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Pros and Cons of The Three Major Search Engines

Written by Bridgette Donnelly on . Posted in Blog

We live in an era where information is seldom accessed by means other than online search. Speed, simplicity and accessibility have reinforced this global-phenomenon. The World Wide Web has vastly integrated multiple sources of information on virtually any topic, giving rise to various search engines.

Some of the more popular ‘web-crawlers’ includes Google with its lion-share of the market. Google is the largest search directory globally holding approximately 65% of the market. Some of the more significant competitors include Yahoo and Bing holding approximately 16% and 13%. Although there are very few comparative studies and there are often subjective viewpoints, with search technology continually evolving, it is worthwhile to explore the pro’s and con’s of these predominant search ‘machines’.

Bing

Microsoft’s Bing has been presented as a decision engine. As of 2010 Bing also powers Yahoo! Search and targets four information categories of search engines: shopping, local, travel, and health.

Pro’s of Bing 

  • Bing comes packed with search tools such as an Explorer Pane for refining searches, Quick Previews, and Sentiment Extraction for making sense of product reviews.
  • It is known for good add-ons, including travel and local results.
  • Generates comprehensive and relevant image searches with endless scrolling.
  • There are useful features such as the table of contents that shows up often in the upper left column.
  • It has an easily accessible search history with enhanced utility due to the silverlight-enhanced format.

Con’s of Bing

  • Although owned by Microsoft, it is relatively young having been unveiled in 2009.
  • Bing tends to lag in search engine optimisation and lead generation as it attracts less site visitors.
  • Technical search results are found to be weak compared to other search engines.
  • Bing buries the news search off the main page and one has to click further.
  • Some typical searches can be weak with less relevant results.
  • Bing and Bing related links like Bing Blog can be sluggish leading to a poor community experience. 

Yahoo

Yahoo! Search is a search engine owned by Yahoo! Inc. and is the second largest search directory on the web.

Yahoo Pro’s

  • Yahoo has done well to integrate search results with its rich network of content.
  • The new interface is useful for customisation, for instance connecting to other sites such as Gmail without leaving yahoo.
  • Some say that Yahoo’s arguably has the best capabilities for appropriate and targeted display advertising.
  • Yahoo has personals advertisements and jobsites on the main page or accessible from the main page. 

Yahoo Con’s

  • The downside of customization part is that not all sites will be integrated with the new interface and harmonisation takes time.
  • Additional customisation is sleek, but Yahoo performance has seemingly taken a hit as compared to other search engines.
  • Yahoo does not have a book search or desktop search feature.
  • Yahoo does not incorporate user generated videos like Google Video. 

Google

Ranked number one in market share Google is probably the most renowned search engine. They determined relevancy primarily on their PageRank algorithm.

Google Pro’s

  • Holds the all-round reputation for generating the most relevant results.
  • Continually evolves with improvements and updates to enhance quality of results.
  • Offers enhanced and unrivalled features such as Street Views; Google Maps.
  • In Search engine optimization, Google’s algorithm here is what most corporations contemplate when optimizing their websites.
  • Google SEO allows websites to attract more visitors, which can translate to greater revenue for the operators or site owners.
  • In relation to other search engines Google returns results very quickly, even on less common or misspelled keywords and with spelling suggestions too.

Google Con’s

Although very few comparative cons, even Google isn’t a perfect search engine.

  • Some searches still yield results with little relevance on top. For instance searching for reviews will more than likely produce more hits on marketing content or products.
  • Google search credibility is likely to be strongly influenced by trends in the SEO market which can make relevancy of results less ‘natural’. Of course one can argue that all engines can be impacted accordingly.

It must be remembered that there are a number of variables affecting search engines and that there is a definite subjective aspect to a comparative analysis of this nature. All in all though few would dispute that Google’s no. 1 rank is earned and deserved. Similarly, no one can dispute the wealth of experience and relevance of a pioneer such as the Microsoft backed Yahoo! Search and the relatively ‘new-kid on the block’ Bing. We live in a society of choices and ultimately these preferences are dictated by the unique needs and undertones of each and every individual.

Bridgette Donnelly

Bridgette Donnelly is co-owner of the internet marketing company MJ Media based in Durban. She is passionate about helping businesses achieve great results with internet marketing and enjoys being part of this ever-changing industry. Find Bridgette on: Google+

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Over the past 5 years, MJ Media have fine-tuned our online marketing platforms, improved our Google presence and increased our website visits and enquiries. The end result, leading to greater brand awareness and a growing business. It’s been an exciting journey!

Dale Horne, Symbiotix Group

Bridgette and Giselle have managed our Adwords account for over 12 months and have always provided excellent and efficient service with a flexible and proactive approach. We are very pleased at the results obtained so far and look forward to continuing our successful relationship with MJ Media. We would recommend MJ Media to any organisation seeking to outsource some or all its internet marketing requirements to a trustworthy and transparent supplier.

Rob Schofield, Director, RJ Retail Ltd, trading as WoodenToyShop.co.uk

MJ Media have been amazing since day one, they listen, they are patient and they give advice which is always the best, they are helping me grow my business. I have seen increased quote requests from our web site. MJ Media’s work on internet marketing has made a significant difference to my business. I appreciate the hard work that they put on our marketing and look forward to continuously working with them.

Gisela Oliveira, Mozambique Tourism

Vet Products Online has been operating effectively for 12 years, but this year I thought it was time to progress to the next step of online marketing and social networking. MJ Media was recommended to me to assist and manage Facebook and Google marketing. Bridgette and Giselle are two stars in their field, both professional and enthusiastic. Their support is reliable and their turn around time to requests, queries or project needs is speedy. We have certainly benefited positively from MJ Media input and I highly recommend them to other companies who have internet marketing requirements.

Anne Mullins, Owner, Vet Products Online, www.vetproductsonline.co.za

Bridgette and Giselle have been our online partners for about 4 years now. Flexible Workspace sells office space and related services in the B2B market and as the founder not only am I convinced that Online is the most effective channel for our offering but that MJ are the right service provider for us. Being a relatively small (but growing) business, we need to be nimble and they in turn need to be ready and geared to move with us – MJ gets this. Having access to the decision maker/driver of the business is also important to me – they have a personal touch that larger agencies are unable to replicate. Finally, and most importantly they produce results – from the time MJ took over our account they have increased our lead flow 5-fold. As a business owner this is all I’m interested in – lead generation and conversion – this is the real measure of Return on Investment and they have delivered in spades.

Brad Porter, Flexible Workspace