This document summarizes a presentation about Microsoft's Bing search engine. It discusses Bing's launch and marketing campaign. Initial impact data shows strong growth in search queries and market share gained mostly from Yahoo and Ask.com. However, different sources disagree on exactly how much market share Bing has achieved relative to Google. The presentation also describes Bing's new "Decision Engine" features and changes to the search engine results page layout. It addresses how these changes might impact search engine optimization strategies. Finally, it provides an overview of Bing's paid search platform and recommendations for how clients should view Bing relative to the dominance of Google.

1. Brown Bag or: How I learned to stopworrying and love the Bing Presented By: Kate van Ravenhorst Christie Wang Tony Emerson July 15, 2009

2. Agenda Background Launch Impact "Decision Engine" - new features Bing & SEO Bing’s algorithm Bing’sSERP Bing & PPC Future of Bing & Client Takeaways

3. Launch Evolution MSN Search- Fall of 1998 Windows Live Search- March 2006 Live- March 2007 Bing- June 3, 2009 Marketing $80M to $100M in ad dollars Online, TV, Print and Radio Doesn't mention Yahoo & Google by name Focuses on "search overload" and why to switch

4. Impact Bing gains in market share... Number of Search Queries: 25% average weekly growth rate (Hitwise) Click Share: 5% increase since launch, mostly in Finance and Travel categories (Hitwise) Market Share:Bing’s gain is mainly from Yahoo and Ask.com, not Google (Compete)

5. Impact ...but sources disagree as to how much Previous Current Previous Current Previous Current Source Google Yahoo Bing Projection 78.72% 78.48% 10.99% 11.04% 7.81% 8.50% Bing will surpass Yahoo StatCounter/Fox News StatCounter/iTWire 89.81% 89.69% 5.10% 4.86% 3.08% 3.50% Google isn't worried Compete/TheWest.com 74.00% 16.00% 6.50% HitWise/The Domain 69% 74% 20% 16% 3.40% 6.63% Microsoft/Yahoo deal Samplers, not switchers: Only 4 in 10 Bing users turned to the search engine more than 5 times in the last month Microsoft research: 55% of people use more than 1 engine per week, and 60% of people are open to making the switch to another engine. Verizon partnership: five-year deal with Verizon Wireless to support subscribers with the preloaded default search engine on mobile phones.

6. "Decision Engine" More than just a pretty background Four main compartments at launch Shopping (launched with more Cashback offers) Local (aggregates reviews) Travel (very strong, but too much like Kayak?) Health (note very few paid ads for health-related searches) Redesigned SERP - New features Explore Pane Quick Tabs Search History WebGroups Document Preview

7. "Decision Engine" Related searches: more prominent TrackableWhen a user clicks on a “Related Search” in Bing after their initial search, a unique parameter is appended to the URL. This allows sites to track these visits.More usage Over 3% of referred users on Bing came from related searches, compared to less than 1% on Google (iCrossing).

8. "Decision Engine" Instant Answers: greatly expanded Area codes Conversions Dictionary Encyclopedia Finance Flight details Flight status Health Holidays Hotels Local listings Math Movies Music News Shopping Sports Track a package Weather

9. Bing & SEO How will the new algoaffect optimization? Probable Algorithm Differences Domain Age (SEOWizz.net) Importance of Body Copy (Bing for Webmasters whitepaper) Keywords in URLs (Them.pro) Commonly Cited Algorithm Differences Outbound Links Title Tags Linked Pages' Title Tags

10. Bing & SEO How will the new SERPdesign affect optimization? Document Preview Now it's SEO's job to ensure that Bing is properlydisplaying the right text in the preview. Webgroups Only five results for broad keywords. Quick Tabs & Related Searches SEO should take note of the Quick Tabs and relatedsearches that appear for clients' keywords. Best Match A secondary SEO goal could be tobecome a Bing Best match, likeCavendar’s.

11. Bing & PPC More discerning algorithm Users who are more likely to click see more ads, while users who are less likely to click see fewer ads. “Categorizing results according to best match and not popularity” “Advertisers most likely will not be able to verify that their own ads are showing on Bing, due to their usage patterns or history.” MSN suggests we ask them to do this for using their internal tools to “help you locate your ad and confirm it is appearing on Bing and showing to quality users.” If you can’t see your client’s ad, it does not mean your ad is not serving! BOO ☹

12. Bing & PPC Apogee's clients' performance Taking into consideration Bing’s more discerning algorithm… Impressions are down considerably CTR is up slightly CPC has remained steady or slightly lower

13. The Future of Bing No toolbar? Both Windows Live Toolbar and MSN Toolbarwill be powered by Bing and aim to offer users a convenient way to access Bing search results. With the launch of Bing, MSN Toolbar 4.0 will be released with inclusion of new Bing-related features such as Bing Cashback offer alerts. Changes to features and/or algorithm? MSN employees have hinted at big changes coming in the next few weeks, making mention both directly to Apogee PPC and on the Bing Community forums.

14. Takeaway Things to tell clients Too soon to tell muchAs of now, it’s more of an upgrade from MSN (not quite a revolution). Changes are likely to come soon and we’re watching closely. Google still dominates Has and will, for the foreseeable future, have the vast majority of market share. SEO best practices remain the same Services like Best Match, Instant Answers, and Quick Tabs gives sites a few more spaces to reach (not just Top 3). Mixed PPC resultsBecause ads won’t show until a user’s search pattern is established. From Apogee’s IP address, we hardly see any.

15. Next Apogee University August 19, 2009