Jason Tabeling gives us a look at some early stats for the Bing Yahoo search alliance. He does it by revisiting a couple of predictions to see what the combined marketplace means to advertisers today. The metrics he analyzes include cost per click and click-through rates. Tabeling suggests marketers should understand the traffic and data, and make decisions that are best for their businesses according to metrics.

Principals from many Web sites seem to be complaining about fair treatment from Google, according to Frank Reed. Reed points to a Wall Street Journal article to make his point. The complaints come from big players, which he explains makes it all the more interesting. Stop whining, folks, Reed writes, using TripAdvisor as an example of how unfair Google appears to be.

A ridiculous rumor began after CEOs of Microsoft and Twitter had breakfast Friday morning. The buzz across the Internet analyzed the impact a merger of the two companies could have on the Web and the search industry. Options include acquisition, a search partnership deal, or some other joint venture, writes Frank Watson. Evidently, Microsoft was interested in integrating Twitter into the Xbox 360 dashboard.

Ron Jones provides tips on features in Google Webmaster Tools, a set of free tools designed to help diagnose problems with Web sites to improve visibility. Jones covers diagnosing problems, HTML suggestions, relevance and keywords, search queries, link strategies, and site performance.

Adam Audette asked, what if your company could experience between 5% and 10% incremental traffic and revenue by focusing on Bing? He suggests not ignoring the search engine when it comes to optimizing sites and pages. Yes, Google owns the majority share of searches on the Web, but many school-age kids prefer Bing(ing) a search rather than Google(ing) it. Those kids will one day grow up and make buying decisions for themselves.

Has the Bing and Yahoo search transition worked well for marketers? Assessing the impact, The Search Agency conducted a two-month analysis of several accounts from a variety of industries. Among the findings: Frank Lee tells us why impressions and clicks declined considerably, while cost per clicks have spiked since the integration. Also, conversion rates improved, while click-through rates were relatively flat.

David Hallerman tells us budgets for display advertising continue to catch up with paid search. This doesn't necessary mean companies will spend less on search, but it could suggest overall budgets continue to rise. In the U.S. paid search will reach $12.37 billion this year, compared with $8.88 billion for online display ads, according to Hallerman. Though search will still own the majority of the budget in 2014, Hallerman tells us by how much that gap will have closed.

Jen serves up some thoughts on how brands can best stand out in a very crowded Internet. Within Google Merchant Center, there are two features to help eCommerce sites promote their products using a data feed. She takes us through the steps of setting up an account, promoting products, and creating product extensions and product listing ads. Jen also provides a list of factors to keep in mind, such as making sure data feeds have keywords that match what consumers search on. That means merchants must know their customers.

How can you build a little linking love for articles on your site? "One thing you really should not do is specifically aim for the link," writes Bas van den Beld. "Your story is the most important part of the link here. You will never get mentioned if your post is useless. Write good stories and the links will follow, not the other way around."

Similar to "what if" statements in software code, PPC account managers use rules to help guide bidding decisions for paid search ads. Bradd Libby suggests putting the breaks on the rules on occasion. He details tools and rules that can help guide bids.