Compete.com reports on Bing

Compete.com recently released it’s June data, and in the email announcement they designate an entire article to Bing. Reading my previous post, without basing my thoughts on any real numbers, I did have a feeling Bing was off to a great start in comparison with Live Search. Microsoft has managed to stir the pot, and Compete.com helps us gauge just how shaken the search industry is.

For starters, Bing managed to drive a 58% increase in traffic to Microsoft Search sites soon after it was announced. That’s quite a feat in itself, but as Compete points out, that’s not the most interesting part. The interesting news is that when looking at Google, Yahoo and AOL, it was Google’s search audience that was most likely to go check Bing out. This might indicate that Google searchers are more likely to consider other search options. Could this be a chink in Google’s armor? Looking at this Compete Graph, it very well may be…

Search engine shenanigans

Google’s in some heat because they don’t link to their privacy policy in a prominent way. Being the optimist that Ask.com is, they jump into the fray with a release saying, “As of today, Ask.com has added a direct link to our privacy policy via a ‘Privacy’ link prominently placed right on our homepage. It is only one of four non-search related weblinks on our homepage.”

If only I was an artist – I’d draw Ask.com attacking Google with a pea-shooter. But is it an attack, or just a company gaining some extra exposure through a simple, yet smart adjustment to their homepage? I vote the latter…

Microsoft gained it’s own headlines by announcing a partnership with YuMe and and acquisition of Navic. Navic is a TV advertising company and YuMe is the largest provider of online video ads. Will Microsoft’s effort in the world of video advertising sway Google? Regardless, it looks like Microsoft has some buying power now that the Yahoo! deal has lost steam.

Of course, Yahoo! and Google have their paid search placement scheme, a setup that will benefit both companies, which is commented on further on Google’s blog.

Speaking of Yahoo!, is anybody keeping a tally of how many major players have left the company recently?