DIGITAS PERSPECTIVE

Search and Social Continue to Blend

Bing adds social column On May 10, 2012, Bing unveiled a new design for their Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), which includes a new, dedicated column for personalized social data, dubbed Sidebar. The new design is Microsofts next step in increasing the integration of social media platform information into Bing and will be available on both desktop and mobile browsers. Currently the social column will be providing data from Facebook only, but Microsoft has stated that they intend to add data from Twitter and other social databases. The new column will not affect ad placement in the SERPs but may provide new, enriched media that ties into ads. Microsoft is planning to experiment with new ad formats and models following adoption and use of the Sidebar. On May 15, Bings Sidebar launched to the public in the U.S. and you can access the new interface at www.bing.com/new What does Sidebar look like? The Sidebar will be displayed on the far right of Bings SERPs and is expected to appear as seen here:

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The new SERP display will be similar to this:

In order to view Sidebar content, users will need to have a Facebook account and be signed in. When logged in, users will have several features to view within the Sidebar, including: Ask Friends Users can post questions to get help from Facebook friends as they search. They can tag friends who Bing suggests might know about the topic. In a few simple clicks they can share their search and friends can reply to questions on either Facebook or Bing. Friends Who Might Know Bing suggests friends on Facebook who might know about the topic based on what they like, on their Facebook profile information, or on photos they have shared so searchers can easily ask them about relevant experiences and opinions and go quickly from searching to doing. People Who Know Beyond friends, Bing can help users find people who are influential about the topic theyre searching, based on what theyve publicly blogged or tweeted about. In a glance, users will see top experts and enthusiasts from leading networks like Twitter, Foursquare, Quora, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and Blogger to quickly check out what they have to say about the query. Users can follow experts, ask them questions, or see what they have shared in the past.

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Activity Feed From the activity feed in the Sidebar, users can see posts and queries they and their friends have chosen to share from Bing. Users can help answer friends questions or like something interesting they have shared. Because these activities show up in both Bing (activity feed) and Facebook, users can comment on them from either place.

Each feature will have a unique function in which users can view posts and activities from their friends and connected brands/pages from Facebook. Users will also have the ability to post their queries and extra information directly to Facebook for advice/input from friends. A low-detail video about the new Sidebar and its social features can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySwn_1o8zfs What are the implications for organic and paid search? The new Sidebar and advanced social integration are expected to increase user stickiness on Bing, meaning they will spend more time on SERPs viewing listings, conducting both organic and paid search, and interacting with the social features. We believe this will significantly impact click-through rates, either extremely increasing or decreasing, and will likely increase the number of branded searches. There is also likelihood that proximity between the paid listings and the Sidebar will increase interaction with paid listings because they will be closer to the high activity portion of the page. As social integration increases, it is expected that social data will be displayed in both organic and paid search listings to provide rich media listings. What does this mean for content developers and publishers? Content developers and publishers will be most likely to benefit from this social integration by increasing their social presence on Facebook and Twitter. By connecting with more users on these social networks through liked content and groups, they will appear in and influence more users searches in Bing. Currently, the opportunity exists only for Bing U.S. searchers, but it can affect Facebook accounts worldwide. What is the impact? Only time will tell. Remember that: 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know. 71% say reviews from family members or friends influence purchase decisions.

Questions to answer in the future: What percentage of searches were performed by a logged-in user? How long did searchers interact with the Sidebar? What Sidebar features are most used? What percentage of users who can ask a question to Facebook friends do? What types of queries have the highest Sidebar usage rates?

Contact For More Information Melanie Mitchell, SVP, Search Marketing, Digitas melanie.mitchell@digitas.com Evan Fishkin, Associate Director, SEO, Digitas evan.fishkin@digitas.com
May 2012