This day in search marketing history: March 14
Learn what happened on this day in search marketing history – including developments in SEO, PPC, search and digital marketing.
Topic: Windows Live
Microsoft Explains Removal Of Age And Gender Targeting From AdCenter
What do you do when you figure out that a lot of self-reported data you’re using to target ads is inaccurate or just plain sparse? If you’re Microsoft adCenter, you remove that targeting capability — in this case, age and gender. In a support thread from last week, a representative gives the reasoning behind a […]
Ballmer: 70% Of The Time, Google & Bing Are The Same, So Try Bing!
It’s perhaps one of the strangest product pitches I’ve heard. Asked on stage at Web 2.0 Summit by John Battelle about his Bing search engine, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer encouraged the audience to try Bing because, well, it’s pretty much the same as Google. The Ballmer 70/15/15 Challenge “I would issue you all a kind […]
Bing Rolls Out Another New Deals Product
Bing has put considerable effort in the past several months into building out its deals content. First Bing introduced third party deals via its mobile website. It then created a retail-centric deals portal within Bing Shopping. More recently Microsoft added self-service group buying deals to the Bing Business Portal. And now there’s a new product […]
Ballmer At CES 2011: “Whatever Device You Use, Windows Will Be There”
Today in his Consumer Electronics Show keynote, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer declared that Xbox is no longer a gaming device but an entertainment hub. And Windows will be everywhere, from your TV through Xbox, to your phone via Windows Phone 7, and on PCs of any type, especially through a forthcoming version of “Windows On […]
Facebook: You’ve No Right To Export Email Addresses (Unless It’s To Yahoo & Microsoft)
The Google-Facebook wars have heated up this past week over the ability for people to swap contacts between the services. In the latest round, a Facebook engineer says people have no right to export the email addresses of their contacts. Unless, of course, you’re exporting to Yahoo and Microsoft. I’ve been watching the events unfold […]
Nielsen: Bing Passes Yahoo To Become #2 Search Engine
According to Nielsen data out this morning Microsoft’s Bing has passed Yahoo to become the number two search engine in the US. Nielsen says that Google’s August share is 65% (and growth is flat) but that Bing and Yahoo have now switched places: Although Google saw little change in its month-over-month search volume, it still […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 10, 2010
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: 2010 Biggest Search Geek Demographics The 2nd annual SMX Biggest Search Geek Contest, sponsored by Marin Software, is designed to recognize the most knowledgeable and capable experts in the field of […]
Google Buzz? MSFT, Yahoo Say ‘Been There, Done That’
The dust is still settling on Google’s PR blitz today over Google Buzz, but that hasn’t stopped both Microsoft and Yahoo from speaking up. Their message is simple: been there, done that. Dharmesh Mehta, Director of Product Management for Windows Live, shared this statement with Search Engine Land this afternoon: Busy people don’t want another […]
Google Mulling Several Ways To Integrate Ads On Maps
A number of articles appeared that speculate about or discuss ads on Google Maps (PC and mobile) now and in the future. Google Maps is one of Google’s most successful and valuable properties — arguably even more so in mobile — and the company is going to be both careful and thoughtful about how it […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 12, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Why I’m NOT Drinking The “Real-time Local Search” Kool-Aid I’m hearing more and more about “Real-Time Local Search” – that phrase is popping up everywhere; but I’m just not buying the […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 6, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: SMX East 2009 Day Two Live Blogging Day two of the SMX East 2009 show is just about done. Here is some of the live blogging coverage from the day. If […]
Bing Passes 10% Market Share, Nielsen Says
The latest search engine stats from Nielsen bring good news for Bing, which now has more than 10% market share for the first time in … well, longer than I can remember. Nielsen says Bing captured 10.7% of all searches in August, up from 9.0% in July. Based on that jump, Nielsen says Bing is […]
Bing: comScore sees Gains; Compete Sees Same Old, Same Old
More early stats are coming in on how searchers are reacting to the Bing launch. comScore shows Microsoft’s Bing search engine continuing to make gains, but Compete shows things remain largely the same. From comScore, the latest stats show that “searcher penetration” has climbed from 13.7% in the week before it launched, to 15.8% during […]
Satya Nadella Keynote At Bing Search Summit
Satya Nadella, SVP of Microsoft’s Online Services Division, gave the morning keynote at the Microsoft Search Summit. It was an introduction to and tour of Bing and adCenter upgrades and improvements. Nadella began with a review of the search market and its growth. He was initially apologetic to the audience about Microsoft’s market share. He […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 16, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Aardvark “Help Engine” Opens To Wider Use
In private testing for the past few months, Aardvark is now opening its doors to more searchers today in conjunction with the South By Southwest conference. Also known as Vark, Aardvark is a “help engine” that allows people to send questions to friends and friends of friends and receive fast responses. My companion piece, The […]
Happy Valentine’s Day From Google & Others
Valentine’s Day is being celebrated around the world and today, Google had not one, but two different logos, depending on where in the world you accessed Google. Plus, search engines like Yahoo, Live, Ask and others had their special logos. Below is a compilation of logos that I collected throughout the day, the special day. […]
SearchBiz: MicroHoo Redux, MySpace ‘Dissed’ By Yahoo, Microsoft Hiring In Search
I was reminded by CNET that it was exactly a year ago when Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made his bold, unsolicited bid for Yahoo. It seems like a lifetime ago, certainly for the economy it is. CNET’s Stephen Shankland speculates about what might have been if the offer had been accepted by Yahoo rather than […]
Search Biz: Yahoo Earnings, Google Lobbying, Tech Stimulus, Best Places To Work & Making PCs ‘History’
Just like the US economy, things at Yahoo may get worse before they get better; the company reports earnings today at 5 p.m. Eastern. The general expectation is they’ll be down. Yahoo may have been hit hard by the weakness in online display advertising. And new CEO Carol Bartz will be on the hot seat […]
Live Search News Adds Email Alerts
The Live Search Blog announced the addition of email alerts for Live Search News. Live Search had RSS results for a while, but did not have a way to subscribe to news alerts via email. Live Search now gives you the ability to get these alerts via email either once a day, twice a day […]
AOL Debuts Bebo “Social Inbox”
AOL is repositioning or perhaps enhancing Bebo as a kind of dashboard for the internet using the concept of a “social inbox.” The Wall Street Journal has coverage of what’s at stake for AOL and the challenges facing social media ad revenues. The social inbox idea is about aggregation of content and services (e.g., email) […]
Yahoo’s Sean Suchter Switches Sides, To Head Microsoft Search Efforts In Silicon Valley
News came out yesterday on Valleywag about Yahoo vice president Sean Suchter leaving the company and heading to Microsoft. To do what? Sean had told me privately on Tuesday, and I’d been waiting to get an official heads-up to say more. But AllThingsD now has the formal news: to be general manager of Microsoft’s Silicon […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 13, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Windows Live Services Are Upgraded, Expand Considerably
Microsoft has expanded and upgraded the suite of software and online services for consumers collectively known as “Windows Live” — not to be confused with Live Search. There’s a whole boatload of stuff here that spans the desktop, online and mobile. The theme of these tools is integration of all your favorite content in one […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 24, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
C’mon Microsoft — Say You’re In Search Because You Love It, Not Want To Earn From It
Sigh. Reading Stephen Ballmer’s latest "rally the troops" memo over yet another Microsoft reorganization, I just want to scream at the man and the company in general that they’ll never win at search if they don’t get it through their heads that it’s not about selling ads, but serving searchers.
Yahoo Acquisition Architect Johnson Departs Microsoft
Kevin Johnson, who was arguably the primary architect of the now apparently failed Yahoo acquisition, is leaving Microsoft to run Juniper Networks. Simultaneously, the company is reorganizing the division that Johnson ran (“Platform Services”) into two: Windows and Windows Live + Online Services. Here’s the official Microsoft announcement from yesterday. The company announced no immediate […]
Microsoft Seeks To Bring Collaboration To Search
Microsoft has experimentally introduced “SearchTogether,” which allows people to use a browser plug-in (IE7 only) to literally collaborate on search. You need a Windows Live ID and Messenger, but you can apparently use any search engine you like. Here’s a tutorial and some screens.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 22, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
New Windows Live Mobile Search Ads Beta, Homepage That Emphasizes Social Networking
Microsoft this week has done a number of things in the mobile space, in addition to its introduction of the Live Search Cashback program on the desktop (which presumably will extend to mobile search/shopping). Windows Live launched a new homepage for mobile and the company introduced graphical ads and paid search for mobile.
Playing With Live Search Cashback
Microsoft launched Live Search Cashback and Greg will have a more detailed post on his pre-briefing. But I wanted to take you through the experience of using Cashback as a searcher. It has been a rainy week here in New York, and I figured I would start my search and shopping experience looking to buy […]
Official: Microsoft Management Reorg Announced; Dueling Ad Groups?
We expected a management shuffle from Microsoft today, and now they’ve delivered it. The company has announced seven new senior vice presidents and seven new corporate vice presidents. I’ll focus on the search and advertising front, where we now have two different senior vice presidents overseeing advertising. Best I can tell, one’s looking after search […]
Microsoft Executive Shuffle Goes “Live”
The anticipated Microsoft reorganization is now happening. We wrote about it previously with respect to the ouster of Steve Berkowitz. Some are speculating that these changes anticipate a future integration of Yahoo into the company. But Mary Jo Foley says they were in motion well before the announced bid. (NOTE: See Official: Microsoft Management Reorg […]
MSFT + YHOO: What Would Microsoft Yahoo Look Like?
The conference call has happened, and despite saying it has a plan to digest Yahoo, Microsoft didn’t share that with the world. Indeed, at one point it was said any plan depended on what Yahoo’s leadership would suggest. That means it’s time for What If. Some thoughts below from me and contributing editor Greg Sterling. […]
Live Blogging Microsoft’s Bid For Yahoo Call
The Microsoft conference call on the Yahoo bid is happening now. I’ll live blog rough notes. Greg Sterling will do a formal write-up later.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 28, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Search News Headlines Application For Facebook
Finally, Barry and I can share an application that we’ve been cooking up — Search News For Facebook. Install this, and by default you’ll get the top headlines from Search Engine Land and Search Engine Roundtable combined, showing on your Facebook profile page. You can also add your own feed or any feeds you like […]
Live Search Maps Go To China
According to the Windows Live Blog, Live Search Maps have launched in China. It’s probably more accurate to say “in Chinese,” because you can search the entire world rather than just China. (Screenshots below.) LiveSide has more.
Microsoft Acquires UK-Based MultiMap Mapping Provider
Microsoft announced this morning that it has acquired UK-based mapping platform and consumer destination MultiMap. Deal terms weren’t disclosed. MultiMap will reportedly operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft but within the Virtual Earth and search teams. According to the press statement issued, MultiMap brings “new location and mapping technology to complement existing offerings […]