Links for tag 'search'

Microsoft will not give up, and for this Bill Gates and his crew must be commended.

Realising search is so far the best way to make money online, Microsoft is set to unveil its new search engine in California next week.

The Wall Street Journal says a key feature of the new search engine - being worked on under the code-name Kumo - is that results will be grouped into categories.

I have long been a critic of Microsoft and Yahoo in the field of 'online search'. Google monsters both in this market, yet the duo have never managed to resolve their boardroom differences to do the logical and combine forces to take the giant of search on as a more serious challenger.

Well eureka! The deal is finally done. Yahoo will use Microsoft's new search engine Bing on all its websites, and in return Microsoft will hand over the management of all premium search advertisers to Yahoo.

After all this time, it took no cash. Just an exchange of resources that will see their global market share climb to about 30%. Google has 65%.

In Australia, the Yahoo/Microsoft partnership will not even reach 8% on current estimates, as Google controls 92%. But it is a start!

Last week, Google launched its 'Music Search' feature.

Google Music Search allows you to search song lyrics, artists and song titles, returning results which allow you to preview and purchase the song online.

Please see video below for Google's official preview:

Google, which already allows you universally and individually search Blogs, News, Videos, Books and Maps was always going to include music eventually, considering its online popularity since the advent of iTunes and its controversial-at-times competitors.

Earlier this week, Google announced the release of Google Commerce Search which re-defines how product results will appear in your future Google searches. It also delivers a massive challenge to 'comparison shopping' websites.

How does it work?

Regularly, if you search for a Canon EOS400D on Google, that product will be treated as a regular keyword. As a result, you will find regular search results relating to that word, which may or may not include links to some websites that sell the product.

With Google Commerce search, the Canon EOS400D will not be treated as a regular keyword. Rather, it will be treated as a product. The results will look different, and include prices you can sort and links to actually buy the product from your chosen website.

What's in it for Google?

A truckload of money from retailers, who will pay to feed their products to Google and appear in search results. Their investment will be US$50,000 at a minimum!

That may seem like a lot; but I know dozens of online retailers who are willing to spend double to achieve such exposure!

Who suffers?

For years, other companies - including Shopping.com, Shopbot.com.au, GetPrice.com.au - have provided a similar 'comparison shopping' service to their customers, and online retailers have paid to receive their benefits.

I predict these guys will suffer after the release of Google Commerce Search.

Most of the aforementioned spend plenty of dollars on PPC advertising under product names, so people click their website (e.g. shopping.com), then search again for the product, find their desired retailer at their desired price, and then buy.

Google Commerce Search gets rid of the middle man.

This innovation will re-energise this space, and I would be interested in what the 'shopping comparison' websites come up with in retaliation.

GOOGLE COMMERCE SEARCH VIDEO

China is one of the very few world markets Google has not managed to dominate in its field of 'Search'.

Baidu, a local product, owns 65% of the market, while Google has risen above the likes of Yahoo to hold second spot with about 30%.

However, Reuters reports that Baidu's new advertising strategy has not sat well with many users, and Google has seen this as an opportunity to try and agressively double its US$300million China 'Search' market share.

Google has improved its search engine by announcing that users will soon be able to search what is being typed on the web 'now'; feeding results from microblogs like Twitter, social networks and news agencies.

The benefit of what is called 'GOOGLE REAL TIME SEARCH' is that searchers will be able to find what is relevant, using Google.
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