We often tell our audience that the top search engines are Google, Yahoo! and Bing, but let’s be honest: Most people only care about Google. Bing seems to have figured this out, and so the Microsoft-owned search engine has made its Bing Local display look suspiciously like the local search results display belonging to Google. Much like how a tribute band imitates a popular band in order to gain a following of people who may like said band, Bing is paying “tribute” to Google in order to gain its own following. What else is new about Bing’s new local search marketing display?
The local search results no longer consistently show a “pack” of businesses listings and map at the top of the page above the regular organic results. Instead, Bing now shows a mix of local results. The “pack” of listings is still there, but it may appear anywhere in the search results, not just at the top of the page. The map appears with the pack in this display.
Additionally, the “pack” may be replaced by “blended” listings, which are organic listings with local data blended in as part of the search snippet. The map appears in the upper right of this display, but floats as the user scrolls down the page.
It’s no secret that search engine optimizationchanges all the time, but those who are already loyal to Bing may be irritated with the change – just like many users are when Google changes anything. If Bing wants to be more like the #1 name in local search marketing, it will need to roll with the punches until public reaction dies down – just like Google does. Do you use Bing more than Google, and if so, what do you think of the changes to its local search marketing display?
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