Google’s near-institutional position in the world of search is one that Bing and Yahoo! are perpetually trying to supplant. But do these well-financed competitors have what it takes to take on this search engine giant? A recent survey by UTest has shed some light on how people regard the accuracy, speed, real-time relevance and usability of the main search engine brands. In this blog we’ll examine some of the implications for the future of search engine optimisation.
Bing and Yahoo continue to challenge Google
Google and Google Caffeine
Perhaps predictably, 90 percent of respondents stated that Google was their favourite search engine. Despite this, it actually had more bugs than Yahoo! (130 versus 70) but nowhere near the 321 bugs found in Bing. In terms of accuracy (a factor rated as most important by 71% of those surveyed) Google came out on top, achieving “good” or “excellent” in its 90% rating. Google’s offspring, Caffeine, received an 83% accuracy rating. Google put its rivals in the shade as regards this all important factor, with Yahoo and Bing receiving 53% and 42% respectively.
Bing – Decision Engine
While accuracy remains Google’s primary asset, Bing has made some headway with its innovative presentation. Having tested the featured search engines, 10 percent of respondents said they would make Bing their default search engine – or ‘decision engine’ as owner Microsoft terms it. Bing’s search interface is undeniably visually exciting, sporting a high quality daily image – contrasting with Google’s stark white background. This encyclopedic, multimedia feel evidently has the potential to wrestle some of the search market from Google – with 30% of testers being surprised by Bing. The question is will Bing novelties such as the image search be enough to maintain a significant slice of the market?
Yahoo Search
Bing’s attempt to steal market share from Google sometimes means we forget about Yahoo! Search – but it’s worth remembering they were the trailblazers when search was in its infancy. With many innovative features, it’s easy to see why Yahoo maintains a substantial number of loyal users. The UTest report highlights the auto-recommendation feature as being impressive – along with a wide variety of search options (shopping, sport, news etc.). In the long-term, it seems this range of features will disappear from the big league of search engines, as Yahoo Search is replaced by Bing – and Google’s simply-designed portal is set to remain. Yahoo signed a deal with Microsoft in July of this year, whereby over the next 10 years the Yahoo search brand have ‘powered by Bing’ under it, before disappearing completely.
Google’s lofty position currently looks secure, although the 10% of respondents who said they would switch to Bing is worth noting. Bing’s image and video search facility has certainly proved popular, and the engine may well receive some occasional users even among the hardcore of Google fans. But when it comes to a search engine that delivers accuracy and relevance, Google is a long way ahead of the competition – competition that can only result in a better search experience for everyone.
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When you look at search volumes stats, Google still dominates the market completey.
It will take a lot more than gimics and flashy search features to break into the market. Yahoo have loyal users however whether they will stomach Microsoft is a different story; we could see an even greater market share for Google over the coming years.
It is not only the functionality within the search, it is also the analytics and advertising packages that are such an integral part of the search industry. Bing are fighting an uphill battle, something that rebranding and 100 mill in marketing will not win. They need innovation.
Also. The bugs are not serious ‘show stoppers’, so are not reflective of a lapse on Google’s behalf, if you take a proportional view of how many pages Google indexes compared with Bing.