Bing + Yahoo = More competition

After seven months of waiting, European Union and US regulators have agreed that the integration of the two companies is in the best interests for the consumer and competition. It is currently estimated that Google occupies about 90% of the search market, with Bing and Yahoo gaining approximately 10%. Although the integration of the two technologies can start today, it isn’t expected to be rolled out until 2012, with Bing supplying the search results side of the business and Yahoo supplying the sales and advertising end.

How will this affect the user?

I don’t expect there to be much change as far as the user is concerned. They will continue to use the easiest and most accurate search engine, so the advantage is that Google’s technology will move at an even faster pace, providing us with more relevant search results.

How will this affect advertisers?

This is the interesting part of the merger. I’m hoping advertisers and agencies will see an improvement in the advertising platform for Bing, and especially Yahoo, which has seen little improvement since the first roll out from the Overture to the Yahoo platform. Also, we hope to see the cost per click decrease within Google as cheaper options from the merger could become available. This is dependent on Bing/Yahoo attracting enough users.

We could also see a change in the way Ad Texts are limited. To define themselves against Google, there could be a change in format allowing for more creative and attractive advertisements on the main SERP.

Philip Pollock
PPC Account Manager