“Bing! That’s just what I was looking for!” Microsoft Corp. is hoping millions of consumers will have that reaction when they use its new search engine-to be called Bing. The idea is that if Bing does provide more useful results millions of consumers will switch to it from Google and Yahoo, and that advertisers, including online retailers, will follow.
It will be a high-stakes game, and it begins this week, according to published reports, when Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to unveil Bing in a speech at the D: All Things Digital conference that begins today at a resort north of San Diego. Microsoft is said to be planning to spend $80 million to $100 million on television, radio, print and online ads to get consumers to try Bing, which will replace Microsoft’s current search brand, Live Search. Microsoft is a distant third in search engine rankings with 8.2% of searches in April, trailing Google, which accounted for 64.2% of searches, and Yahoo, at 20.4%, according to comScore Inc.
Can Microsoft move up significantly in those rankings? Search experts asked that question are focusing on two issues: One, is Bing’s technology better, and, two, can advertising affect which search engine consumers use?
The Bing technology and presentation will mean consumers see a significantly different results page than they see today in Google, says Bill Leake, CEO of search marketing firm Apogee Search. Based on sample screen shots that have been circulating online since Microsoft employees started testing the new search engine in March, when it was known by the code name Kumo, Leake says Bing is likely to make use of the semantic search technology Microsoft acquired last year when it bought a company called Powerset.
That technology aims to figure out what a web user is searching for, and then present the most relevant results. For instance, someone who searches for “digital camera training” likely has bought a camera and is trying to figure out how to use it, while someone who types “digital camera reviews” into a search engine is probably looking to buy one, Leake says. Microsoft can also further refine results based on what the person has searched for previously, and also on what it knows or has inferred about the demographics of the user. Leake says Microsoft already is ahead of other search engines in targeting ads based on user demographics.
Based on the results pages circulating on the web, Leake believes a Bing results page will go further into blended search than Google has-showing more pictures, ratings and reviews, videos and other content beyond standard web pages. “Google has been incredibly cautious in messing with the essential look and feel of their search results page,” Leake says. “Microsoft’s results page is bolder and more visually striking.” He notes a sample result for the Microsoft Zune music player puts pictures of the product in the middle of the search results, “more akin to what you’d find on a retailer’s page than in a search engine.”
But if the technology is only a little better than Google’s it won’t make much of an impact, and Google will soon match any significant advances, Leake says. A more likely result is Microsoft catching up with Yahoo, which Microsoft tried unsuccessfully to buy last year. “This is less of a Google-killer than a Yahoo-killer,” he says.
Other experts are skeptical that Microsoft can change consumers’ search habits with a big advertising campaign. While noting that Bing’s reported ad budget would be about four times what Google spent on advertising last year, Mark Simon, vice president of industry relations at search marketing firm Didit says “buying attention and actually getting searchers to change behavior and daily habits may cost quite a bit more than that.” But increased competition among the search engines can only benefit advertisers, Simon adds.
More skeptical is Alan Rimm-Kauman, president of The Rimm-Kaufman Group LLC, another search marketing company. “I do not believe Bing will dent Google’ tremendously overwhelming lead in search. At all, Google has the brand recognition, the speed, better technology and the clean user-friendly layout,” he says. Rimm-Kaufman Group co-founder George Michie notes that heavy TV advertising for Ask.com has done little to move it up in search rankings. Ask ranked fourth in April, with 3.8% of searches, according to comScore. Ask’s parent company, IAC/Interactive Corp. spent $57.1 million advertising Ask.com in 2007 and another $22.6 million in 2008, according to TNS Media Intelligence.
Leake, however, says it’s worthwhile for web retailers to pay attention to Bing, if only because Google is likely to match any enhancements that prove popular. “So figuring out how to perform on Microsoft’s new engine,” he says, “will likely give online retailers a leg up over their competitors when Google figures out what their response is going to be.” Leake is speaking at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, June 15-18 in Boston, in a session entitled The latest info that all retailers need to know about search engines.
Microsoft declined to comment on its search engine initiative.
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