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Christy Belden ON 7.21.2010

Bing Performing Search Changes Ahead of Search Alliance

The merger of Bing and Yahoo, dubbed currently as the Search Alliance, is slated to occur in Q4 of this year. In what we can only assume as preparation for the Search Alliance, Microsoft has made several changes to their search features:

Crawler: As of October 1, 2010, Bing will change the name of their crawler from msnbot to bingbot. Any robot.txt files targeting msnbot will still be accepted by the bingbot.

News: Understanding news is a large part of why users search the Internet, Bing has updated their news query intent and the indexation speed of news content. They have also enhanced the news search experience with regards to location and section areas in tabs at the top of the page.

Vertical Search: The strength of Bing is that it provides a great search resource for particular verticals. Bing has enhanced search offerings in health, travel, shopping, and finance.

Entertainment: Bing is making a large investment in the entertainment search vertical. Bing sees a large market in this vertical. They state 76% of users search for entertainment but only 10% are happy with what they find. Thus, Bing is boosting their search offerings in four key areas: Music, Gaming, Movies, and TV.

Over the next several months, Bing will likely make more changes to their decision engine. Stay tuned!

Christy Belden ON 7.6.2010

Taking the Google AdWords Exams

I just completed both the Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam and the Search Advertising Advanced Exam. I passed both parts of these renewal exams and have received my Individually Qualified certificate. The certification exam is more intense than the previous exam and definitely requires a good amount of preparation. Below are a couple of takeaways from the exam:

Study, Study, Study: I really cannot stress this point enough. I printed out all of the study materials provided by the Learning Center and read through each of them. However, it is more than just reading the text. It is studying and learning the material. The Learning Center also has other great resources to fit all learning styles.

Time: Take the time to study, prepare, and take the exam It needs to be a priority, especially if you perform SEM services. It took me every bit of the two hours for each exam. I studied around between 15 to 30 hours combined. The exam is a commitment and should be treated as such.

Study Material: Although the exam dedicates particular material to each area of exam (Advertising Fundamentals Exam has a section of text, Search Advertising Advance Exam has additional section of text, and so on), I would read through all four of the areas and then study the exam portions you will take. Repetition can only help you know the material. I wish everyone success on the exam and it is good to know I have gotten it out of the way-- until next year!