With the recent Microsoft-Yahoo merger, it will now be even more interesting to see how the search market competition plays out.

Last month’s Microsoft/Yahoo! deal continues to draw attention throughout the search community. The market share of Microsoft’s Bing.com has continued to increase slightly since its June launch, but it is still a far cry from Google’s dominant stance in the industry. It is hard to argue that the deal is not affecting Google; the company has unveiled an update to its search platform. Experts see it as a response to the move, but Google denies such claims stating that the update had been in the works for awhile.

Perhaps the greatest challenge that Bing faces in its fight against Google is search loyalty. Google has simply become a habit for users over time, with most giving little thought to a potential switch. Gord Hotchkiss, CEO of Enquiro Search Solutions, said “For Microsoft-Yahoo to disrupt the Google habit, they have to offer a compelling enough reason to do the cognitive heavy lifting required to break a subconscious habit.” Bing will need to change its casual users into faithful ones.

Microsoft and Yahoo! may also be confronted with antitrust issues as a result of their agreement. The question posed by the partnership is whether or not online advertisers will benefit more with a single, more powerful rival to Google when compared to two less threatening foes. It will be challenging for regulators to make a case due to the fact that the number two and three competitors are joining forces (as opposed to the top two in a market). Legal officials are not expected to complete a review until 2010.

While nothing has changed dramatically since the agreement, competition among search engines is sure to remain strong.

After three years of talks, Microsoft and Yahoo! have reached an agreement regarding online search. The ten-year deal gives Microsoft rights to Yahoo!’s search technology, while in return Yahoo! receives 88 percent commission from advertisements. Yahoo!, the number two search engine, and Bing, number three, are hoping to compile resources to take on Google. A main effect of the deal is that Yahoo!’s natural and paid search results will now be powered by Microsoft’s Bing.

The deal will triple Bing.com’s market share to nearly 30 percent. However, the battery still has a long way to go in the search battle, as Google’s share of the market rests at 65 percent. The deal has not been as kind to Yahoo!, as its stock has dropped 16 percent as of Thursday afternoon. Microsoft hopes that Yahoo!’s advertising ideas will attract users to Bing, while Yahoo! hopes to add features to its site that will allow it to compete with more socially-oriented websites such as Facebook.

One potential hang-up is that antitrust allegations are already swirling. Google previously ran into problems when trying to reach a deal with Yahoo!. However, there is a better chance that the Microsoft/Yahoo! partnership will be upheld because it could likely increase competition with Google.

Advertisers long to benefit from viable competition with Google. “It is good for our clients and our agencies and for regulators,” said Martin Sorrell, a chief executive of British advertising group WPP. The merger could level the field if advertisers draw more traffic through the Microsoft/Yahoo! collaboration.

This massive change in the search engine world could certainly benefit users, as each side will continually have incentive to improve. However, others are less optimistic and predict the deal will have little impact.

The media’s continued attention on the battle between Microsoft’s Bing.com and Google has somewhat pushed Yahoo! out of the picture. Downfall in revenue has forced Yahoo!, former number one search site, to resort to pink slipping workers. However, news has improved for Yahoo! of late, as the search engine released a new home page on Tuesday.

The new page features links to several popular third-party sites including Facebook and eBay. Users can see headlines from such sites by simply moving the cursor over a toolbar titled “My Favorites” on the left side of the page. Yahoo! has also introduced a “trend-setter” box that highlights the popular searches of the day. Some experts feel the move is an attempt to attract Microsoft back into talks regarding a search advertising deal.

Negotiations have been intermittent for months, with each party hoping that teaming up could give Google considerable competition. According to reports, talks are closer than ever, with Microsoft executives meeting with Yahoo! in California. In the deal, Microsoft would reportedly pay for several billion dollars worth of Yahoo!’s search advertising business. Despite this recent news, the tide can turn quickly: Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz once said that the search company would “be better off if we had never heard the word Microsoft.”

It is hard to deny that a deal would certainly bring more competition to Google. Users can only hope that such a battle will bring consistent improvement throughout the search realm.

Much has been made about Microsoft’s search engine Bing.com since its launch last month. Some experts see it as a credible search alternative to Google, while others see it as a passing trend. According to StatCounter, Bing’s use increased by 0.5 percent in June, while Google’s dropped by 0.24 percent. Bing has also gained a slight U.S. market share from Google.

While Bing’s market share has increased, Google’s position has not changed. It is hard to determine where Bing stands due to such a small sample size. In fact, Google’s use may actually be increasing.

Bing still has a long way to come in its challenge to Google, which already holds search toolbars in top Internet browsers and does not have any glaring weaknesses. Because both search engines have similar attributes, it will be difficult for Bing to take on such a titan.

Despite the challenge, Microsoft continues its push, illustrated by numerous national TV spots promoting Bing. Bing has added results from Twitter, which Google has yet to master. Bing has narrowed the search down so that only entries from well-known “Tweeters” come up, and the results will not appear when searching only the person’s name.

The continued competition among search engines and their constant push to improve is great for user experience. Microsoft has shown that it is serious about competing with Google, but Bing still faces a daunting, if not impossible task.

Microsoft has introduced Bing, a new search engine that replaces its predecessor Live Search. With Google taking up most of the search engine market, Microsoft hopes that added features and a new name will make Bing a prominent search tool. While most of Microsoft’s search services previously came from MSN users, the company hopes that Bing will draw interest from all over the web.

While most reviews give Google a slight edge in search result content, Bing has a few features that make it unique. Perhaps the most useful is a small passage of text that appears as users scroll over results. This saves a lot of time as there is no longer a need to visit an entire web page to see if it has relevant information regarding the search topic. Bing also offers a related searches tab and a more user-friendly video search results page.

The emergence of Bing could push for innovation throughout the search engine realm as competition increases. Some users will switch to Bing, but Google is expected to remain at the front and center of the search engine world, as most people will not want to tolerate learning a new format.

Microsoft’s launching of Bing has again brought up talk of a possible Microsoft/Yahoo! merger down the road. The two giants would hope to team up in an effort to pool resources and bait users away from Google.

Bing brings new features to the search engine field and it could steal a small percentage of Google users. However, Bing will have to prove itself over a long term basis.

In a turbulent economy, many companies suffer losses.В  Even Google and Microsoft have struggled in terms of earnings.В  Microsoft’s recent quarterly reports show job cuts and sub par earnings.В  Said CEO Steve Ballmer, “We are not immune to the effects of the economy.”В  Google didn’t fare much better.В  While it managed to beat analyst estimates, Google’s company earnings declined for the first time.

In terms of the search industry, however, the story is different. В Interestingly, though not surprisingly, Microsoft’s ad revenue last quarter was up seven percent.В  The revenue increase is due to the growth of search queries and impressions per user.В  Ballmer said that Microsoft would add “a few thousand jobs in areas like search where we continue to see incredible opportunity to do good work.”В  Backing up that statement, Microsoft is also still intent on acquiring Yahoo!’s search business.В  Though we have been down this path before, there have been some discussions between executives at each corporation.

The search industry is relatively insulated from a roiling economy.В  Search engine marketing benefits your business right now because the costs are lower in comparison to traditional marketing mediums such as TV, radio, or print.В  Have your business take advantage of this growing area as well.В  You can always request a free quote or feel free to call us with any questions.

It has been an interesting week or so in the search engine industry, especially for Google.В  After it pulled the plug on its proposed deal with Yahoo!, Google now faces an unexpected twist in the wireless cell phone search market.

In a previous blog about the wireless ubiquity of SEO, we noted that Verizon was in early discussions regarding a partnership that would feature Google’s search service on Verizon phones.В  However, on Wednesday reports leaked that instead Microsoft is offering a better deal to become Verizon’s default wireless search provider – reportedly twice as much as Google was offering.

While it is true that a deal with Microsoft would not preclude Verizon phone users from accessing Google’s search engine and only makes Microsoft’s search engine the default, the significance of Microsoft’s proposal should not be overlooked.В  The fact that Microsoft was willing to guarantee $550 to $650 million and double Google’s proposal, even during a financial crisis, shows how important they consider the mobile phone search engine industry.

Again, as search engines becoming increasingly accessible – literally in the palms of to millions of users across the globe – your business cannot afford to neglect SEO.