The Anti-Google: Binging with Yahoo

Expect a huge surge in market share for Microsoft’s search/decision engine this month, as the symbiosis between Bing and Yahoo is now complete.

As of the morning of August 24th, the English language search results on yahoo in the United States and Canada are delivered through Bing.

Essentially, there’s absolutely no difference now between using Yahoo or Bing, as customers would be binging in both cases.

Microsoft and Yahoo have been focusing on the transition toward the first palpable results of their anti-Google online search and advertising alliance since they received the go-ahead from antitrust regulators both in Europe and in the US.

Starting with August 24th, 2010, all the results offered to queries entered in Yahoo will be handled through Bing.

Users can look at the bottom of their Yahoo search result page and will notice the addition of a small new detail: “Powered by Bing.”

“I am happy to share that Bing is powering Yahoo!’s search results in the US and Canada (English only for now, the other languages will come in the weeks and months ahead),” noted Satya Nadella - Senior Vice President, Online Services Division.

The move has deep implications not only for users of the Yahoo search engine, which will get a superior search experience through the Redmond company’s decision engine, but also for webmasters and advertisers.

Website administrators now need to work with the Bing Webmaster Tools, and advertisers need to prepare for Microsoft adCenter.

“For all you last-minute-scramble types out there, if you haven’t already started making your sites spiffy with the latest tried and true search engine optimization (SEO) tactics, you might find some helpful tips in the posts here on the Microsoft Advertising Community site that have been tagged as relevant to SEO efforts,” revealed Microsoft’s Tina Kelleher.

“Also worth mentioning is that you should definitely check out the Bing Webmaster Tools page if you haven’t done so already; they’ve got some really helpful resources over there, like how you can submit your site/sitemap to Bing, SEO strategies specific to what works best with Bing and guidance on how to add a Bing search box to your site,” she added.

Obviously, the Microsoft and Yahoo symbiosis is not done yet. In fact, the August 24th announcement was just the first phase.

The two companies will continue to melt Yahoo into Bing, with additional markets beyond US and Canada to get the benefits of the search alliance in 2011.

“So what’s next? We continue to work hard on the migration to adCenter, and are optimistic about completing this phase later this fall,” Nadella added.

“As we have said all along, our primary goal is to provide advertisers with a quality transition experience in 2010, while being mindful of the holiday season.

“This is a great milestone for Bing and Yahoo! and our customers, and we are happy to report the transition has gone smoothly and we feel great about the progress our search alliance has been making over the summer.”