Dear Bing!, we have a problem. Despite the fact that you were able to assimilate Yahoo! search (without having to buy the whole company), you are still falling behind your number one nemesis, Google.
Not only has Google come out with Instant Search, but now they are already rolling out their preview feature to the masses.
Instant Previews provides a graphic overview of a search result and highlights the most relevant sections, making finding the right page as quick and easy as flipping through a magazine. To use it, click once on the magnifying glass next to the title of any search result and a visual overview of the page will appear on the right. From there, hover your cursor over any other result to see a preview. (Official Google Blog)
Although Microsoft could simply hire a few extra engineers to create the same exact thing upon Bing!, it might be a better idea to acquire a startup by the name of Snap Shots instead.
Cracking The Relevancy Code
Despite making impressive gains in the search market (even before Yahoo! gave up in the search wars), Bing!’s search results are still inferior to Google’s.
While this has more to do with the latter’s experience (as Google has worked harder at perfecting search than everyone else combined), Bing! can’t afford to wait to get its game on in order to challenge the Mountain View giant for the golden search crown.
Since guessing link relevancy is still a tough business (as humans tend to be unpredictable), Microsoft could gain an edge by picking up Snap Shots (which is used by over a million websites) who provides visual web previews of links upon a blog.
Microsoft could use Snap Shot’s technology in order to help determine link relevancy (by analyizing which links are hovered upon and clicked), and feed that data back into Bing! in order to create a better search engine.
Receiving Love From Bloggers
It has been a long time since the software giant was the darling of the media world, with most of the tech press focusing heavily upon Apple, Facebook and Android.
While Bing!’s entrance did receive much fan fare, Microsoft could create even more positive will amongst the blogosphere by partnering with bloggers via Snap Shot’s link ads technology.
This would not only help put some extra cash in many bloggers pockets, but also give the company a unique way to compete against Google’s AdSense which seems to dominate the blogosphere.
Search Per Click?
Last but not least Microsoft would be able to sneak in a mini Bing! search bar within every pop up window that appears upon a blog or web master’s site.
This would not only help them compete against Google’s custom search upon blogs, but also improve their search queries as well (as it would be easier for users to search from a pop up link than to hunt down the search bar on the side bar).
Should Bing! Buy Snap Shots?
Unless the company prefers to have Google scoop up Snap Shots (which is always a possibility), Microsoft may want to consider acquiring the start up in order to incorporate its technology within the software giant’s search engine.
Although assimilating Snap Shots would not guarantee Bing!’s success (after all, Google needs to dominate the global market in order to survive), it would give the company an edge over its rival, as well as any other potential threats biting at Microsoft’s heals from below.
Originally posted on November 11, 2010 @ 2:52 pm