It seems that every search engine is having a cleanup. Recently Google has updated their algorithm by giving a boost up for some websites and a downfall for someother as per the quality of the content. Now Blekko is a going a step further by banning 1.1 million websites from its searches. They had already removed around 20 websites including eHow, Answerbag (Demand media), but the main difference between Google and Blekko in updating the algorithm is that while the former had sorted the websites based on the content by demoting the sites,  Blekko removed them completely, so that it will never ever appear in Blekko.

Blekko announced on their blog that they have brought out this change with the help of ‘Adspam algorithm”  and claim that this algorithm is the first of its kind to find spam rather than rank results. The algorithm is designed to identify pages which are spam and abolish before they appear in search results. They have given an explanation about “Adspam” algorithm in their blog. It says that “is a machine-learning algorithm that examines pages for a specific spam signals — the presence of multiple display ad positions on a single page and thin to zero content. Unlike algorithms used by other search engines, AdSpam is being used in conjunction with human curation to detect to continue the War on Spam.

Bing is coming out with some novel ideas and actions everyday to become a better rival for Google.  Their new partnership is with Rovio who introduced the much popular game ‘Angry Birds’.

With this deal, Angry Birds feature a search integration with Bing providing over a hundred clues to speed you through new levels and help squash the porcine thieves, Bing announced on their blog.”Featuring Bing Image Search, Bing Maps, and Bing Shopping, the videos show Angry Birds fans how they can advance in the game, featuring the lovable Angry Birds characters. The marketing team of Bing is trying to leverage as many as possible ways to boost up their search results as well as making it more interesting . While ‘Angry Birds’ is the most downloaded application via iPhone, Android, and iPad, this is the first product integration and Bing could surely expect some new users out of this since ‘Angry Birds’ remains the popular game having 25 million gamers spending 200 million minutes playing everyday.

Bing have partnered with The Dealmap, to launch Bing Deals. By launching this, Bing offers you an excellent way to navigate the web and get the best results instantly. The Dealmap is a leading source for people to find and share the best local deals, so Bing have just utilized this to provide outstanding results for its users.

You will see “deals” from m.bing.com (iPhone and Android)on the  homepage and once you proceed you could access top deals (30%-40% off) featuring the very best offers from your own area/location.

It is not just daily top deals; you could even find the ‘nearby’   places such as restaurants, spas, theaters etc and their special offers and could browse by category to narrow down your search and get accurate results.

Once you find your relevant deal, you could access/ claim from the deal provider or share it with friends via email. You could also see for a business opportunity, Bing will highlight any available bargains below the business listing.

You can also get deals at home on your desktop by searching  the name of the business on Bing. If there is a deal, they will display it with a green deal icon. You can avail more information like reviews, images, maps by proceeding with the detail page.

Google takes the effort to make you more appealing to the world. Yes they have made some changes on the “Google profile” which they have launched two years back making it easier to control and enhance your public profile. As the new update rolls out, existing users’ profile will get updated automatically to the new style. To update and add to your profile, click on the new “Edit Profile” button. Since the profile is created to give you an online presence, Google will ask you to provide the  exact name which you are commonly referred to the real world.

Though this feature is good for individuals, Google will start working for businesses to engage with their customers.

Google has expanded Mobile editing in 44 languages and more page sizes in Google documents. This was apart the one they have launched earlier which was only in English. With this feature in effect, you can edit your documents in 45 languages on Android with Froyo (version 2.2) and on iOS devices (version 3.0+) including the iPad.
Also they have increased the print sizes, now there are eight more print sizes in Google spreadsheets, including tabloid, statement, executive, folio and A3, A5, B4 and B5.

The main criteria what you see for shopping is your budget and when you find lots of things within your reach, you will surely be overwhelmed. And Bing helps you to meet your expectation and get your things quickly. For eg, If you want to get jeans under a particular price range then you could just type “Levis jeans under $ 100″ and Bing will do the rest, delivering you refined results. Bing says that they received help from Microsoft Research, to handle price queries to deliver automated results as per your budget. This feature is really helpful to get specific results without much searching.

Bing introduces a new feature “Autosuggest Flight Prices”. It will display the flight prices and the Price Predictor for key markets in the search box which helps you to get the cheapest airfares. This feature gives you a prediction on what you are searching for. For eg, With the Autosuggest Flight price natural language capabilities, you can simply type “Fly to Chicago” or “Chicago Flights” and Bing will immediately recognize where you are, and instantaneously display the Price Predictor based on your location. Also you don’t have to bother about entering the formal city name or airport, it could also comprehend short-forms and colloquial terms.This new feature provides you an option to decide on rather than searching.

After the partnership with Facebook, Bing introduced ‘Liked Results’ in their search results.

I could find some similarity to Google’s updated social search algorithm in which Google produces not only links but also ‘shared’ results of the friends in social circle, such as in Twitter (retweet), Blog, Flicker, YouTube etc (“Facebook Likes’ an exception). And here comes Bing with their new social search partnering with FB, they claim that, this is the first time in human history that people are leaving social traces that machines can read and learn from, and present enhanced online experiences based on the traces.” In other words, Bing produces search results considering the shared links in ones’ social circle too and especially “Facebook Likes”. If your friends had shared or liked something publicly, it will be shown in your search results (once you are logged in)

They have cited an example, It says that “If you are planning a trip to somewhere (For Eg, Washington and wants to find about the stay, a traditional search results shows a long list of weblinks and captions, which would take more time to see them individually to take a decision. But with Bings’ tie up with FB makes your search results more social, For Eg, If your friends who had been to that place and had “liked” that particular place or a hotel, then those results will top in your search which will make it easier  for you to refine your search and decide on where you should stay. And Bing says that you may not find “Liked Results” on every query but then if you find then it would be a good experience. They even added on their blog that they continue to work with Facebook to make search more social and relevant.