Morning Folks!!
Many folks in the industry don’t think Bing will be a big deal. I am going to explain why they are completely wrong. Bing is the first TRUE challenge to Google. Bing is good for the domain industry. Bing is good for the consumer. The only ones Bing is bad for are Google and SEO guys that have yet to figure out Bing.
Make no mistake, Bing is here to stay and Goggle is going to suffer. The first indication will be visible to the “Insiders” when the 3rd and 4th quarter numbers that show Bing eating away at Google. Now it is time to explain why Bing is going to hurt Google in a BIG way.
First of all when I hear the guy that washes my car talk about Bing, I know this is more than just another search engine. A waitress. Four retirees eating dinner. This is meaningful. When I hear commentators and people just talking about Bing, that matters. But besides that let’s look at who is behind Bing.
Of course Microsoft with a few billion to invest. But mightier then them is Weather.com who boasts the Bing logo on all their home page maps. Why Weather.com? Well then you have to follow and since NBC now owns weather.com you can add NBC as they are in bed with Microsoft with MSN. Then of course General Electric owns NBC and when you have established players like this with DOLLARS……you are going to see a serious challenge. That challenge will produce a bidding war in all types of directions. This is as big a challenge as one could get.
So those that think Bing is not here to stay and not going to take substantial market share, will be proved wrong within 18-36 months and indications will be obvious much sooner. Bing is an alternative and Google is going to have a huge fight on their hands. This is a battle of Titans. Those that think Google will walk away unscathed will be proved very wrong. Those folks don't understand numbers. The numbers prove this just a fact yet to happen. Every point that Bing gets as market share is a costly one for Google.
As for Yahoo! They will fall a distant third unless they field an aggressive team awfully fast and team up with other giants to make it a 3 way challenge. In TV it was NBC, ABC and CBS. Are we about to see the same thing online? As they say....."Stay tuned."
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Na. Google is ingrained to the public as much as COM.
What the bing is a bing?
Terrible domain.
The tech to watch out for is Google OS. First netbooks, then PCs.
Doesn't Google have a patent on the page rank algorithm? This is what blew Yahoo away with better search results.
Posted by: Graham | July 17, 2009 at 08:20 AM
I think only time will tell. No doubt they will take market share and with Yahoo being a very weak number two it should be no problem becoming the number two search. I don't think anyone feels Bing is going away, just that they will linger as the distant number two. I can guarantee that Google easily stays king but now they actually have to stay sharp. Microsoft is in a downward spiral. They have a "can't do anything right" aura around them the last decade (except the Xbox and even Nintendo stole their thunder) and therefore most people stay skeptical of any new releases. Perhaps this will be differnt
Posted by: Shane | July 17, 2009 at 08:24 AM
Rick, for a guy that puts so much stock and emphasis on hard, real 'numbers' you are reading a lot into numbers that, quite frankly, are just not there.
It's one thing to have a gut feeling, and clearly that's what all this Bing-love is. A gut feeling on your behalf.
However, if you actually dug into the 'numbers', market share, ad budgets etc., you would clearly see that Bing is simply competing with Yahoo to be the distant runner-up in a beauty pageant that was won a long time ago by Google.
Don't get me wrong, Google is fallible just like every other company. I'm sure the day will come where they will face a significant challenge to their search throne. Even if Microsoft acquired Yahoo lock, stock and search engine, they would still find themselves in a search market dominated by Google. If you truly believe that Bing will pose a serious market share challenge to Google within 18-36 months, you are dreaming in technicolor. Quite honestly, you simply sound like someone who just invested a boat load of cash into Microsoft stock and are praying out loud. :-)
Don't get me wrong, I think a heavy-weight challenger to Google would be good for all of us in the domain world, the marketing world, and beyond. But there is very established search behavior in the marketplace right now and that is centered around Google. If Bing, or any other search competitor is going to 'change' this behavior, they will have to come to the table with a game-changing service offering, otherwise people won't be motivated to *switch*. That's reality Rick, and I'm quite certain the 'numbers' support this reality and we are likely many years away from such a game-changing scenario coming to fruition.
But one can dream, I suppose :-)
Posted by: James Cogan | July 17, 2009 at 10:28 AM
If yahoo is not bought out by bing/micro. Then you have a monopoly with google. Basically you have one now. But the pressure is released if bing buys out yahoo. Though they may just buy the search/advertising portion of it. You really don't want just one search engine as a domain investor do you? All of this really does not matter, it only matters what your doing with you own names.
Donny
Posted by: Donny | July 17, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Rick, Bing has only made marginal gains on Google so far and I wouldn't expect much more than that. Still, the product is a quantum leap forward from Live.
Posted by: Todd Mintz | July 17, 2009 at 11:58 AM
one of the rare times you're wrong, i have to say Rick
Posted by: Guy | July 17, 2009 at 12:56 PM
If MS can't make live.com work then whats the difference with bing.com
Sounds like someone in MS is short on ideas or having a mid life crisis. Prehaps they should have gone the whole hog and got bling.com
Posted by: UFO | July 17, 2009 at 01:36 PM
Rick:
I think you may be on to something: Microsoft is going to come out strong from this recession. Windows 7 is going to come out just as IT budgets start to recover. Win7 is going to kick butt, and all those companies that deferred upgrades since XP will be feeding the Microsoft cash cow. That goodwill should translate into healthy traffic for Bing.
The Microsoft fans haven't had much to cheer about lately, but the next 12 months are looking very good.
Posted by: Jorge | July 17, 2009 at 02:09 PM
He is talking about their future potential. They are knocking out the legs of the chair one by one now. But why my site doesn't show on bing, http://scrabblecheat.com
I am off to learn bing seo and fix this.
Posted by: Steve Fox | July 17, 2009 at 02:41 PM
"Bing is good for the domain industry"
Well true, as long as they don't buy Yahoo. If that happens we'll have Google & Microsoft to deal with. Talk about a winning situation. JMHO
Posted by: jp | July 17, 2009 at 02:41 PM
Google achieved success by providing high quality search results. Period. People noticed, liked it, used it, told others, etc. Google never needed "marketing" and "advertising". Bing on the other hand is the exact opposite. Throwing money at advertising does not improve the Bing product, nor the net revenues.
I am very surprised Rick does not see through the BS.
Posted by: jblack | July 17, 2009 at 03:35 PM
Interesting stuff, especially the point about NBC. If this is aiding Bing's progress in the US, do you think Bing should/will establish similar relationships in the UK and the rest of the world?
Posted by: Adam Brewer | July 17, 2009 at 04:47 PM
I agree 100%, I like the name, I think it sticks with people. Short and sweet. The partnerships, quality of search results, and nice simple new name will result in gained market share
Posted by: Jacob | July 17, 2009 at 05:16 PM
If Bing does in revenues as well as NBC does in ratings, Bing is perfectly positioned for distant third place.
Posted by: jblack | July 17, 2009 at 05:25 PM
Today, i changed my mind...Bing will make a "bing" surprise to Google much sooner than predicted.
Disregarding the huge advertising potential of Microsoft, i think that if you make people happy no more, you will have to go down one day...
Google's pay-per-click rates are going up and the avarage internet user already started to look for an alternative.(Yahoo is far away to be the one)
The avarage user does not have millions to invest on advertising and he also does not want to hear about "SEO" anymore...
What do you think these people are looking for ??? Bing, Ding, Ting or Sing...
Yes, one of them...BUT NOT Google or Yahoo...
Finally, please compare the Alexa Demographics of Bing, Google and Yahoo.
"Age 25-34, Graduate School searching from Work"...This is Bing !
Does it make sense ???
You all take care...
Posted by: FruitfulDomains.Com | July 17, 2009 at 07:40 PM
All I know is only 30 years ago if you wanted to search for information you got in your car, drove to your local public library and opened up either a book called Encyclopedia Britannica or The World Book Encyclopedia.
And if history proves itself again, which it always does, 30 years from now, there won't be a Bing, and there won't be a Google.
Things change. Nothing is forever. Enjoy it while you have it.
Posted by: Kevin | July 18, 2009 at 01:36 AM
There is no need for all these long arguments on this thread. A quick look into Alexa ranking would indicate that Google is in for tough fights with Bing climbing to #41 position (within weeks) as of today.. of course Google remains #1 . at that rate Bing could be neck in neck with Google in few months.. we shall see
Posted by: Seyi | July 18, 2009 at 11:50 AM
You're right Seyi,we will see...And you're right Kevin, we shall enjoy the "change"...
By the way...there should be a lot of Bing customers already...Check the Alexa Way Back Machine for Bing.com..."Whether you are at the club, on the court, or in the conference room, with the BING personal notification device (PND), you will never miss important calls.
Activate BING and you will be discreetly notified when your phone rings."
:))
Posted by: FruitfulDomains.Com | July 18, 2009 at 05:05 PM
BING!!!!!
The sound echoes throughout the boardroom full of microsoft execs. the day the idea came to fruitation. The sound of a dormant light bulb being turned back on.
;)
Posted by: Anthony | July 18, 2009 at 05:35 PM
I believe the best case scenario for Bing.com is a strong, quality #2. I'ii use car rentals for comparison:
Google = Hertz
Bing = Avis
Yahoo = Budget
Then again, I remember when the Sony Walkman was by far the #1 brand in portable music. But I just don't see an significant enough technological advancement to make the average person not "Google It" when they search. online.
Posted by: Ozie Jackson | July 18, 2009 at 05:38 PM
I hate how everyone worships you on your blog and you are a bit of a loud mouth - I do agree with you - bing is here to stay - I'm tired of Google this and Google that - annoying.
Posted by: none of your biz | July 18, 2009 at 11:36 PM
Google it with Bing.
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1915736
Posted by: Matt | July 22, 2009 at 06:33 PM
Could you elaborate on why you perceive Google as arrogant?
Thanks!
Posted by: LoStellare | July 23, 2009 at 05:15 PM
Hi Rick,
I thought it would be cool to revisit this post so I bookmarked it a while back.
Let's take a look at the scorecard so far.
Bing has gained 3 marketshare points from Google, at a cost of $667 million PER POINT! Is that sustainable? Of course not. I would love to see Bing make a meaningful mark, but I think it's time to face reality. Bing may be a good search engine, but Microsoft is truly shit at building audience on the web. End of story.
For a better analysis of where things stand for Bing, please read this post on GigaOm:
http://bit.ly/bingisdead
Title: "Admit It, Microsoft: You Suck at the Web"
Ps: I hope you are having a good start to your year.
All the best,
James.
Posted by: James Cogan | January 31, 2010 at 07:45 AM
On another note, I'm going to be in Miami/Boca around mid-Feb, do you have any good restaurant recs to pass along to a nice Jewish boy from Canada? :-)
Posted by: James Cogan | January 31, 2010 at 07:51 AM