Put A Little Zing Into Your Bing!

Real Live Search API Is A Blast.

I must admit that I haven’t embraced Bing yet, the new search engine from Microsoft. Then again, I haven’t forgotten about it, making the occasional foray over there to see what is new or different. I’m still finding that some results served are off, including photos attributed to me that really aren’t mine. No matter, I was intrigued when I discovered that Long Zheng had developed an API (application programming interface) that puts Bing on steroids, one of the niftiest I’ve seen to date.

The Real Live Search

Dubbed, “The Real Live Search” by Zheng, this API delivers search results almost as fast as you can type them. For example, as I was typing in “New York Giants” the results quickly narrowed to the city and finally to the team. I should say “lastly” as there wasn’t anything slow about how the results were “finally” served – the moment I was done I received a list of links, several photographs and additional links to related searches including “New York Giants Logo” and “New York Giants schedule” among others.

Zheng must be some sort of wonder kid as I have at least two pairs of shoes that have been around longer than he has. At the ripe young age of 21, Zheng runs the istartedsomething.com website which is is where he demonstrates his technological prowess.

Born in mainland China, Zheng moved to Australia when he was nine and is currently majoring in Marketing Communications and Multimedia Systems Enterprise at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to his studies, Zheng works for a software development firm in Sydney and takes on other “obscure” projects with friends.

Up & Running Fast

In his blog post describing The Real Live Search, Zheng mentions that the tool took him just a few hours to build which also means that it could prove buggy. Moreover, with tech sites picking up the news about Zheng’s project, there is a good chance that the site will crash by the time that you look it over.

Me thinks that this kid has a bright future ahead of him. I’m checking out some of his other blog posts to see what he is discussing.

Bing Still Bouncing

Speaking of Bing, the new search engine’s share of the marketplace is now up to 8.9 percent, in the US market. Bing still trails Google who controls 64.7 percent of the market and Yahoo which has 19.3 percent of all searches, which means that if Bing and Yahoo were one right now, the Bing would control just over 28 percent of the search engine market.

Microsoft may want to consider hiring Zheng; his Bing API truly rocks!

See Also – Bing, Bong Yahoo Search Is Dead!

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Bing, Bong Yahoo Search Is Dead!

The on again, off again business relationship between Microsoft and Yahoo appears to be on again once more, perhaps finally heading to some sort of completion by early next year. No, unlike as had been proposed in the past, the two companies will not merge. Instead, Bing will become the search engine for Yahoo (as it is for Microsoft) while Yahoo Publisher Network ads will appear on search requests on its site while also retaining the right to sell ads on some Microsoft sites.

Microsoft Wins Big

BingMicrosoft clearly comes out ahead in this ten year business agreement as the technology company doesn’t have to fork over any cash to complete the deal as Yahoo once hoped would happen. Even though it has only been in operation for two months, Bing has received high marks as a search engine and is considered to be better than Yahoo Search which currently controls 20% of the US search market, well behind first place Google Search who has 65%. By replacing Yahoo Search, Bing will suddenly have 28% of the market, positioning itself to chip away at Google market share.

Since it got started, Bing has been grabbing market share from Yahoo, not Google. At the same time, Google’s share has been increasing at the expense of Yahoo, not Bing. Getting squeezed from both sides, Yahoo probably figured that Bing would one day eventually pass Yahoo Search so why not monetize the situation in exchange for getting out?

Surrender, Yahoo Search!

In exchange for surrendering to Microsoft, Yahoo will get to keep 88% of revenue generated from all ads that run alongside search requests on its website for the first five years of the deal. In addition, Yahoo will have the right to sell search ads on as yet to be determined Microsoft sites. If Microsoft is smart, they’ll turn over the ad space for the unpopular Windows Vista microsite to Yahoo, the worst operating system in the world! Just kidding.

Yahoo has been rocked by bad management decisions and an unfortunate economy, turning down a bid a few years back to sell itself to Microsoft for $47.5 billion. With a current value of $22 billion, Yahoo is struggling to find its place on the internet, steadily falling behind Google and struggling with its stock which is trading at just over $15 a share. You have to wonder if some Yahoo heads will roll over the deal too as Bing absorbs what was once the number two search engine.

Sources: TechCrunch, Microsoft, Yahoo

See Also — Bada BING, Bada Boom: Microsoft’s New Search Engine Emerges