Bing and Yahoo! – Same Algorithm, Different Results

by Pete Dudchenko | September 8, 2010

Yahoo! and Bing are now driven by the same search algorithm for natural results. That means that when you search for a term on Bing, the results you see are the same as if you were to search on the term on Yahoo…right? Wrong.

There’s still a difference and I suspect that there may continue to be a difference moving forward. Right now the variance appears to affect positions on the first page, just below the fold. Ever since Bing introduced the concept of related searches, they have been showing only a subset of results for the term being searched. The rest of the first page is populated with results from related searches.

For example, check out the term “laptop” on Bing. From the image below, you can see that there are only five organic results from the term “laptop.” The rest of the page is populated with results from related searches like “laptop brands” and “laptop buying guide.”

Note: Some paid results have been removed

So who missed out appearing on the first page for a term as valuable as “laptop?” Anyone in position six through ten is not on the first page.

However, if you run the same search on Yahoo!, you get all ten results from the search term. As you can see in the image below, the entire result set is focused on the search term entered by the user. The algorithm driving results for the term “laptop” is the same now, but as you can see, the first page (the most important page) is not showing the same results.

Note: Some paid results have been removed

It’s important to point out that these related searches do not always appear on Bing, however if your SEO efforts are targeting popular, non-branded terms, you are most likely experiencing these results. So at the very least, do not expect the rankings on Yahoo! to suddenly be the same on Bing for all of your terms.

What if we explore this concept a little more? What exactly does it mean to have related searches on Bing? Certainly this is nothing that new, these results have been around for quite a while now but as Microsoft and Yahoo! begin to grab more market share through this integration, SEO Managers are beginning to ask more questions on what they need to consider for optimization efforts. Case in point, using the example above. One could argue that owning position three for the term “Laptop Brand” is much more important than owning position six for the term “laptop” even though “laptop” has a much higher search query volume (last I checked “laptop” had roughly 1100 times more search volume than “laptop brands”). This is simply due to the fact that position six no longer shows up on the front page and is replaced by positions one, two and three for this other term. When you begin to look at the competitiveness for these related searches, you begin to understand the trade-off efforts for making sure you appear on this page. If you can move into a high ranking position for a related search, you can potentially leapfrog over the competition and onto the front page. Even though Yahoo! and Bing are powered by the same algorithm, the results you see, and the conversions you track, can still vary greatly from these types of examples.

Actionable Insight #1: Yahoo! has repeatedly announced that even though their search results will be powered by Bing, they will still control the experience. This means that the information presented will still differ across the two search engines. As a result, there is still a need to track your position or exposure to search terms across both engines, especially if you are just below the fold for critical terms. You could be missing out on a front page opportunity.

Actionable Insight #2: When optimizing for Bing, consider if the term has related searches appearing. If it does, compare the query volumes and the competitiveness of these terms. Moving into a higher position for a related search term may actually bring you to the front page of your critical term faster than if you just optimize for the main term. Plus, as you become more reputable for the related search term, this will ultimately help improve your relevance to the critical term which can help better position your page to break above the fold.