This day in search marketing history: February 17

February 22, 2023 keywordana

Microsoft introduces the Bing Network, plus: Standard Shopping campaigns, Google Panda eats Demand Media, Google Social Search and more.

Microsoft introduces the Bing Network

In 2016, Microsoft announced the launch of the Bing Network, marking the end of the Yahoo Bing Network.

Bing Ads continued to serve ads on a sizable percentage of Yahoo’s search results.

The Bing Network was the result of a renegotiated search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo, which was originally a 10-year deal. The revised Yahoo-Bing search deal returned ad sales and account management back to each company: Bing handled Bing customers, Yahoo handled Yahoo customers.

Read all about it in Microsoft Introduces Advertisers To The Bing Network.

Also on this day

Google launches Google Business Profiles calls API

2022: Businesses could pull call history data from this API and into their CRM software.

Google dropping follow and welcome offers in local listings

2022: Google: “Soon, customers will no longer be able to follow businesses on Google Search or the Google Maps app.”

Google confirms Standard Shopping campaigns will remain available

2022: Performance Max was set to absorb Smart Shopping campaigns by summer.

Google vs. Edible Arrangements: Court rejects ‘theft’ claim

2022: Edible Arrangements was seeking damages from Google for selling its name via search ads. The court didn’t bite.

Amazon and Visa come to a truce over fee increases

2022: After months of feuding, Amazon would continue to accept Visa credit cards at its websites and stores.

Google’s search choice screen had virtually no effect on search market share, perhaps by design

2021: As an antitrust remedy, the choice screen had not only failed to make the search market a more competitive space, it may have even reinforced Google’s dominant position.

Google Ads offers more granular conversion actions for leads and sales

2020: This gave advertisers more options to track website actions through the customer journey.

Video: Chris Boggs on experience in the SEM industry

2020: This former U.S. Marine built a professional career in SEO and SEM while giving back to the community.

Google temporarily disables ‘not mobile-friendly’ label in search results due to bug

2017: Google had mislabeled pages as not mobile-friendly over the prior 24 hours.

Google brings back emojis in the search results snippets for relevant queries

2017: Google had removed emojis in June 2015 due to webmaster abuse.

Google iOS app gets new local search filters, more AMP support & Gboard access

2017: Local search filters like “Top Rated” and “Open Now” were added to the app.

Search in Pics: Google indoor clouds, Bing heart balloon & stroopwafels

2017: The latest images showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more.

DuckDuckGo Now Supports Instant Answers In French, German, Czech & Polish Languages

2015: DuckDuckGo said they could provide instant answers for around 9 million different queries and was supported in four languages.

Google Adds, Then Pulls, Advice Not To Block Ad Landing Pages From Its Crawler

2014: Google: “Sorry for the confusion there.”

Starbucks & The Economist Admit To Using Google+ For SEO More Than Social

2014: From the files of no kidding.

Bing: Don’t Be Held Hostage Over The Perfect Domain Name

2014: “… with a bit of creativity, you could find the perfect domain very cheaply.”

Madoogle SEO Game: Angry Birds As SEOs

2014: A game that swapped out the birds with SEO personalities and the pigs with black hats.

Google Panda Update Costs Demand Media $6.4 Million In 4th Quarter?

2012: Google’s Panda algorithm was mostly to blame for Demand Media’s $6.4 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Google Moves AdWords Help Forum To AdWords-Community.com

2012: Google relaunched its AdWords Help Forum on a new platform and gave it its own URL.

Cookiegate Another Privacy Black Eye For Google

2012: Google and other ad networks were discovered circumventing mobile Safari’s default “no third party cookies” settings.

Dilbert: Hiring A Weasel To Do SEO & Corrupt The Industry

2012: The cartoon tied people who do SEO as weasels and those who hire SEOs as an accomplice, someone who actively participates in the commission of a crime.

Search In Pics: Android Skiing, Fake Google Shops, Google Kippah & Lego Googlers

2012: The latest images showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.

Google’s Search Results Get More Social; Twitter As The New Facebook “Like”

2011: Google expanded Social Search results. Friends’ activity on Twitter, Flickr and elsewhere would soon be more visible in Google’s search results and have an impact on how pages ranked.

Official: More Are Seeing Google’s New Navigation Bar

2011: Google started rolling its new bar out widely.

Once Condemned Google Now Hailed By Publishers For “One Pass”

2011: Google was being embraced and celebrated for its new publisher-friendly platform after it had been derided and bashed by content publishers and newspapers.

Presidential Hopeful Rick Santorum Stymied By Search Problem

2011: When you searched for [Santorum], the first result was a blog created as part of a successful campaign to associate the senator’s name with anal sex.

Google Congratulates Watson On Twitter; IBM Says Thanks

2011: Among those watching IBM’s Watson win “Jeopardy” were folks at Google.

Redesigned Bing Bar Toolbar More Like A “Dashboard”

2011: The toolbar, which was graphically more pleasing to look at than a conventional toolbar, let users get lots of different types of information via drop-down windows.