E-commerce News

You may think the growing battle between Microsoft’s Bing.com and Google for web superiority is merely a matter of search dominance; that as an online retailer, you don’t need to pay much mind to these two giants battling it out.  However, such an assumption would be foolhardy, as both are beginning to cut into the success of comparison shopping engines across the web by offering their own comprehensive shopping portals.

And this is just the start.

Bing is on the verge of overtaking Yahoo as the no. 2 search engine behind Google, which is only a formality once Microsoft is done finalizing the particulars of its deal with Yahoo to run Bing as that site’s search engine.  The company then figures to invest serious money to challenge Google for the top spot, and e-commerce will likely be a very big part of Microsoft’s planning and strategy. Given that Google and Bing have been one-upping each other back and forth for the past year or so, and that both seem committed to continuing that trend as they expand their e-commerce platforms, their battle has consequences for both shoppers and retailers alike.

Bing made shopping results one of its cornerstones when it was launched in June and its product results mirror the layout of many shopping sites and comparison search engines already.  Bing also added a Cashback feature that has only added to its popularity as a shopping resource. Google, of course, countered in the fall with a number of retail innovations on its search results pages, most notably presenting product images from retailers feeding into its product search service. Google also expanded its product listings advertising program and introduced Sitelinks: an advertising system that lets retailers show multiple links for one CPC advertisement.

The result?  Traffic at both the Bing and Google shopping pages is starting to climb and more retailers are looking into how to incorporate both into their e-commerce efforts.  Even the smaller search engines are taking the cue from Bing and Google;  Ask.com, which trails both by large percentages in the search industry, offers up a Deals & Coupons section featuring product listings.

All of this begs the question, will search leaders like Bing and Google expand their shopping offerings to the point that they’ll put comparison search engines and shopping portals out of business?   And will merchants very quickly begin cutting back their feeds to CSEs in favor of the big boys?

For consumers, having more choices when it comes to online shopping is naturally a good thing, but for now, it seems that CSEs are still the best option for retailers.  As self-contained entities focusing squarely on product listings, CSE’s are able to provide to shoppers a broader selection of merchants and products and more resources than the general search engines.

For example, we did a search for “video cameras” on Sortprice.com, Google Products and Bing Shopping.  The results pages all look reasonably the same, with Sortprice offering the most, followed by Google and Bing.  The latter two offer some options for modifying your search.  But Sortprice gives you the most choices for whittling this list down even further, whether it be by retailer or price range, while also giving you the option to shop by color (a feature visibly absent from the other two).   It’s also a lot easier to find product reviews on a CSE, which many consumers cherish more than any other online shopping tool.

The CSEs are also more fluid.  Your search results page isn’t cluttered with ads like they are on Bing and Google, and in most cases, the product listings indicate clearly which merchant is advertising which product at each particular price so you know exactly who you may be buying from.  Finding the merchants for specific product listings on Google and Bing can be time consuming.

However, that could all change.  One clear advantage the search engines have as they enhance their shopping offerings is that they can shorten/tighten the link between web searching and shopping.  For example, they could create tools that let users make a direct purchase without leaving the page where the search results are listed, or similar applications that streamline the process.

Regardless, Bing and Google are giving both shoppers and merchants something to think about moving forward.  While they both have a long way to go to catch up to the services and tools offered by comparison search engines, their status as technological trendsetters coupled with their fierce rivalry will undoubtedly change the face of e-commerce in the near future.

Leave us a comment with your thoughts about shopping with Google, Bing and traditional comparison search engines below!