The Future Could See Searches for 3D Content

It is talked that the “most used” button in search engines is the “back” button. That means, the searcher often cannot find what he/she is looking for in the top listings and are compelled to go back to find other links or to modify the search string. It is here that Bing is trying to look at this as its big opportunity as per Qi Lu, President – Online Services Division, Microsoft.

The search started with finding documents and then moved to images, videos, real-time information, events… The future could see searches for 3D images, 3D videos… And it seems Bing is trying to build the capability of capturing all the information and use it.

The bottom line is Google has such a better headstart over Bing that the former has more wealth of information and understands the user intent better that any other search engine.

The search giants’ alliances with the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter will get information about people and real-time events. This will be not just limited to celebrities. Bing thinks their alliance with Yahoo will bring together lot more information for the searcher. But, will it beat Google?

Source: Times Of India

After Google It Is Yahoo To Layoff

With economy in slumps, layoffs have unfortunately become too common in the corporate world. In March Google planned layoff 200 employees. Now, it is Yahoo’s turn. Yahoo is in preparations for another round of layoff and will axe several thousands of its employees.

Source: Business Week

Yahoo and Microsoft Are Talking Again

Yes, Yahoo and Microsoft are talking again reports All Things Digital. It is not about M&A but, about possible partnership opportunities in search and advertising.

The report says that these talks have been going on from several weeks between Carol Bartz, CEO, Yahoo and Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft. Time can only confirm as to what is cooking up.
The reports also says that the talks between both these companies are preliminary and also wide-ranging, focused on what kinds of commercial relationship Yahoo and Microsoft will have.

Don’t you think these discussions have been taking place for more than a year?

Yahoo Introducing Video Ads in Search Advertising

Yahoo is introducing a new type of search advertising that integrates images and video in paid listings, the company plans to announce Thursday.

Search advertising typically shows only text advertisements and links. Marketers usually devote part of their online budget to search — which shows text-only advertisements and links — and part to display, the banner and box advertisements that show images or video.

By introducing video and images, the new offering from Yahoo, called Rich Ads in Search, gives search some of the advantages of banner advertisements. “It moves the advertising experience from just the blue links, to a more engaging experience for advertisers,” said Tim Mayer, the vice president for search monetization and distribution at Yahoo.

Yahoo has been trying to win back paid search advertising from the market leader, Google. Yahoo’s market share in paid search has fallen from 13.8 percent in 2004, to 10.5 percent this year, according to the research firm eMarketer. In the same time period, Google’s market share has more than doubled, from 32.8 percent in 2004, to 67.7 percent this year.

Yahoo’s strength has been its display advertising, where it sells boxes and banners on its highly trafficked pages. However, as the recession has deepened, many advertisers have shifted money to search, which gives them direct, measurable results.

Source: NY Times