Do You Use Bing as a Verb?

Cedric Chambaz, a Marketing Manager at Microsoft, wrote an interesting post on the Microsoft Advertising Blog about the use of Bing as a verb, and more generally, whether it's a good idea or not for any brand to want to be used generically for its industry.

Remember when people started using Google as a verb? Google initially wasn't too thrilled with the idea, but they seem to have accepted it now. There's not much you can do to stop people from using the word that way.

Apparently there are people using "Bing" as a verb, although I haven't really heard this one thrown around in real life yet. Chambaz ponders whether or not this is a concept that should be embraced.

"On the one hand it is a great proof of consumer endorsement, but on the other hand there is a thin line between being a dominant brand and becoming a mere generic verb," says Chambaz. "Because ultimately marketers are keen on top of mind, as long as it translates into preference."

"What if suddenly customers were to describe the positive consumption of your competitor's product by using your brand," he adds. "You would be commoditized, and your brand would lose its value."

I think Bing has a long way to go before it has to worry about becoming the generic verb for searching. "Googling" has pretty well been ingrained in the minds of consumers (at least the ones who use the term at all. I prefer "searching" myself). Even if Bing manages to get close to Google's market share or (dare I say) even overtake it, are people suddenly going to start saying "Bing it" in place of "Google it?"

It's hard to say. Puffs is a major tissue brand, but they are still often referred to as "Kleenexes". You don't often hear, "Could you please hand me a Puff, so I can blow my nose?"

It could be different with search engines, as users clearly see that big brand name every time they perform a search. My gut is telling me that searching on Google will remain "Googling," and searching on Bing will remain "Binging" or simply "searching on Bing" for the majority of searchers. And frankly, I don't anticipate hearing "Bing" used as a verb too often in the foreseeable future, outside perhaps of search industry-related conversation.

Do you use Bing as a verb? Talk to ArisYulianta and Friends....

Online Video Has Boatloads Of People Watching

Thank you to Carol Bartz of Yahoo for the new ‘boatloads’ theme. What would we do without it? Back to the news. Of course, we know that lots of people watch online video and SearchEngineWatch tells of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project survey conducted in April of this year and the numbers behind the general statement about online video are pretty interesting. As with any research it’s good to know the source and the group studied so here’s the skinny on the research methodology

The report is based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans’ use of the Internet. The results are based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research International between March 26 to April 19, 2009, among a sample of 2,253 adults, 18 and older.

Now for some numbers:

• The number of people using video sharing sites has gone from 33% in 2006 to 62% in 2009
• 89 percent of internet users ages 18-29 now say they watch content on video sharing sites, and 36 percent do so on a typical day
• 46 percent of adult internet users are active on social networking sites, which makes the 62% number for video more impressive. How the research defines social networking sites of course impacts this because YouTube can be clumped in there quite readily.
• Evidence of some possible alternative definitions of social networking sites can be found by the statement that 11 percent use status updating sites like Twitter. Normally Twitter is part of social networking but to have it peeled off under the category of “status updating” site is kind of odd. What’s Facebook then a “What’s on your mind?” site vs. a social networking site?

As with any research we need to take it with a grain of salt. Online video consumption will need to be watched based on age more than any other measurement. The 30 and under (specifically 18-29 years old) set registers an 89% of Internet users having used a video sharing site and 36% doing so daily. My response is for these folks to maybe exercise their bodies as well as their eyes but that’s just me.

So what are your video habits? Do you have to see the latest stupid human trick on YouTube or else your day is not complete? Do you turn to video for product information regularly? While it’s interesting to know the total numbers what is more informative is the specific types of video consumed on these sites and how Internet marketers can take advantage of these habits. Talk to ArisYulianta and Friends... your deepest, darkest online video habits but please keep it in the realm of ‘family viewing’. No one really wants to know everything you watch online .

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