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Bing —The next big thing?
Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing, launched in early June, accompanied by a $100 million ad campaign. Early returns from Web traffic-analysis firms like StatCounter indicate that Bing pulled an initial 15 percent market share in the U.S.; but has since settled down to the more usual 8 percent Live Search/MSN Search level.
Interestingly, the fluctuations have been mirrored by Google, while Yahoo, has remained virtually flat.
Some of Bing’s initial success is likely due to the fact that most observers have been pleasantly surprised by the new search engine. Most note that Bing is visually pleasing and clear, and its results are generally as relevant as Google’s -- sometimes more so.
This is particularly true with the Bing “decision engine.” Microsoft says Bing is better than other search engines at common tasks, such as comparing products in advance of a purchase, booking a flight, or tracking a package.
Location, Location, Location
Many of the other features of Bing are present in Google, but Bing works differently visually, emphasizing decision-oriented information.
Some examples of the differences:
- Shopping information (prices, reviews, images) appear near the top of search results for consumer items, such as “Garmin nuvi” or “digital camera.” Google places these results “below the fold”.
- Suggested “related searches” are located prominently in the left pane on Bing, whereas Google includes them at the bottom of the first page.
- Bing places search histories in the easier-to-see left pane, while Google requires users to jump to a separate page that is available only if you are signed into iGoogle. On the upside for Google, the search history is more comprehensive, since Microsoft’s is session-based.
- Search facets — At the top of the left pane, Bing often includes links to common subcategories of your search, and main search results after the “primary” results are organized by category.
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