In SEO news, the numbers for the last twelve months show that the death grip Google has over directing search traffic is still a death grip, but a little looser than may would think. Bing has managed to chip away and help close the gap between the rivals by 5% over that time period and appears poised to come at least another 5% closer over the next 12 months. There are several key factors as to how this happened, but there are two main factors that are making the biggest difference.
One of the biggest things has been changes to Google itself. With the introduction of G+ World, a lot of faith was lost in the objectivity of the numbers Google uses to calculate rankings. So far as closing that gap goes, that appears to be the biggest factor. Bing rewards has also proved to be an effective hook to grab users long enough to get them used to the platform and then retain them. That is a draw that cannot be underestimated.
What Google should, and likely is aware of, is that Bing is moving ahead quickly with social networking indexes that Google simply cannot compete with in any way. With the backing of Facebook and twitter and already widespread use of hashtags, people are becoming more aware of the index and it is gaining use very quickly. Some analysts say another 5% off the gap may be a stretch, but far more say it is already a foregone conclusion.
