Google vs. Yahoo & MSN Live and the Power of Validation
 by: Tim Langmeier


If you have read the recent July Headlines you will see captions like-

* Microsoft Ambushes Google with Live Search Club, Search Share Surges
* Yahoo! squares up to Google in paid-search game

With the Big Three battling it out for the prize of % of market share one thing is not mentioned in this equation.

How much does it cost to create “Value to Market” and increase your Validation as a search engine returning quality results?

As with any industry with a high degree of growth, Search Engine visibility is still the master of profits for companies on the first page of Google. The difference in sales from Google rankings compared to Yahoo or MSN are not even comparable when you talk to medium companies who rely on Search Engines for their revenues.

I have really never met a company who said their business has been better influenced by Yahoo or MSN over Google.

Why does Google Dominate Search Revenues?

The answer is Validation.

val'i·da'tion
1. the act of validating; finding or testing the truth of something
2. the cognitive process of establishing a valid proof

No other search engine has the best validation for anyone looking for information, products or services. Yahoo and MSN have too many ads and pushed advertising for them to carry the same validation from searchers. MSN Live is late and I feel like I am in some gloomy little place whenever I go there. There are no companies I have talked with that claim Live is a savior yet. Yahoo has the best social environment but you won’t make money like you will with Google.

That is the single most powerful reason companies prefer Google 100 to none. Most companies measure success through revenues and that is the main difference here with Google. The SEO Agency has been providing Local Search to clients whose revenues come completely from Google and in situations where the Yahoo and Live traffic just don’t convert like Google traffic.

Yahoo dominates social activity naturally and their Yahoo store can be profitable but nowhere near the influence of Google for growing your online business and online brand exposure.

The numbers don’t even make sense, even if Yahoo and MSN had equal search traffic or greater market share of searches similar to Google's, roughly 60%, they would still be beat by a better conversion ratio from Google Searchers.

It comes back to Validation and the essence of the Google Search Engine focus. By design or chance they have created the single most influential tool used to connect business, services and ideas to people searching for them. I do see industry and Interest search being more open to competition but that is unknown in 2007.

Big search engines will have to match the Validation of Google to compete even with a closer market share of search users. What is the price of validation? Only time will tell.


About The Author
Tim Langmeier has worked for two of the top three SEO companies in the Search Marketing Industry and has gained a high level of experience formulating SEO campaigns as a Senior Search Strategist. Now the founder of The SEO Agency, a Digital Search Marketing Agency. If you would like more information on growing Digital Markets and the influence of Search then contact http://www.theseoagency.com [email protected]