Microsoft launched the new version of its search engine called Bing earlier this month.

Is it a Google killer? Unlikely, given Googling is a deep-seated habit amongst the majority of Internet users. But it’s certainly chasing #2 search engine Yahoo.

Bing represents the third rebranding of MSN’s search engine products, preceded by MSN Search and to Live Search.

StatCounter analyzed search engine market share two weeks before and after the formal launch of Bing on May 28 (May 14 to May 27 and May 28 to June 10). For the US market it found:

• Google decreased from 78.68% to 77.94% (-0.74%)

• Yahoo decreased from 11.46% to 10.76% (-0.7%)

• Microsoft (Bing, MSN Search and Live Search) increased from 7.4% to 9% (+1.6%)

Soovle, a customizable engine that lets you tap into Google, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Answers.com, Ask.com, YouTube, and Amazon with efficiency and ease, is entering the mainstream.

Despite common beliefs, the suggestion site doesn’t actually crawl the Web. When you start typing a search term, Soovle immediately offers suggestions for related terms. When you want to hook up with Soovle’s suggestions, just click on the result and the innovative site will take you there.

It makes for a neat search tool, and is packed with features. Surf Soovle now!

The BBC reports Google sees voice search as a major opportunity to generate presence on the mobile web.

Vic Gundotra, Google’s Vice-President of Engineering, made the comments during a wide-ranging discussion at a recent Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.

“We believe voice search is a new form of search and that it is core to our business,” he stated.

Read Google sees voice search as core.

Owners of new websites often ask about the Google sandbox, a filter the search engine uses to fight spam.

Google typically indexes a new website, lists it for a few search terms and then the web pages drop from the search engine result pages for some months.

Generally, brand new websites with new domain names need about six to eight months to get top rankings on Google.

How Do You Get Out of the Google Sandbox?

While some waiting is required, you can prompt Google to speed up the process.

When you register a new domain name, create a temporary page immediately as the six- to eight-month delay appears to start with Google’s first contact with your web site. The sooner Google knows about your web site, the better.

Also, ensure you acquire some quality inbound links from other websites, and get your meta data optimized. The meta data, which comprises title, keyword and description tags, can make a big difference. In fact, this factor has helped some Webcopyplus clients attain desired rankings in as little as six weeks.

So get a page or two up as soon as you can, and take your links and keywords seriously. It can make a world of difference to your new website’s search engine rankings and online presence.

While it’s generally known within the SEO industry, few business owners are aware the amount of years you register your domain name impacts its search engine rankings.

Need to renew soon? Look at it as an opportunity.

The logic is based on the view that most spammy sites are fly-by-night operations. They show up, scam people, and disappear (either by choice or they get knocked of Google’s index). On the other hand, legitimate businesses plan on sticking around for a long time, and register domains accordingly. One of the reasons might be to ensure the domain name doesn’t lapse and become available on the open market.

Rest assured this isn’t a rumour. In fact, it’s documented in patent applications filed by Google. Here are some relevant claims taken directly from the patent #20050071741:

Continue reading →

Online visitors tend to scan the search results in order, confirmed recent eye-tracking studies conducted by Google.

“They start from the first result and continue down the list until they find a result they consider helpful and click it — or until they decide to refine their query,” reported the search engine giant.

Using heatmaps, the eye-tracking study revealed most users found what they were looking for within the first two results, and they seldom went further down the page.

See the full Google report.

Google is preparing to launch a service that could make desktop computers a thing of the past, reports The Guardian.

The Google Drive, or ‘GDrive’, slated to be launched later this year, will enable users to access their personal files and operating systems from Google’s servers via the internet.

“The PC would be a simpler, cheaper device acting as a portal to the web, perhaps via an adaptation of Google’s operating system for mobile phones, Android,” reported David Smith, The Guardian’s Technology Correspondent. “Users would think of their computer as software rather than hardware.”

Critics are concerned about Google’s increasing power, considering its reach and access to vast personal information. A hacker’s dream? Others worry about having all their eggs in one basket, in the event of server crashes or Internet downtime.

Call Google the best thing since sliced bread, or a monster to be feared, this appears to be the direction the Internet is headed. Clever? Definitely. Wise? Time will tell.

Read the full article here: Google plans to make PCs history.

Google increased its U.S. search engine market share last month when it handled 72.1% of all queries, up from 65.9% in December 2007, reported Hitwise.

The good fortune wasn’t shared by the other search engine leaders. Yahoo reported a 17.8% share, down from 20.9% in December 2007. Microsoft came in third with 5.6%, down from 7%.

Hitwise also reported that search engines continue to dominate the Internet in key industry categories, including business and finance, sports, online video and social networking.

Chrome — Google’s answer to Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari — recently acquired 1% market share of the web browser world.

Known for its lean structure and speed, it’s attracted more advanced, tech-savvy users.

Industry types say Google can establish a solid user base and eventually increase its market share with the help of frequent updates.

Both organic and paid search results can increase your revenues dramatically. But which is worth more?

Recent earning reports reveal Google-owned websites (mainly search results) generated revenues of $3.40 billion in the first quarter of 2008, equating to $37.7 million per day. This reflects what it’s worth to be listed on Google’s first result page.

Meanwhile, an iProspect study indicated 72.3% of Google search engine users choose natural search results over paid search results. Why? Organic search results are deemed more relevant and trustworthy.

In fact, studies by Enquiro and iProspect revealed that 60.5% to 70.0% of users trust organic results, compared to just 30% to 39.5% of users that trust paid results.

Both organic and paid online marketing are powerful tools. But with web users trusting and clicking organic search results much more often, organic search results have greater value.