For the Love of Bing - Microsoft Might Be Onto Something

Written by Harmonie • Filed Under Search Engines  • June 2, 2009

Bing

On Sunday, while compiling search engine rankings, I noticed that when I went to Live.com (formerly MSN’s search engine), the URL forward me to Bing. Bing (formerly Microsoft Kumo) was announced last week at the Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital Conference.

How timely this article is since the last post ended with another Microsoft let down.

Don’t Leave Yet - Microsoft Might Be Onto Something

Right off the bat, I liked the speed, the relevancy and the ease of use. I also like some following features:

1.) Best Match - Provides useful links and information for definitive sites. Try typing in UPS (or click the link). It provides all of the information I could be looking for without having to enter the site! The customer service phone number and a tracking form.

2.) Deep Links - Deep Links enable users to see inside the site without having to click into it and learn a new site structure.

3.) Quick Preview - Summarizes a Web site at a glance, before the searcher clicks through to the site. Bing takes the captions you see beneath a search result a step further. Hovering over a search result gives you a better sense of whether a site contains the information you’re looking for without taking up valuable real estate on the search page.

4.) Instant Answers - A quick search for “weather” returns the local weather which is Traverse City, Michigan. I have been unimpressed with Google lately returning Madison, WI local information as I am in Northern Michigan.

4.) Virtual Earth - Virtual Earth is strikingly similar to Google Earth. Microsoft’s Virtual Earth seemed very smooth though with options to drop a pin on any location on Earth.

Competition is Good, but is Bing Good Enough?

Bing will definitely challenge Google to be thinking about their long term strategy here, that is what we all want. We want Google to get better and the only way that can happen is if they have to.

What about you? Have you tried Bing?

Feel free to post your feedback about the new search (decision) engine.

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Comments

4 Responses to “For the Love of Bing - Microsoft Might Be Onto Something”

  1. Scott on June 7th, 2009 3:54 am

    I too stumbled across Bing last week while attempting to access live.com

    Microsoft might have something actually going for them. The site response was really fast, and I kinda like the daily picture with the roll overs.

    Competition is good, but Bing will most likely grow market share at the expense of other search engines, vs actually making a big impact on Google.

    What would page rank on Bing be referred to? Bings? Bells? Bing Rank? :)

  2. Harmonie Ponder on June 7th, 2009 4:02 am

    Bing-o! I agree completely with you Scott. Microsoft probably will never make a dent with Google considering their past history and reputation. I know they won’t in my Linux and Google world.

    Kudos to them for coming out though with something that performs well, is well thought out and has features I have never seen before. I can see them rising to second.

  3. Clare on June 14th, 2009 6:51 pm

    I have mixed feelings about new MS products so while I’m happy you brought it up, what I’m hoping is that these “new ” ideas from Microsoft become redundant and better positioned in other brands, and rising to second, no I hope not. Seriously.

  4. Harmonie on June 14th, 2009 7:18 pm

    Thanks Clare for your input!

    There is a reason I use a linux server and all open source software, I am not a huge MS fan, BUT I live in the search engines, so I had to touch on the subject.

    As of January 2009 and according to Nielson Online, Google’s share of core searches is 62.8%, Yahoo’s share of core searches is 16.2% and Microsoft’s share of core searches is 11.2%.

    Since January of 2008, Microsoft has closed the gap and experienced an 18% year-over-year growth while Yahoo grew a modest 8.7% year-over year.

    The trend is pointing in that direction.

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