What Will Happen in the Search Engine Showdown?

What Will Happen in the Search Engine Showdown?

Something’s stirring in the world of search engine marketing. Small movements, sometimes undetected, are taking place. Significant changes will be the result.

The movements are those of competing search engines stepping into the dusty streets to challenge Google’s preeminence. The stirring is the sound of people waking up to the potential rewards implicit in this search engine showdown.

Things had to come to a head. Google has ruled the internet for what seems like eons, casting a long shadow from one end to the other. For a while, other search engines didn’t stand a chance. Google had the numbers (currently a 65% share). Google had the technology. Google had the sizzle and the steak. The competition had no choice but to get out of Dodge.

But the competition is back. And they’re taking on the leader. Because Google is showing some cracks.

Microsoft is one of those challengers. Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, currently holds a 20% share. But that number is destined to climb. The reason? Bing packs a much more powerful image and search functionality than Google – a decided advantage in a world increasingly drawn to visual content. Undoubtedly, more and more image-hungry shoppers will opt for Bing’s tastier content. Brand marketers targeting these shoppers necessarily will redirect resources to Microsoft’s search engine.

Google also is getting heat from a lesser-known rival – DuckDuckGo (DDG). It’s not a game; it’s a search engine. And this search engine patches a major leak that Google still can’t seem to cover – privacy. DDG’s gives privacy-conscious users a big edge, since it doesn’t save search data. Thus, there’s nothing in the vault for prying eyes to peek at. Given the growing concerns for internet privacy, DDG’s protective shield is pure gold.

These, however, aren’t Google’s only challengers. Search engines such as Yahoo and Quora are prowling the dusty streets, packing their own advantages. Is the town big enough for all of them? Maybe, maybe not. One thing’s for sure — fierce duels loom on the horizon. Marketers that bet their chips on the right one will be the big winners.

If you have any questions or comments about search engine marketing, or about any other brand-related topic, feel free to send them our way.