Newsletter

Februrary, 2008

Microsoft/Yahoo! vs. Google : The Next Big Game

Dear Friends,

The Super Bowl might be over, but the players in the battle for online search supremacy are just getting started with a totally new game. As you may have read, Microsoft announced their intention to acquire Yahoo! Based on the offering price and other circumstances surrounding the deal, most experts consider it a done deal. The implications are significant for anybody with a Web site that they use for online identity/presence, but it is a game-changing move for anyone who actually counts on their Web site to drive Web-based business leads, inbound calls or e-commerce business.

What does this mean for you?

It means that now is the perfect TACTICAL time to get your Web site updated, optimized and balanced for both Yahoo and Google. The sooner this is completed, the more longevity your Web site will have in the newly merged Yahoo search portal. Here are a few things that Byte Technology can do to keep your business competitive and ahead of the game:

• Change keyword density profiles in order to balance Web sites for both search engines.
• Balance Web site code designed only for Google to meet the best design standards for Yahoo.
• Purchase Yahoo’s annual paid inclusion index option as an additional strategy.
• Invest in Yahoo’s pay-per-click campaign, which is a relatively inexpensive cost that will soon become a much larger part of a balanced online campaign.
• Modify existing geo-tagging techniques in content, meta work and online campaigns to drive local customers to your site whether they use either Yahoo or Google.
• Redesign your Web site to incorporate images, pictures and logos that can be picked up and read by new patented technology recently obtained by Google and Yahoo that will allow the search robots to read and reformat sites, optimizing your site for small handheld devices like cell phones.

Call us now at 831.656.9178 and have your site evaluated by the Byte Technology team. Frank Montero is a certified Google Advertising Professional and Yahoo Search-Marketing Ambassador, with over 12 years experience in Internet Marketing strategies.

Promotional Special

For the month of February 2008 only, the set-up fee for pay-per-click marketing campaigns will be waived (normally $495)!

Additional Information

The algorithms that define the search engine result pages (SERP) are totally different for MSN, Yahoo and Google. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo have server speed and capacity that surpasses Google. Besides the blinding speed this will give their searches, MSN and Yahoo will command nearly 40% of the market; closing the gap on Google, which has 50-52% of the US market.

In the last 4-5 years most professional Web site design companies have been creating sites that primarily place well on Google, which has been the smart thing to do - until now. To stay ahead of the game, a newer, more balanced approach will be necessary for natural (free) listing placement. While no one knows for sure what will happen, we believe both Microsoft/Yahoo and Google will adjust their indexing algorithm to enhance their differences to create competitive advantages for their customers. We believe that the sites that are indexed well on Yahoo in the next 3-6 months will have a competitive advantage in the new Microsoft/Yahoo system as soon as the integration is completed.