Bing : Web Search Redefined

Bing is a new search engine released by Microsoft Corporation.

Google and Yahoo have been leading the web search business for quite a long time.

Bing, dubbed "the decision engine" is a polished, more Google-like approach towards web search which eventually replaces Microsoft's own MSN search engine.

It is being termed more Google-like here because of its layout and search experience. Why would Microsoft step into Google's shoes inspite of being arch-rivals?

There is a reason!


Google has been the top player in search based business, essentially because unlike Yahoo! (another major search engine), Google's phylosophy is to keep web search results free from flashy, distracting multimedia ads which make the user uncomfortable.

This is a winning strategy. It is evident with the fact that when it comes to search based business, Google leads the pack. So Bing's adopting Google's strategy is not a bad idea!

Although, Bing tends to be polished and more interactive than Google search.

Some new feature in Bing are:

• Bing's homepage has a background image which is regularly updated.

• Snippets of the page content can be seen just by placing the cursor on a small arrow right next to each search result.

• Bing is betting big on improved local search business. Searching for a coffee shop just got easier!

• While searching for videos in Bing, even a small preview of the video can be watched by placing the cursor on video result. So it's not necessary to go to the video site in order to decide whether or not you should watch the video.

• An interesting feature is VISUAL SEARCH (Beta) powered by Silverlight. It lets you search for something with pictures. For example you can search for laptop with given pictures. One can narrow down on the search results with given filters.

Bing is all good. However in order to compete with Google, it has a long way to go.