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New Search Engines Make Their Debut

new search engine

A couple of new search engines made a brief appearance in the media spotlight before everyone went back to Googling for their answers. Here’s what they hope to achieve and why Google remains the one to beat.

Bing – Microsoft’s Bright Idea
Hoping to be a big part of the burgeoning local search market, Microsoft’s new search engine is called ‘Bing’ (supposedly the sound of the ‘eureka’ light-bulb overhead moment when a great idea is born). Described as a ‘decision’ engine, the theory is Bing delivers the search result you want on the first page more often, or provides you with the alternative you seek just a click away. This will supposedly represent an improvement over Google, where search terms sometimes must be refined to get the right answer. Its numbers are climbing slowly, but Bing will have to demonstrate a real advantage over Google to have long-lasting success. Already Google is responding to other search engines ‘related search’ functions with their own version, plus a ‘Timeline’ view and the new Google Wonder Wheel, which organizes related searches in a clickable cloud around the original query (find all three of the new results views under the ‘show options’ tab of a Google results page).

Wolfram Alpha – Crunching The Numbers
There’s not much marketing value in Wolfram Alpha at present, but certain users may find the powerful functions of this computational knowledge engine very useful. Wolfram Alpha delivers calculated answers to specific types of queries. Some of the recommended searches that showcase its strengths: enter any date, enter any town, or compare any two stocks. It also computes calculations and math formulas.

Some other types of queries that deliver instant answers: ‘60 mph in kmh’ (96.56 km/h) or ‘distance between Vancouver and Calgary’ (420.5 miles or 676.8 kms… travel time by aircraft 45.9 minutes). Type ‘Vancouver’ into Wolfram Alpha and in seconds you’ll know the city’s population, current time, weather data, and map coordinates. In comparison, the same search with Google returns a list of sites such as the official city website and tourism related pages. Contrast that search with ‘Vancouver restaurants’ however and Wolfram Alpha “isn’t sure what to do with your input” while Google’s search results are unsurprisingly comprehensive and useful.

The True Course For Turbulent Times
These new search engines coming to market may have you wondering if you’re going to have to change your SEO methods. At Mastermynde we believe the best current strategies are effective, regardless of the type of search engine people choose to use. Inbound links (links to your websites) are still important. Finding and pursuing them is worth continuing. Improving and expanding content on your website is a great value as well – at least every couple of months something should be added or improved upon to bring back repeat visitors. And ensuring you are familiar with your key conversions and know how to measure them remains of very high importance – knowing what actions your customers are taking, and what brings the right kind of visitors to your site and how they get from the search engines through to the final completed action page is a vital piece of business intelligence.

Online marketing, including SEO, PPC, email marketing, social media and reviews.

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