White Knight

The most compelling recent news amongst the professional web design and online commerce/development audience pertains to the merger or adoption of technologies between Yahoo, and Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Essentially the 2nd and 3rd leading search engine platforms (#1 being Google) have combined not technologies, but audiences in hopes to gain more of the market share, and refine search engine specifications through user experience.

Google vs. The World

Google controls approximately 65%-75 % of the market share in the U.S. and even more on an international basis. This leaves the combined available share, now dominated by Yahoo/Microsoft, around 28%. Yahoo will adopt Bing’s search technology, but retain autonomy over their interface, thus providing the features that have cemented Yahoo’s audience, while implementing functions that have up started Microsoft’s’ foray into the search engine market. The move will have some influence on search users and advertisers, affecting their experiences and initiatives in different ways. However, the larger impact will be by affecting web developers and advertisers, as their options and audience capabilities have been instantly impacted.

For consumers, the merger will likely be beneficial. As this move creates a direct competition between Google and Yahoo/MS, the quality of search engine optimization and results will likely improve. Because the two engines are now explicitly comparable, stress on continual search efficiency will now be more key than ever. Additionally SEO ‘s and site owners will likely fall victim to a higher filtering standard, translating into better search results for users. Advertisers will also benefit from the merger as the dynamic condenses the overall traffic, and reduces the need for multiple ad placement.

The Real Impact

As the merge relates to not only audiences, but also the inclusion and abandonment of total search indexes, web developers are prone to experience the most major resulting effect. For instance, BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service) developers rely on the Yahoo search index, with it being replaced, many developers will have to seek for a new index and application programming interface in order to continue their aspirations. According to Vanessa Fox, an organic search expert and web columnist, this transition will prove to be complicated. She explains that “If BOSS’s future is left up to Microsoft, I have no doubt that future will involve migrating BOSS users to the Bing search API (application programming interface}. In order to continue to support BOSS, Microsoft would have to completely recreate it to work with the Bing search infrastructure.”

BOSS developers could potentially turn to Google’s Custom Search API.  However, this interface is viewed as more limiting than Microsoft’s rendition. Also Google’s API doesn’t serve to be a conducive basis for web programming. Many other companies, such as CommonCrawl and Alexa, provide web indices as well. Therefore this merge may open the door to a new leader regarding the self-development industry, as BOSS will most likely become defunct.

What the future of search engines holds

While analysis and predictions regarding the effect on various aspects of custom web design and development may prove to be useful, the major concern elicited by this monumental deal relates simply to web traffic. Will this move really change which search engine users decide to work with? Prior to the merge, site owners referred to Yahoo and Google’s indexes chiefly as the barometer for success based on ratings and traffic. Now, a portion of that audience has immediately transferred to Bing, meaning that a major player has been removed, and a new more multifaceted variable has now been introduced. Time will tell how much of a factor the merge will play out to be. However, one piece of knowledge that both the companies and developers share is the fact that Microsoft has now multiplied its force in yet another area of consumer based technology.