Search Engine Wars:
Microsoft + Yahoo versus Google - or are there yet more others out there?????
We’ve all heard the news and have seen how Microsoft have put in an offer to forge some sort of new partnership with Yahoo in a bid to bite into Google’s hold in the online marketing business world but what will it mean for all those whose businesses rely on the world wide web for some or all of their revenue?
Well, IC247 have always maintained that it’s important to try to get a presence on all of the search engines and this is an integral part of any form of internet marketing strategy that we initiate with any contact. It stands to reason that one should look to milk all opportunities to promote and gain more custom right across the board – no matter what your industry or your genre/needs!
As things stand Google is the ultimate leader in most aspects of internet search marketing; their range of tools is outstanding. Whether it’s pay per click with Adwords, advertising your shops products for free on Google Product Search or if you want to Blog and post videos or photos for the world to see, Google really have taken the reigns and led internet searching into a whole new dimension.
Microsoft/MSN have always been there and they always will because the guys there have the cash and the presence to really get it on. We all know about the need and then the arguments for and against Windows and this proves conclusively that one must never discount the power of Microsoft.
Yahoo were once the big boys: They ruled the world with regards to the internet and everyone had an account with them and everyone strived to climb their rankings but.... they let it go and why was this? Well, a new upstart came on the scene (Google) and started to kick butt with their innovative and economically sound ideas regarding our views and habits with internet searching, surfing and marketing.
The outsider was Ask (or Ask Jeeves, as they once were known) and they slid in on the peripheral boundaries of search engine marketing providing us all with results that were....hmm, OK. They have themselves embarked on a recent promotional campaign featuring their version of a new and enhanced search experience and it’s a nice idea but is it enough to carve a slice into the search engine industry? Maybe it is but hell, they sure must have spent some money making all those UK TV adverts for someone to search online... Enough said!
OK, let’s not forget about our beautiful friend Wikipedia; the provider of factual information for you, me, our kids with their homework and also another powerful internet big boy flexing their muscles recently with their Wikia search. Google’s Matt Cutts recently wished them well with their foray into the internet search engine industry and this, we feel, is where the buck stops – the reason for so much volcanic movement amongst the big players.
It’s widely known that Wikipedia are the encyclopaedic Bible for factual information with their better than 98% truth rate on factual information. If those guys want to start a search engine then it makes us happy here at IC247 as they are one of the forerunners in the future of the internet. Call it Web 2.0, call it us using the machine or call it what you want – factual information rules.
With the emergence of the Mobile internet industry there is a new battlefield for all of these search engines but it’s all about the content shown on any website, on any search engine, which brings me to my most important point:
ANY search engine will always look for relevant information, topical, well presented and text that is in tandem with your genre and as long as you can provide this then you have a fantastic starting point. If you couple this together with a well compiled web page that has its coding optimised so that all these different search engines can access it and index it properly then you will be winning before you know it!
Once you have got to grips with the above then IC247 recommend looking at all the different tools available from Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask and Wikia to help you to further promote your well written content and increase visitors and clicks on your informative web pages – no matter what happens with search engines coming together, fighting or starting new ideas!
Contact IC247 for an informal chat about how we can help you improve your internet commerce.
