Words

Recently we’ve discovered a few more Bings out there – besides Microsoft’s. There are several similar, small design agencies across the country that share our name. And, upon the release of Microsoft’s search engine, some of them are changing their names.

We’re not.

Because, our “Bing” means more than just “eureka!” It’s part of our history.

Here’s some Bing trivia for your Thursday:

Our agency was established in 1979 by Bob Bingenheimer. At that time, the agency was known as Bingenheimer Design. Bob “retired” in 2000 and sold the agency to an employee, Nick Gaskins. As the new owner, Nick shortened the name to Bing.

For more information about Bing, visit our site.

Not to be overshadowed by the release of the decision engine, Bing, Google has added new functionality to its search engine. The search giant is describing this as “a new set of tools that allows you to slice and dice results in new ways.” Google is aiming to capture more understanding about its users.

Wonder Wheel

Google introduced “Wonder Wheel,” a graphical way to explore topics by clicking on related searches. Wonder Wheel gives you the ability to visually review your search results, similar to mind mapping. To try it out, do a search and find the “Show Options” link at the top of the search results page.

The other functionality introduced is Google Squared, a tool designed to chart research into columns and rows for those who are trying to track and organize information they get from the Web. Google Squared extracts data from Web pages and presents them in an online spreadsheet.

What makes this tool handy is that adding structure to the Web is one way to make sense of all that data. Check out this quick clip to see Google Squared in action.

You might be looking at the logo to the right and thinking, “Did Bing Design re-brand their logo again!?” No, we are happy with the way our logo turned out. But what you’re seeing is Microsoft’s identity for Bing, a new search engine.

To stay competitive with Google’s dominance in online searching, Microsoft has positioned Bing as a “Decision Engine”.

We have all heard when you need to look something up, to “google” it. In fact, google was added a few years ago to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as a verb. Interesting point #1: I wonder why it’s not included as a noun too – isn’t a google a one with a hundred zeros after it? Interesting point #2: I see that Microsoft is already trying to verb-ilize ‘bing’ also.

Microsoft’s marketing gurus hope that Bing will evoke the same feeling as the sound – the ringing of a bell that signals the eureka moment when a search leads to an answer. The name is meant to conjure “the sound of found” as Bing helps people solve complex tasks.

Bing (the other one) seems to be focusing on searches related to:

• Making a purchase decision
• Planning a trip
• Researching a health condition
• Finding a local business

A “cherries-to-cherries” comparison of that Bing and this Bing shows a few similarities:

• We help clients make marketing decisions that meet their needs and fit their budget.
• We assist you with team outings. Yellow Springs is great place for a trip.
• We provide communication audits that help determine the health of your marketing efforts.
• We can localize your message in the new sense of the word – through social media communities.

So there you have it. The skinny about the Bing that’s been around for years, and that new startup from Microsoft…

One thing that helps to unify a team of professionals at any business is maintaining a consistent level of understanding. When there are many subject matter experts throughout all levels of a business, it can often be difficult for every department to be keen to the terminology being used.

This is especially true of newer online media. There are often terms and technology that we float around, that many of our peers only partially understand, or don’t at all.

At Bing, we organize team building meetings to help cross-train each other in aspects of our work that can be a bit fuzzy. This past Friday, I gathered a group to discuss Web and Internet Marketing Terms. We looked at words and phrases we often use, and better defined them with real examples online.

We broke the meeting down into three parts:

1. User Experience
2. Internet Marketing
3. Search

For User Experience, we talked about a few popular topics such as:

• Above the Fold – CNN.com is a good example of how all significant content on the page is placed so that it is above the bottom of the browser.
• Content Management Systems (CMS) – WordPress sites are great for content creators to submit content without requiring technical knowledge of HTML.
• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) – CSS Zen Garden where you can see the same HTML change dramatically with CSS.
• Rich Media/Web 2.0 – as you can see on CBS’s website with episodes of CSI provides examples of Social Media; Usabillity; and Viral Marketing.

For Internet Marketing, we covered keywords related to Analytics – Conversion Rates; Cookies; Cost Per Click (CPC) – as with Google Ad Words; Cost Per Impression (CPM); Impressions; Mobile Marketing; Paid Listings; and Pay Per Click (PPC).

For Search, terms such as Algothrims – discussing the “Golden Triangle” that web analysts use to define user tendencies, Crawlers/Bots/Spiders, Ranking, Search Engine Markeing (SEM), and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Being better informed helps a company to be more versatile and aware of opportunities to help clients and business partners achieve greater success. Need a consultation? We’d like to hear from you!

I wrote a quick post on BINGenuity last month for Wright Brothers day. There I commented about how maybe nothing has had a bigger effect on bringing people together and closer than the Wright’s invention, other than the computer.  So what about that computer?  2008 was a huge tipping point for social media (SM) and it is really starting to deliver on SOME of the hype.  And one of those things is certainly this connectivity.  SM is allowing creating and fostering connections with more people and organizations on more levels than could have been imagined.  It could be debated how significant those connection are, but I and millions of others are connecting and rekindling many distant friendships that I am certain would have just faded away without SM tools like Linkedin, Facebook or Twitter.

I recently listened to a Science Friday podcast discussing the future of SM that featured Tim O’Reilly, the founder and the CEO of O’Reilly Media.  Tim is a true technology icon with very keen insights.  Below are a few nuggets from that discussion:

• Simple SM Definition – “Systems that get better the more people that use them.”
• Dunbar’s Number – theoretical limit to the number of people (proposed at about 150) with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person.
• Types of Social Media: Implicit and Explicit – Tim contends the affect of some SM are obvious and it is mistake to think that this is a recent phenomenon.  O’Reilly contends that there are the sites and the tools that are explicit such as the blog like you are reading now, or Twitter, or Flickr where the tools express their social features outwardly.  However, the social aspect of many tools has also made them better in a more implicit way.  For example Google, the search engine, has not appeared like a social media application.  But one of the things that made Google so effective was the accuracy and relevance of the search results. This was in large part due to ranking formula that Google used which was implicitly social.  The ranking of any site increased with the number of other relevant sites (a community) that linked to a site.
• Communication On Your Terms – Many SM tools, are very different than email and are more like a river. You can stand by the river when you want and just watch what floats by and stick your toe in only when you want. If you don’t participate in it for days or even weeks at a time, no big deal. But like the description of social media above, the more that you do the better the system gets and what floats by is more relevant.  This is very different from email, which is point to point, requires some personal connection, and often an expected response.  Flickr, the photo and sharing tool, is another example of this difference. I tend to use it solely for the utility of the tool – the convenience, sharing, bandwidth and back up of my images, instead of the community aspect of the images themselves. But from time to time, someone tags one of my images as a favorite and I get a little involved in the community aspect, but it is my choice.

So fasten your chin straps, 2009 has lots in store. There are many predictions driven by social media and web 2.0 (a term created by O’Reilly Media).  But I am certain that community is becoming the killer app and SM will truly become a core marketing approach.  And a final note to the entrepreneurs still looking to have us download and try their latest social media gadget this year, your pitch may no longer be “come try this, it’s new,” but instead, “come try this, it really is useful and it helps.”

Related Links

• Good map of social media landscape
• Why I Love Twitter – Excellent Tim O’Reilly post on O’Reilly Radar
• 2009 SM Predictions – 14 great minds on SM and a PDF
• Follow Tim on Twitter @timoreilly
• Follow Bing on Twitter @BiNGenuity