AOL, Google, Microsoft or Yahoo, which Search Engine/Portal do people choose?As we all may know three of the "Big 4" are suffering tremendously the squeeze of the current financial times, online trends and ultimately people's choice. AOL, MSN and Yahoo! are not longer the big guys there once were in online search and as online top destinations. With the arrival of Social Media networks like Facebook and Twitter, and the solid consistent growth over the years of Google; AOL, MSN and Yahoo! must reinvent themselves. There has been a lot of buzz for the last couple of years whether or not Yahoo! will sell to Microsoft or AOL to become what it was once the top online destination and really compete with Google, but with all the changes at Yahoo! taking place and their financial struggle, as well as AOL's--massive layoffs--and Microsoft new plans, this may no longer be an option.
Recently Microsoft re-launched its search engine with a new name: "Bing", to make it catchier and compete more directly with Google. Microsoft is certainly going through an identity crisis, as it was first called MSN, then Live.com and now it' s "Bing" for search--MSN is still their online portal. "Bing" launched a couple of weeks ago with a pretty big marketing campaign online and TV called: Search Overload, aiming to relieve that and provide with a new engine/tool to the user with qualitative results in a more organized and sleek way. This campaign seems to be working, as it has raised some eyebrows from Google and they have taking notice thus far.
According to Comscore, "Bing" has continued its market share over the last two weeks after it launched. Microsoft's search share hit 12.1 percent from 9.1 before "Bing" launched, giving Microsoft a BIG boost and putting it in second place, after Google and dethroning Yahoo! from it!
Pretty good gain and effort from Microsoft, but will it be enough?
I checked out "Bing" when it first launched and I think it's pretty good, much better than Live or MSN, so I used it for a day or so, but old habits are hard to overcome and I returned to my choice: Yahoo! and sometimes Google. There have been some hiccups over the last two weeks with "Bing" that include some down time and maintenance issues, which has cost them some additional traffic that they could have claimed had their system been optimized and ready for any issues like that.
Something that is worth noting on the marketing side of "Bing" is their Search Overload approach to their campaign, which is interesting, as several weeks prior Xerox came up with their own online marketing campaign with a humorous video that addresses and seeks to overcome Information Overload Syndrome today. Microsoft's series of Search Overload themed videos and approach is sort of an imitation/copy of Xerox humorous take on IOS, so wouldn't this be considered plagiarism on Microsoft's part--just food for thought?
Check them out and you tell me your thoughts...
XEROX - IOS
BING - SO
In any case, I think that "Bing" will be able to do the trick for Microsoft for now, until something bigger comes...until the day when Yahoo! decides to join forces with them to try to beat Google.
AOL on the other hand is the weakest of the "big 4" and with Time Warner's decision to legally and structurally separate from AOL, their future is grimmer! With massive layoffs, dropping traffic numbers and archaic and non-effective ways of going forward in the business, AOL must come up wit something BIG and unique to really become what it once was: one of the pioneers.
So, let's wait and see what happens with American Global Internet--formerly America Online.
On the Yahoo! front, I think that things are not as bad as AOL's, but not much better than or equal to Microsoft's positioning and place in the online space these days. With Carol Barz at the helm of the company since early 2009, Yahoo! seeks to become what once was: the true pioneer of the internet! But to be able to maintain that claim the fame and directly compete with Google and Microsoft, Yahoo! must deal with the many challenges it faces wisely. This financial recession is not helping them at all, so the company is going of a selling spree of properties and domains that they don't use or no longer work or are profitable to them. Some examples are: Yahoo! 360, the auctioning of domains like Candy.com, Toys.com and more recently Contests.com for a meager quarter of a million dollar, as Tech Crunch recently reported.
Additionally, Bartz is not focusing so much on Yahoo! search's capability and doesn't seem to care about "Bing's" threat or Google's for that matter. So, many people are not really using Yahoo! for search and as she has said: "we are more of an all around destination/portal that offers editorial content to the public with search capabilities", insinuating that search is not their focus, which is unfortunate because in able for Yahoo! to keep up and compete with the others it must be good and strong in all levels!Granted, I am a true/avid fan and follower of Yahoo! since day one and I will always be loyal to them, but sometimes I find myself using Google for things that require more in depth results and updated features like Google search and Google maps, so Yahoo! please do work on improving these and be cutting edge like Google manages to often be!
Nevertheless, Yahoo! manages to be a better rounded destination/portal for online users, offering: news, reviews, video, social networks, mobile, search, etc...While Google is more focused on search and video now with its acquisition from a few years ago of YouTube. And this is something Yahoo! can learn from acquiring new strategic online properties to become a bigger competitor...did anyone say Twitter, perhaps!
And Google, I don't think that there is much left to say, you are the WINNER, who takes it all! To be on top you have proven to be cutting edge, revolutionary, consistent, fresh, fast and so on; thus, your place as the number one in the online space in terms of traffic, popularity, choice, market share, etc. But, one thing Google, Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo! should always remember is that even though defection of fans is critical, true fans can also be loyal and stick with what they know and is familiar and those habits can be hard to change! Take me for instance, I will always be a Yahoo! fan until then end and until that happens I will not defect and fully convert to anyone else...I mean, I will try something and use it for a while or once in a while and go back and forth, but not fully commit to "Bing", Google or AOL!
So, after this dissection of the "big 4", what are your thoughts...who do you prefer and choose to be your search engine and online portal?
Please share your thoughts on this and what your liking is...
