Yahoo-Microsoft Transition: Impact on SEO and PPC

It looks as though the Yahoo-Microsoft transition is starting to become reality. The companies announced last week that Microsoft’s Bing was powering Yahoo’s organic search results in the U.S. and Canada.

Earlier this week, the companies also gave advertisers the go ahead to start transitioning from Yahoo search ads to Microsoft Bing search ads. As this transition begins to unfold, we can start to see what some of the changes will be and how they might impact the future of search.

From a visual perspective, Yahoo Search still looks the same but has a small “Powered by Bing” at the bottom of the results page. Another aspect worth noting is that the two companies combined own approximately 28 percent of the search market, according to comScore’s July search report.

Long time search marketing expert Bruce Clay has also noticed some interesting findings regarding SEO and the new Yahoo search. He tells WebProNews that, based upon information from Yahoo’s API team, the company intends to use Bing’s index but apply a slightly different algorithm to it. In other words, the search engines will still produce different search results. From this information, Clay believes that users will still see value in Yahoo search.

The paid search transition, on the other hand, could have a more dramatic impact. Bing has been very effective in pay per click, and as a result, Clays says it offers a high click through rate.

“I would have a tendency to think that Bing advertising will see many, many more people using it,” he points out.

Although the companies would like to have the paid search transition completed by October, they have said it could be delayed if they see a potential interference with this year’s holiday season.

Regardless of what other changes will come as this transition is fully rolled out, there is no doubt that it will be marked as a turning point in the search and advertising industry. Interestingly, Clay calls these latest developments a “resurrection” of the second and third search engines. Do you agree?

The Role of Information Architecture in SEO

When you think about SEO, information architecture is not always one of the first things that come to mind. According to Kim Krause Berg of UsabilityEffect.com, it should be since it plays a significant role in SEO success.

As she explains to WebProNews, most people try numerous tactics when their conversions drop. However, if the problem is with the website’s foundation, then conversions will continue to drop. The foundation consists of elements such as business requirements, keyword research, user behavior, mental models, and more.

When users factor in these elements, they can build an information architecture based on new information they have found and on some they never knew they had. As a result, the website flows better and is easier to use.

She says users should, “create an experience, not just a bunch of web pages.”

In addition, she advises people to not put everything on the home page. If the website is built properly, the users should not have any trouble with the navigation. She suggests creating links other than the usual Products, Services, About Us, and Contact Us tabs. When SEOs are creative, it motivates users.

On a different note, Krause Berg also discusses the idea of social behavior in regards to offline and online human behavior. Society is obviously adopting more to social media and social networking. She believes the key is providing something other than what is already available offline. She goes on to say that both Facebook and Twitter did this.

A great deal of research is being conducted related to social media and human behavior. Krause Berg believes SEOs and marketers should pay attention to it since they need to use social media to increase their search presence.

Have you considered these components pertaining to information architecture and online social behavior and how they affect your online success?

What Mobile Trends Are Telling Us

A recent Nielsen report reveals some interesting information regarding mobile trends. The study covers the mobile usage data of over 60,000 mobile subscribers gathered and analyzed by the Nielsen Company.

For starters, the report found that African-Americans use around 1,300 minutes each month, which is more than any other demographic. Hispanics are next using 826 minutes each month. The Asians/Pacific Islanders use approximately 692 minutes per month, and somewhat surprisingly, Whites are last since they use only 647 minutes on a monthly basis.

In terms of texting, African-Americans and Hispanics still rank the highest. They send and receive 780 and 767 texts respectively. Whites are next using roughly 566 texts per month. Lastly, Asians/Pacific Islanders send and receive only 384 texts monthly.

In addition, the report found that women in the U.S. talk more on cell phones than men do. Women actually talk 22 percent more than men do, which will do nothing but add to the constant teasing of women being talkers. Also, women send or receive 601 text messages, while the average man sends or receives 447 texts each month.

Not surprisingly, the largest group of texters is teenagers. They send or receive an average of 2,779 messages per month. Next, the 18-24-year old bracket sends or receives 1,299 per month. Thirdly, the 25-34-year old age group uses approximately 592 text messages in a month.

While this data further proves that mobile is growing, it also indicates some other notable mobile trends. First of all, Om Malik of GigaOM wrote about one point of interest involving how users are changing. According to him, society is trending toward not talking on the phone.

It’s not that communication is dying, but instead, other forms of communication are becoming more popular than talking on the phone. When you think about it, everything from informal chats to business deals is done through alternative forms of communication. The advent of instant messaging, email, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms will only increase these other methods.

Based upon these mobile trends, what direction do see society heading?

Bad Reputation? Google Says Change Your Name

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Google CEO Eric Schmidt predicted that young adults would need to change their names in order to protect their reputations. Since social media and the Web are gaining stronger influence in people’s lives, he believes this will be a natural solution moving forward.

“I don’t believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time,” said Schmidt to the WSJ.

Does this seem like an odd solution coming from Google’s chief executive? Many people across the Web think so since Google collects valuable user information and makes it available. Read Write Web, who first drew attention to this statement, suggested that parents give their children shortened names since they would have to change them down the line anyway.

TechCrunch refers to the idea as “downright pointless.” In addition, the always intriguing Gawker points out that Google’s CEO has “the scariest vision of the future of privacy.”

WebProNews also caught up with college student Andy Norris, who calls the concept a “cop out” on the search and advertising giant’s part and says, “Google should be able to do better than that.”

Privacy issues related to Google are nothing new, but it appears that consumer concern for them is growing. What are your thoughts regarding this proposed solution from Google’s CEO? Do you find it ironic coming from one of the most powerful technology companies?

Transitioning to the Cloud

The second annual Mimecast Cloud Adoption Survey conducted by Loudhouse offers some promising statistics in the adoption of cloud computing. Specifically, it found that 51 percent of businesses in both the US and the UK are using some form of cloud computing service.

The survey polled over 500 IT decision-makers in the two countries and saw that 74 percent of businesses using cloud services have noticed relief internally. What’s more, 73 percent believe cloud services have decreased their infrastructure costs, and 57 percent said their security has improved on the cloud.

Incidentally, cloud computing management company RightScale also announced this month that its customer cloud infrastructure spend has increased 1,000 percent from June 2009 to June 2010. It credits the increase to the following reasons: the number of cloud servers in use by its customers, the servers running for longer periods of time, and the customers using larger servers.

Another indicator of cloud computing growth is that Gartner, the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, projects cloud service revenue to reach $68.3 billion this year.

Although these statistics show dramatic growth in the transition to the cloud, many businesses are still fearful of making the move. They are concerned about the security and privacy of their sensitive data, the sustainability of cloud service providers, and potentially high bandwidth costs.

Despite the concerns, multiple federal agencies in the US are embracing cloud computing, including the departments of defense and energy. The Securities and Exchange Commission is adopting cloud computing as well. Although the government is aware that concerns are present, it hopes they will be resolved before the 10-year transition is complete.

To alleviate some of these issues associated with the cloud, Gartner’s Global IT Council for Cloud Services constructed six rights and one responsibility for consumers and providers. If implemented, Gartner said these standards would be beneficial for businesses and providers, and also make the transition to the cloud smoother.

What is your view on cloud computing? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, or is it the other way around?

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