Why I Bing And Don't Google

When Microsoft re-launched their search engine service Live Search as Bing in June last year, I decided to give it a very tepid go as my primary search engine. I'd given Windows Live a go about 18 months prior, but after a month found myself going back to Google. Why? Simply put - the results you got from Windows Live were generally rubbish in comparison to Google. Google always gave out good search results, while Windows Live didn't. So I wasn't really convinced that Bing would be much better.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Since making the switch to Bing, I've not once looked back. I now have Bing set as my default search engine on all of my computers, both at home and at work. Whatever the new algorithm Microsoft is using under the hood to power Bing is, it seems to be generating very good results. This alone has made me pleased with the service, because if nothing else it can at least match Google when doing basic Web searches.

But not only that, Microsoft's "decision engine", as they call it, also seems to do very well with the "value added" options it features. One early feature I found I liked was the Video preview feature, whereby you could search for a video clip, and hover your mouse over the clips in the search results to get little 30 second previews. That is definitely a good use of the Silverlight technology powering the site. Not only that, the integration with other Microsoft elements like the Bing Maps feature really does give Google Maps a nice run for its money.

Microsoft even keep pumping out a lot of frequent updates to the search engine, which I find quite pleasing. Most recently, Microsoft added a massive Entertainment section to the site, which includes such elements as "allow(ing) users to view and search for detailed information and reviews for music, movies, television shows, and video games. Bing Entertainment partners with Microsoft Games to allow users to directly play online games within Bing Online Games." (Source: Wikipedia). The fact that you can search for this information, and have it presented to you without even leaving the Bing web site, is a simple idea, and yet so good. Helps on the trust level, for one thing. In another way, it helps Bing to differentiate itself from Google.

The integration you get within Windows Vista and 7 are also great elements to the overall Bing experience. Microsoft have produced Web Slices and Accelerators for use in Internet Explorer 8, as well as a few Sidebar Gadgets for use on the Windows Desktop. Not content with offering an integrated experience on desktop Windows, you can also get apps for both Windows Mobile and iOS, and the forthcoming Windows Phone 7 platform has Bing very firmly entrenched at the core of pretty much your entire search experience on that platform.

Aside from all of this, though, if there was one "killer feature" in my mind that cemented Bing as the search engine for me, it was the most obvious, and yet most simple, UX element - the daily home page image. The simple idea of presenting a new image each day, with inline links to relevant pieces of information about said image, keeps me coming back, just to see what is presented each day. The fact that the idea works on Bing, and failed when Google recently tried to do it, suggests that Bing has at least one completely original element to it.

So my advice? Give Bing a go. And I don't just mean spend 15 minutes playing with it. Use it as your dedicated search engine for a month, and see what you think.

I did, and I love it.