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.