However, a recent ranking check of Bing has revealed that Cashback Shopper has 15 page 1 positions, 5 on page 2 & 5 on page 3, for some of the most popular search terms relating to cashback shopping. This is how the site used to feature in Google, so I hope these positions aren’t just temporary until Bing picks up a market share of searchers.

It’s very frustrating that Cashback Shopper is in no4 spot for “cashback shopping” and “cashback uk” in Bing, but neither phrase is anywhere in Google! I guess I just have to keep trying to find more Google worthy links for the site

Obviously the other two engines are Yahoo and Bing and whilst Yahoo is seemingly declining fast, Bing is actually gaining a market share. Furthermore, if the deal between Microsoft and Yahoo goes through, Bing search will be talking over Yahoo anyway. With the muscle of Microsoft behind Bing, you can be sure the search engine won’t be prepared to play second fiddle to Google for long!

However, unlike Google, we don’t hear much about what Bing wants out of a site for decent rankings, but Rick DeJarnette of Bing Webmaster Center has shared some dos and don’ts of link-building for Bing. Not surprisingly, a lot of his advice for complying with Bing’s policies, does not differ too much from the advice that Google would give you. It is however, still always nice to hear what they think, just to clear up any possible confusion.

Like Google, Bing places great emphasis on quality links to determine its rankings. “Just don’t make the mistake of believing it will result in instant gratification. Successful link building efforts require a long-term commitment, not an overnight or turnkey solution,” says DeJarnette. “You need to continually invest in link building efforts with creativity and time.”

What You Should Do!

DeJarnette shared some tips for getting more quality links. The following are Bing’s tips for effective link building (paraphrased):

What You Should Not Do!

DeJarnette shared a list of things that you should avoid in your link building efforts, if it is a good Bing ranking that you are after. Here is what Bing says will get your site reviewed more closely by staff:

“When probable manipulation is detected, a spam rank factor is applied to a site, depending upon the type and severity of the infraction,” says DeJarnette. “If the spam rating is high, a site can be penalised with a lowered rank. If the violations are egregious, a site can be temporarily or even permanently purged from the index.”

Most of the stuff DeJarnette shared is nothing any experienced search marketer is not already aware of, but it can be quite helpful when a search engine itself lays out what to do and not to do, to help webmasters get better rankings.

Why not use one of our link building or Bing Ranking Boost packages to get guaranteed links for your site.

Microsoft’s Bing search engine will power the Yahoo website and Yahoo will in turn become the advertising sales team for Microsoft’s online offering.

Yahoo has been struggling to make profits in recent years, but last year it rebuffed several takeover bids from Microsoft in an attempt to go it alone.

Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer said the 10-year deal would provide Microsoft’s Bing search engine with the necessary scale to compete.

“Through this agreement with Yahoo, we will create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company,” said Mr Ballmer.

“Microsoft and Yahoo know there’s so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search,” he added.

In return for ceding control of its search engine, Yahoo will get to keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales on its site for the first five years of the deal, and have the right to sell adverts on some Microsoft sites.

‘New era’

Yahoo said the deal would benefit Yahoo’s users and advertisers.

“This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of internet innovation and development,” said Ms Bartz.

“Only a Yahoo outsider like Ms Bartz could do such a deal,” said Tim Weber, business editor of the BBC News website.

“She has no sentimental attachment to what was once the core of Yahoo, its search business. Microsoft was helped by the fact that at long last it managed to develop a search engine – Bing – that is a credible alternative to search giant Google.”

Technology analyst Rob Enderle said: “This move makes up for a lot of the stupid mistakes made by the preceding [Yahoo] administration”.

The tie-up will give Microsoft and Yahoo a combined market share in the US search ad market of about 30% with Google still the dominant force with a share of about 65%. In the UK, the Google share is even higher (around 85%).

The deal ends years of back-and-forth negotiations between the two companies.

Recent statistics show that a considerable number of users HAVE started to use Bing, with Statcounter reporting that Bing has overtaken Yahoo! as the number two search engine in the U.S! But do the users stay there & what are the results like? Could they be better (i.e. more relevant) than Googles?!

Most people will quickly dismiss the idea because Google has almost been seen as the only search engine for such a long time. But, if you were subject to a blind test, an unbranded comparison between Bing, Google and Yahoo! – would Google still come out on top?

There’s a great new tool that’s available to test this for yourself: http://blindsearch.fejus.com

Type in a search query, hit search then vote for the column which you believe best matches your query. With each search you’ll be presented with 3 unbranded columns of search results and you simply pick which one you think is most relevant to your search term. The columns are randomised with every query.

The goal of this site is simple, to see what happens when you remove the branding from search engines & how you’ll perceive the results without knowing where they came from!

After you choose, you’ll then be told which search engine provided the results. Try it with a number of searches, keep score & see which search engine came out on top! You may be surprised!

I’ve tried a few searches myself & have to say that Google provided the WORST results each time!!!! Out of the usual 10 results, they had more irrelevant entries…..for example, online mature dating sites actually produced an adult dating website & dating website review sites amongst the top 10, rather than online mature dating sites which, after all, was what I was searching for! Yahoo actually returned the best results in my test searches, but it will be interesting to know what results other people get!