In a cheeky nod to the 1980s, Bing has initiated its very only Pepsi Challenge-esque blind taste test – Bing it On.

Bing it On prompts users to enter search terms in an elegantly designed page and asks users to choose which SERPs they like the best in five rounds.

The results may be completely antidotal, but Bing doesn’t think so. Bing says that users are choosing their results over Google’s two-to-one. That’s a powerful claim, but not one that can be independently verified.

What this does prove, if anything, is that Bing has upped its game. Its SERPs are no longer as visual as they once were. Instead, they’re giving people more of what they want – information – with an algorithm that seems to put variety first, and influence second.

What this means for marketers is that, more and more, search is segmented. While Google is still the leader, Bing is making an effort to bring more eyeballs its way – an effort that, if these search stats are any indication, will probably pay off over time.

It’s also a good reminder that, while those of us in the tech world may be Google-centric, the rest of the world may not be. And if you still want to be relevant to the rest of the world, it’s time to start taking Bing seriously.

In a divisive battle between Google and Bing, the two search giants have both made incredible strides in search quality over the past few years. Although Google has held a vast majority of the market share for quite some time, Bing is determined to change search engine user perspectives and garner a bigger piece of the pie. This competition is becoming exceedingly beneficial to business owners with a strong web presence. As the search landscape grows, it is of the utmost importance not to commit your attention to Google alone.

Bing has become so incredibly confident in the quality of their search engine that they have even launched an online challenge with Google. This challenge titled Bing It On was introduced by Bing on September 6th and gives users the ability to perform a search while obtaining results by both Google and Bing in a side by side comparison. Many people might remember a similar test called the Pepsi challenge. Most elements which could identify the search engines has been stripped and allows for a truly blind comparison. After each search the user is asked to choose which results page was more helpful. After 5 searches the users is informed of which search engine they preferred or if there was a draw.

Although this challenge will certainly not give Bing a major boost in search engine market share overnight, it may greatly help their reputation. There is no doubt that Bing is more of a major player than ever. Microsoft’s director of Bing Stefan Weitz was even quoted as saying “if you strip the brands off and show people the results side by side we knew we’d win.”
The table below shows the most recent search share results from comScore. Although Bing is clearly lagging behind Google, they are making strides to catch up.

This will be a long and arduous fight for search engine dominance, but users and business owners can benefit greatly in the meantime. The increase in search quality by both engines will highlight companies that adhere to strict SEO best practices standards and grow their web foot print. If you publish unique and quality content, maintain a search engine friendly site, and abide by SEO best practices then a Bing resurgence can be a great traffic driver for your website.

Google announced a new algorithm update on January 19 that it will start applying to search results. Simply called, the “page layout algorithm,” it’s having only a small impact so far (less than 1% of searches, according to Google). Still, the new update is causing a bit of buzz and confusion.

The page layout algorithm looks at websites and examines their ad content. Sites that have too many ads above the fold receive a penalization in Google’s search results. The philosophy behind the update is that pages with top heavy ads obscure the content of a webpage – negatively impacting user experience.

In a few ways, the page layout algorithm is similar to the Panda update. Like Panda, the page layout algorithm is more like a ranking factor, in that once you are penalized by the page layout algorithm, you will have to wait until Google decides to run the algorithm again to have your site reconsidered – the penalty will not disappear right away.

Because the penalty applies to the entire website, not just the particular ad-heavy page, many webmasters are nervous. However, there are reasons why this new update is only affecting less than 1% of search results. For starters, pop-ups, pop-unders and overlay ads are not counted by the page layout algorithm. In addition, Google recognizes that the top of the page is valuable space for advertisers and is important for the revenue of many sites. You can still place ads above the fold without being penalized. Google is only looking to punish websites who take their ad placement to excessive levels.

As such, there is a good chance this update will not affect you. Just be sure to layout ads on your web pages in a responsible manner that keeps the user experience in mind.