Upset In Search Engine Rankings

I’ve not only accepted it; I’ve embraced it. Where do I go when I want to find the answer to a random question?  My virtual speed dial is set to Google as my homepage and the connecting source for many of my social networks. 

And then there’s my other virtual speed dial source for all that’s social, Facebook.  This Friday, May 18, is Facebook’s initial public offering (IPO). I’m hardly alone in my choices of “go to” sites for search and social. Now what if there was one place that excelled at both?

Google I was entranced by its simplicity from the first time I saw the clean page with an empty search box and one button for “I’m feeling lucky” and one for “Google Search.” The colorful, basic lettering “Google” encouraged me to dive in and type. That was 1997. Several iterations later and Google has yet to let me down. The search results are more cluttered with an assortment of advertisements. But the inclusion of links into deeper content on search results is useful to just “click and go.” The fanciful doodles making up the word Google are a treat and I always click to see what it means from a relatively obscure artist’s birthday to a milestone international event.  Well to be honest, first I hover over the doodle to see what it’s about and then I click. What am I saving those clicks for anyway?

Bing Microsoft has had a long and twisting road as it settles on a search engine to champion from Ms. Dewey, a personal favorite in the late 1990s, to today’s Bing.  Aiming to gain the social edge along with retrieved urls, Bing nears its launch of an additional layer to search results. Perhaps you have narrowed down your choice of cars and are looking for some recommendations from friends to seal the deal. Bing will mix in the social with the search results displayed in a three column layout with the right column for question and answer with your friends. I have always enjoyed the beautiful photograph of the day with its gamelike hotspots you hover over and discover facts. Serendipity is a joy.

Yahoo What a year thus far for Yahoo. April 4 saw a large number of staff layoffs totaling about 2,000 jobs. This week many changes to the Board of Directors with people arriving including a new Chief Executive Officer and more departing.  Yahoo was the first of the current “big three” search engines that I ever used regularly. It just had too much going on with too much content on the homepage and all the side interest sites such as Yahoo Sports, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, etc.  Sad to admit, but I just don’t want to think that hard or to have content pre-sliced for me.

There are reporting services that track and analyze search volume.  Compete is one such company of note, if you are interested in such a subject. Google has significantly the greatest volume (66%) with Bing (18%) and Yahoo (15%) neck and neck for April’s report. Using another search engine from time to time is refreshing and reminds us that there are new ways to plumb the Internet.