Google and Wikipedia sitting in a tree..

K – I –  S S – I – N – G

 

So Google is now displaying a little drop down screen shot of the Wikipedia page associated with a website. The information is Universal and site wide, so this tab is included on deeper pages.

Why is this Interesting to me?

I find this very telling of how heavily google is now leaning towards entities in the search results.

SEO will never die, if it does refer to UnDead Guide to SEO

What is SEO? SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION.

How often does it die?

Who wants SEO to die? Google. Why? If we stop grabbing the free candy then maybe we will buy the search ads.

Pest Control Guy = Professional Killer

I have the solution. Trust me on this… I kill things for a living. I can help kill SEO. The problem is that most don’t understand the solution… If they want SEO to die then we need to kill the Search Engine.

Search Engine Optimization… So long as there is a search engine that ranks websites based on an algorithm then there will be those that optimize their sites to meet or beat the algorithm and rank their websites in search results.

Image of Google & Yahoo offices in Haifa. Both located in the same building (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bing + Yahoo = 1..2…Punch!

As many other marketers, watching the internet unfold and the movie reel movie rapidly into the future, the latest Bing and Yahoo merger has been one of this year’s highlights. From either side of the coin, this merger is intriguing. Google can take a short breath and breathe a gleeful sigh of victory, HA!… But wait this tag team just might knock some wind out of Google’s sail!

THE POWER OF BING/YAHOO ADVERTISING

Well… as many others would agree,  the results from advertising in Bing are good, just wish there was more! So results are good. But what I really look forward to from this new conglomerate is the customer service. Honestly, I have always been impressed with the level of customer service that Yahoo has provided me. And just yesterday my Yahoo account rep called to verify that my account was merging well with Bing.  And since I had him on the phone, I had to ask a him a few quick questions about where he was headed after the merger…

“I’m not going anywhere. In fact, I am really looking forward to how well Bing and Yahoo are going to work together. Bing is a software company. They do go things with software. Yahoo get’s to keep doing what we do well, working with customers. All premium accounts would be maintained by Yahoo. Yahoo employee’s will be the customer service side. ….It was important for us to maintain that relationship.”

I was honestly relieved and excited to hear this, Yahoo has been the most customer friendly search engine I have dealt with.

THE SEARCH RESULTS

I must say that Bing’s search results are impressive, so impressive that they seem to almost mirror Google’s search results.  The fact that Bing has cut out the cluttered MSN page and provided a search page is going over well.  The calming graphics are nice…. probably increases time on page… almost like slow music at a grocery store to keep you there just a little bit longer.  So I give the search results an A…. Minus the maps.

Local search seems to be the bane of the search engines and the marketers a like.  Both are experience this sudden growing pain together.  Bing will continue to maintain their local maps and local business listings, and Yahoo will continue to maintain their local maps and listings.  My yahoo rep did promise me that Yahoo was investing heavily in their local maps.  Yahoo is also introducing an applet in the search results for local areas.

“Well if you’d like some feedback on the local stuff, you know where to find me.”

Don’t mind me I am just a pest control guy that focuses on the little things all day long. =)

Not an April Fools Joke!

So take a second and look at this image….

Is it just me or is Yahoo missing something here???  This is not an April Fools Joke!  I really wish it were. If you didn’t catch what was so funny, here is the hightlighted version:

 

I see a very short term win and a huge long term loss on this one. 

Isn’t this like calling Bulwark pest control for exterminating services and then getting redirected to Porkin Bug Control? Sure Porkin might pay me for the advertising, but don’t I want the business?

Thanks for the laugh Yahoo!