Are You Binging Yet?
By Dana
If you haven't heard about Bing yet, it's not because Microsoft hasn't been trying. They're spending $100M on television advertising, together with social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and microsites (discoverbing.com and decisionengine.com). They even gave away "BingTones" to Windows Mobile users. The product was launched on June 3, 2009.
What is Bing? A search engine, designed to compete head to head with Google. Microsoft bills it as a "decision engine", with intelligent algorithms that filter your search results. According to Bing, 4.5 websites have been created EVERY SECOND so far in 2009, with the understandable result that many searches simply don't provide the answer needed. So with Bing, they added in capabilities they acquired by purchasing Farecast (airline tickets) and Powerset (Wikipedia and other searches), plus algorithms built to enhance search context. The final product, Microsoft claims, offers users better results.
Where does the name come from? Microsoft focus groups wanted a name that was memorable and short, able to function as a URL around the world. Its official Chinese name is "bi ying", which literally means "very certain to respond". Marketing guru/critic Seth Godin, best known for his book The Purple Cow, thinks it must mean "But It's Not Google".
Of course, taking on an entrenched near-monopoly like Google is a tough uphill climb. And in fact, you'll find discussions and opinions all over the Web as to whether it's actually an improvement or not. Will Bing take market share? Maybe. Does it offer cool features? Definitely.
Shopping searches are one place that Bing shines. Pictures, prices, and reviews are right on top where they're easy to find. Click the "Local" tab and it's simple to identify restaurants, for example, with maps, menus, and reviews all collected together. Travel planners will appreciate the ability to book hotel rooms and airline tickets without leaving Bing.
Bing's Instant Answers are excellent for completing homework, checking your stock portfolio, or competing in Trivia Night. Enter a math expression in the search box and Bing will calculate it for you. Type in a simple question or use 'define' , and Bing will consult the Encarta encyclopedia or dictionary for your answer. You can subscribe to charts and other statistics on favorite stocks in a "webslice". You can even track packages and flights, or keep up with league scores, team statistics, or celebrity news.
Searching for images? They're laid out beautifully in Bing. And the mapping capabilities are every bit as dizzying and addicting as anything you've seen in Google Earth.
Reviewers who have kicked Bing's tires harder than I did claim that, overall, it doesn't return as many results as Google. However, it's fast, and it absolutely nails the first page of search results. This is critical in the Google vs. Bing cage match, because research shows that a low percentage of searchers move much beyond Page 1, anyway.
My wife the English major worries about the use of Bing as a verb. We've grown accustomed to "Googling". And maybe a sentence like "Let me Bing that" will make sense without offending anybody. But what about past tense? Do you handle Bing like SING (bing bang bung) or like BRING (bing bought)? Telling a friend that you "binged" your E-Harmony match before meeting her might be okay, but just think about those other two for a minute ...
To sum up, Bing offers an array of innovations and a search page that's pretty to look at, with categorizations, refinements, and suggestions of related searches. My prediction is that its RSS capabilities may be its most compelling: you can subscribe to your Bing search results inside any feed reader. Neither Google nor Yahoo offer this feature yet. Conventional wisdom about Bing appears to be that it's a long way from beating the incumbent, but perhaps in second place it will try harder. Or perhaps we'll be working on a new word, something that means trying both of the leading search engines with your questions: Bingling?
