Comments on: The Bing Definition Microsoft Probably Doesn’t Want You To Get In Your Fortune Cookie

By: Ewa

Ewa — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:48:25 +0000

Stop yoyr damed BING, i dont like it! STOPP IT NOW!!!!!!!!!! I dont need it!!!!

By: hotspot shield lauch

hotspot shield lauch — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:52:28 +0000

Benedict, it is a great post thanks for posting it!

By: Hank

Hank — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:28:20 +0000

The Chinese guy “Dr. Lu” who is arguing “Bing” is a good name in Chinese will be out of a job when the white guys at HQ figure out he was wrong.
His argument is that by transliterating the sound “bing” into the two Chinese characters “bi ying” (pronounced bee-ing) the result is the meaning “very certain to respond”. While he may be right that this is “a terrific representation of what the brand stands for”, as a brand name it sucks.
There are two main reasons why it sucks:
First, the majority of Chinese people will tell you that “bi ying” simply doesn’t sound good as a brand name. I don’t think Dr. Lu did any focus groups with Chinese people. I think it’s the classic case of the white guys making a decision while ignorant of the implications and the Chinese guy trying to save their face with a half-baked “solution” that will end up hurting the company.
Second, “bing” is pin-yin for the character 病. Competitors like Google and Baidu can have a field day playing with “bing” (virus, etc.) to portray MS and its search engine in a negative light.
Remember Chevy Nova? Bing is the Nova of Microsoft.

By: bada bing « Shotgun Marketing Blog

bada bing « Shotgun Marketing Blog — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:28:47 +0000

[...] what about that name? Among many other meanings, Bing means “disease” in Chinese. Nice. It’s callled research, boys. You could have googled it and found out. bookmark or [...]

By: Microsoft Bing, le prime reazioni | NoNiente.com

Microsoft Bing, le prime reazioni | NoNiente.com — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:50:03 +0000

[...] non avere medesima accezione ovunque: secondo TechCrunch, ad esempio, in Cina la parola si avvicina pericolosamente al significato di “malattia”, ma non sarà certo un piccolo inciampo a fermare la [...]

By: The Road Left Behind: May 2009 « 37prime

The Road Left Behind: May 2009 « 37prime — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:14:01 +0000

[...] Microsoft Bing It’s definitely prettier than Google’s homepage. John C. Dvorak’s take on the name behind Microsoft Bing. TechCrunch points out what “Bing” means in Chinese. [...]

By: 37prime.news » The Road Left Behind: May 2009

37prime.news » The Road Left Behind: May 2009 — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:11:39 +0000

[...] Microsoft Bing It’s definitely prettier than Google’s homepage. John C. Dvorak’s take on the name behind Microsoft Bing. TechCrunch points out what “Bing” means in Chinese. [...]

By: Bing: What Would Sun Tzu Tell Microsoft? « SmoothSpan Blog

Bing: What Would Sun Tzu Tell Microsoft? « SmoothSpan Blog — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:18:49 +0000

[...] But it isn’t a Google killer because as I have already said, search isn’t broken. BING: “Bing Is Not Google”. Despite all of the efforts in the blogosphere to position it [...]

By: pasta

pasta — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:14:50 +0000

That’s frigging hilarious. Somebody on the brand selection/management team is definitely on the hot seat from this!

By: free online games for kids

free online games for kids — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:58:23 +0000

I think most of us would read the name from a western worldview and/or language. The translation from it’s (now we know) chinese origin to english probably isn’t “pretty” but its intended meaning (in chinese) is actually quite meaningful. In any case, it’s a short name, easy to remember, and what happens after this whole fuss about the name dies down, is probably more important, i.e. the quality of the product especially up against Google.

By: M2CDO

M2CDO — Sun, 31 May 2009 01:18:08 +0000

Hey dude,

Do you even read any of the responses on these sites or do you just swallow verbatim the ideological propaganda and crap that some writers on these sites pump out? They simply wanted to write negative stuff about Microsoft again and really dug to the bottom of the barrel with this ’story’.

According to Dr. Qi Lu who thought about going back to live in his native China before accepting Steve Ballmer’s offer to head up Microsoft’s search effort, Bing means something a little more positive in Chinese:

“Bing” also resonates with an audience Google is yet to dominate: China.

“The actual Chinese characters are two characters, ‘Bi’ and ‘Ing’ and combined these two characters mean ‘very certain to respond’ and ‘very certain to answer’,” Dr Lu said.

“That’s a terrific representation of what our brand stands for in the Chinese language.”

I would hazard to say that a Chinese native actually heading up the Search business @ Microsoft knows something more about the name and it’s permutations in Chinese vs the arm chair quarerbacks at Techcrunch and others on here.

By: !CnSoLoer

!CnSoLoer — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:48:32 +0000

bing 有 bīng，bǐng，bìng 三种不同的读音， N 个各种意义的汉字。其它没想到，就想到这，我看你丫就一病态。

By: Microsoft’s Bing - News Other Than Its Announcement | Business Marketing Experts

Sat, 30 May 2009 23:05:37 +0000

[...] Siegler at Tech Crunch is sharing a screenshot of a fortune from a fortune cookie that translates the word "disease" to "bing" [...]

By: Microsoft’s Bing - News Other Than Its Announcement | Blog Free Now

Microsoft’s Bing - News Other Than Its Announcement | Blog Free Now — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:59:20 +0000

[...] Siegler at Tech Crunch is sharing a screenshot of a fortune from a fortune cookie that translates the word "disease" to "bing" [...]

By: Norbert Perkins

Norbert Perkins — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:48:05 +0000

Perhaps the ‘Bing’ product folks should use a good search engine or better still a translation engine when thinking up product names. Might I suggest http://translate.google.com?

If you don’t think there is an issue with the name – then you really don’t care about making products for an international market.

By: IanMJ

IanMJ — Sat, 30 May 2009 15:14:39 +0000

Bing is also slang for the culture/cheese that grows under one’s foreskin.

Not mine obviously, I shower regularly.

By: Bada BING MS and way ahead of the WAVE Google: what’s in a brand name, Chinese-style

Sat, 30 May 2009 14:22:47 +0000

[...] http://www.tech...nt-you-to-get-i... [...]

By: Marc

Marc — Sat, 30 May 2009 08:23:38 +0000

Google didn’t have all the various cultural baggage that Bing has. Bing is already well established with all kinds of connotations.

MS always picks really generic single word names. They always pick names that are bigger than they are, that’s why none of their more recent brands carry any sway.

Live, it’s so generic it’s meaningless. When you say ‘Live’ guarantee most people do not think of a third rate search engine. Too big, generic, meaningless as is MS these days.

By: Marc

Marc — Sat, 30 May 2009 08:14:41 +0000

Same here. That’s what always comes to mind. Chandler Bing!!!

By: Microsoft’s Bing - News Other Than Its Announcement : virtual gambling

Microsoft’s Bing - News Other Than Its Announcement : virtual gambling — Sat, 30 May 2009 05:16:03 +0000

[...] Siegler at Tech Crunch is sharing a screenshot of a fortune from a fortune cookie that translates the word "disease" to "bing" [...]

By: nick

nick — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:44:02 +0000

Funny i was fooled by Siegler when he first started, i was a fan. Later i discovered that he was no other than a Apple Fanboy, made me vomit in my mouth. I have confirm Siegler is an IDIOT!

By: PSSTabbing

PSSTabbing — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:44:25 +0000

There goes the chinese market.

By: PSSTabbing

PSSTabbing — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:44:03 +0000

lol… funny stuff.

By: geekycoder

geekycoder — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:57:52 +0000

MG Siegler,
that’s pretty unfair for Microsoft because Google Wave is not any better than Bing.

Wave in Chinese sound like 危(Danger)
危 pinyin is WEI.
Check the chinese pronunication here/
http://www.ncik...ail/危/1315787

http://www.joe....ring/image1.gif

Though it is less subtle because it could mean danger to Microsoft , or danger in use,
… LOL.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:46:30 +0000

Ah Bing, the memories of childhood, I can’t it imagine it tasting as good as I remember it in liquid form: http://www.silv...c=AO&fnc=AX