27, 2009 at 1:30pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Yesterday, Google joined Twitter with a company account. We twittered a few search engine-related addresses as part of our post about that, but we wanted to do one that was a little more organized. So welcome to our big search engine Twitter list! The list isn't complete, nor will it ever be. But that's how it went with blogging. A few years ago, search engines and their employees jumped into the world of blogging (our Search Engine Land blogroll lists a number of these). "Who's blogging" lists soon emerged, until blogging became so mainstream that people stopped bothering to keep track. [...]

Microsoft Offers SearchPerks Incentive

Jan 21, 2009 at 12:44pm ET by Matt McGee

Microsoft's SearchPerks program is running a three-day incentive to encourage participants to do more searches on Live Search. Starting today, and running through January 23, SearchPerks is offering double tickets for every search with a max of 50 tickets available to be earned each day. SearchPerks is notifying members with an email that looks like this: SearchPerks launched in October, and has already offered incentives in Canada. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Microsoft: Marketing

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