In our blogosphere recap we examine four blog posts from last week that discussed Google’s new search, Bing passes Yahoo in search market share, the increase in SoLoMo, and Facebook is set to reach one billion users by August. Below are some of the highlights from these articles:
- Google’s search results are undergoing their most radical transformation ever, as a new “Search Plus Your World” format begins rolling out
- Bing now holds 15.1% of U.S. search share
- Consumers always want highly-personalized experiences increasing the use of SoLoMo by marketers
- Mobile is likely to be a key part of Facebook’s future growth, with smartphone and Internet-enabled devices providing more affordable internet access
Google’s Results Get More Personal With “Search Plus Your World”
Search Engine Land | Danny Sullivan | 1-10-12
Google’s search results are undergoing their most radical transformation ever, as a new “Search Plus Your World” format begins rolling out today. It finds both content that’s been shared with you privately along with matches from the public web, all mixed into a single set of listings. The change is live now, though not everyone will see it until it fully launches over the next few days. It’s only for those signed-in to Google.com and searching in English.
Key Takeaways:
- The new system will allow people to find privately shared content with friends and family as well as material from across the web through a single search.
- There are some privacy concerns, as private content may appear more publicly exposed than those sharing initially intended.
- The new format and features will also likely cause Google to come under renewed fire that it is leveraging its search engine to favor its own content and crowd out competitors.
Microsoft Passes Yahoo to Trail Google in Search
eWeek | Clint Boulton | 1-11-12
Microsoft’s Bing search engine in December surpassed partner and rival Yahoo in search, grabbing 15.1 percent U.S. share, according to comScore’s latest statistics. Yahoo can credit Bing and Google for taking its share, which slipped from 15.1 percent in November to 14.5 percent to finish 2011, a precipitous drop at a time when percentage points, and even tenths of percentage points, come at a premium versus Google. To put more muscle behind Bing, Microsoft in July 2009 struck a deal with Yahoo to power its partner’s search queries and ads on the back end. Along the way, Microsoft paid Yahoo 88 percent of the traffic acquisition fees from ads as its online business hemorrhaged cash.
Key Takeaways:
- Google saw its U.S. search share hike to 65.9 percent in December.
- Since the launch of Bing, Google has hovered between 64-66 percent of searches.
- ComScore counts only desktop searches in its metrics, leaving out international, video and mobile searches, which would make Google’s clout far more formidable at a time when Microsoft and Yahoo are struggling for relevancy in the nascent mobile market for search and ads.
SoLoMo Revolution Picks Up Where Hyperlocal Search Left Off
Mashable | Samantha Murphy | 1-12-12 
Hyperlocal search was a hot-button term a few years ago, but there’s a new phrase in town that takes its predecessor to a whole new social level: SoLoMo. The phrase “hyperlocal search” emerged when PC users searching for local information on engine sites such as Google were connected to the latest information, news and deals for that area. But now with rise of smartphones and tablets that integrate geo-location technology such as GPS to help users locate what’s around them, the term has evolved into what industry experts are calling Social Local Mobile Search (SoLoMo).
Key Takeaways:
- The geo-location technology on mobile devices is far superior to targeting IP addressed, especially since more people are adopting smartphones and tablets.
- Many companies are embracing SoLoMo though the use of apps.
- Consumers always want highly-personalized experiences — with companies, doctors, merchants and friends – so this type of marketing is a natural progression of demand and technology.
Fuelled by emerging markets, Facebook set to hit 1 billion users in August
The Next Web | Jon Russell | 1-12-12
Based on Facebook’s recent growth the social network is estimated to pass the significant milestone of one billion users in August. It’s been well documented that Facebook has seen a slow down in new sign-ups in Western markets, like the US, where it is coming close to saturation point amongst Internet users, but developing markets are picking up the slack and pushing it towards the landmark. More than half of Facebook’s 800 million users log-in each day. There are a couple of big moments coming up for Facebook in 2012, as we looked at earlier this month, and while details of its IPO are as yet unknown, we can set our clocks for August time, or roundabouts.
Key Takeaways:
- Developing countries such as India and Brazil have shown strong growth with India growing from 22 million users to 36 million and Brazil going from 13 million to 30 million in the last 9 months.
- Only 3% of India’s population on Facebook and 16% of Brazil’s (compared to 49% of America’s population or 47% of the UK’s population).
- Mobile is likely to be a key part of Facebook’s future growth, with smartphone and Internet-enabled devices providing more affordable internet access and a gateway to more Facebook users.
