Not Worried About Bing. Really.

...that can afford to ignore nearly one third of all customers.

So, search marketers wont be able to ignore Bing, but Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) might be able to do so. Why do I say that? Because Google has its eyes on bigger ideas than a new search competitor -- because it already has the search game won.

Lets look at the ways that Bing, or any new search engine, can go after Google:

• Better data. If Bing can get more content indexed than Google, it can deliver better search results. This was the big game a few years ago, when each search engine pumped up the numbers of documents stored in its search index, trumpeting the numbers for all to see. Bing is making attempts in this arena. It signed a deal with Twitter to get access to all tweets, only to see Google sign a similar deal just days later. Now it is negotiating with Rupert Murdoch to pay for exclusive search access to his content, in a deal some wags are calling "paid exclusion."

Could it work? Possibly, but its hard to bet against Google on this one. Its difficult to see how Microsofts access could become so much better that it materially affects search results. If Google is missing a Wall Street Journal story, you can always read another news story. A whole set of premium content providers would need to defect to make any difference here, and even then, all commerce searches would be unaffected.

• Better relevance. This seems like the winning play, right? Wrong. In several blind tests over the years, Google has lost the relevance game to search engines like Ask.com and Yahoo, so even if Bing produces more relevant results, will anyone notice? Probably not. Bing needs a stunning breakthrough -- they just signed a deal with Wolfram Alpha to try to get one. But Google has "Google Squared," which might turn out to be even better.

When you look at how much investment Google can make in improving its search engine, can you realistically bet on anyone else coming up with a breakthrough so extraordinary that it becomes the obvious choice over Google for searchers -- one that is as plain as the nose on your face?

It says here that its not going to happen. Bing wont unseat Google by building a better search engine, and neither will anyone else. Google has this game won, because its awfully hard to get someone to switch just because you do more of whatever they are already satisfied with.

So, if Google isnt thinking much about Bing, what is Google working on? Personalization, where Google will have more data about you then anyone else; and mobile, where it is changing the game with an open platform, with free turn-by-turn directions in Google Maps, and possibly with its own ad-supported VOIP phone.

Can Bing compete with these initiatives? Not likely.

What is Google worried about? Not a better search engine, but a better advertising solution. They stay awake wondering if Facebook or Twitter will learn to monetize: Could people start asking their friends questions instead of searching? Could mobile phone carriers control the ads on their phones? Could a handset maker (Apple or Nokia)?

So, if youre a search marketer, watch the news and see if the Yahoo-Bing deal is approved by U.S. and European regulators. If it is, youll want to pay close attention to your Bing search results and buy into Bings paid search ads. But youll do it because 30 percent of any market is important, not because Bing is about to upend Google. Its not.

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Tag: Google, Bing

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