August Newsletter: The Yahoo-Bing Search Alliance Will Affect Your Business
By Star Bradshaw, Account Manager & Usability Expert
Are You Prepared for the Yahoo-Microsoft Search Alliance?
You heard about it way back when, maybe even forgot about it for a while, only to be jolted to awareness now that it’s begun. Yes, I’m talking about the Yahoo-Microsoft search alliance.
This partnership means that organic and paid search listings on Yahoo will be powered by Microsoft. So when you search on Yahoo or Bing, you will get the same results, though other content and elements of the search experience will remain unique to each engine.
This impending alliance shouldn’t be ignored – it will produce a significant change in the search landscape. Though Google’s dominance is undisputed, with more than 65% of the market, Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo combined hold a 30% share, which represents a viable alternative to the search behemoth.
Timeline for the Transition
The transition is now well underway with news last week that Microsoft began serving organic results on Yahoo in U.S. and Canada. (Now you’ll see “Powered by Bing” at the bottom of any Yahoo search results page.) The transition for paid search is slated for October. Optimistic timelines aim for the U.S. integration to be complete by the end of this year.
Protect your Organic Rankings
Since Microsoft will be powering Yahoo organic results, you’ll need to gear up your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts for Bing as this engine will be driving up to one third of organic searches when the transition is complete.
If your rankings on Bing were previously as good or better than on Yahoo, then you can breathe easy. If your past Bing rankings were lower, then you have to anticipate less traffic now and consider the impact to your business.
Take steps to mitigate any negative impact in your rankings by registering your site with Bing Webmaster Tools. To do this, you’ll first need to get a Windows Live ID and then go through the steps to verify ownership of your site. Once your site is authenticated, use Bing Webmaster Tools to set up XML sitemaps, track links, monitor impressions, traffic, indexing and crawl errors. When you first set up your account, it will not show any data, but you should begin to see stats in about three days.
As for other SEO tactics, all the best practices for good rankings apply on Bing, including keyword-rich original content, search engine-friendly architecture and quality inbound links. So redouble your efforts in doing what works to maintain your rankings.
Here are some helpful links to further your SEO efforts for Bing:
Search Engine Optimization for Bing
Preserve your PPC Visibility
On the paid search side, big change is underway in preparation for the transition to the “unified search marketplace.”
After the transition, all paid search ads for Yahoo and Bing will be managed inside Microsoft’s search advertising platform adCenter. Yahoo will handle account management for premium advertiser accounts while Microsoft will support self-serve search advertisers.
Post-transition, your ads will be shown across the unified network, so you will not be able to designate Yahoo or Bing exclusively for distribution. Though after the initial rollout, additional flexibility may be added for advertisers to select or deselect certain partner sites.
Here’s what you can do now to make the transition as seamless as possible.
First, review your ads and make sure they conform to adCenter guidelines including character limits of 25 characters for the headline and 70 characters for the body. If you’re like me, you may have previously taken advantage of the ample 40-character limit for headlines in Yahoo. If so, then you’ll need to hack them back to 25 characters prior to the transition or else you’ll risk ads being truncated and marked inactive in the new system.
Also, a bit of good news is that adCenter will use the same match types as Google (exact, phrase and broad) so the confounding standard and advanced match types of Yahoo are a thing of the past. Be aware that this also means that singular, plural and commonly misspelled keywords will be treated as separate keywords, not aggregated as one version like they were in Yahoo’s system.
Be prepared for volatility in bid prices in the initial weeks of the integration.
Here are some links to plan your PPC efforts for the Yahoo-Microsoft unified marketplace:
As with any change, we anticipate that some confusion and disruption is inevitable, but we welcome the fact that this search alliance represents a viable share of the market to bring at least some competition to Google. We wish you luck as you navigate the new search terrain!
Company Updates
Read about Stacy’s panel discussion for StartupChicks on “Digital Strategy – Got One?”
Don’t miss SEMPO Atlanta’s Advanced SEM Educational Event October 1. An all-star lineup of pros from around the country will cover advanced SEO, PPC, social media and analytics. Breakfast, lunch & parking are included for a fee so low it’s just plain wrong.
Planning to be in Baltimore in October? Catch Stacy moderating a search marketing panel for The Power of eMarketing Conference.
Search Advisory Posts
PPC Data Can Make Social Media Smarter
Digital Future Study: Surprising Trends
Previous Issues
July: Why Run PPC When You Rank High Organically?
June: The BP Oil Spill and Search Engines
May: The Latest & Greatest on Social & SEO
Client Testimonials
“The strategic search engine optimization program implemented by Prominent Placement quickly increased our year over year conversions. They provided a cost effective means of driving qualified traffic to our site that exceeded our goals and expectations and provided the maximum ROI for our business. Partnering with Prominent Placement has clearly proved to be a solid investment for our company.” Jimmy Park — Radiant Systems, Inc.
“PPI has been our trusted partner since 2001. They take our business as seriously as we do. They’ve shown a steady commitment to staying ahead of the internet marketing curve and finding new ways to make sure our message is heard.” Errol Siegel — Serengeti Systems, Inc.
About Us
For more information, visit our website or call 888.SEM.MKTR (888.736.6587). If you’d like to learn how Prominent Placement can drive more leads for your business, contact Christine Verska at x713 or christine@prominentplacement.com.
Follow us on Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Connect with Stacy on LinkedIn
Read our blog “Search Advisory”
