You may find this hard to believe, but back in the 90s, I was what you might consider a bit of a Microsoft fanboy.
I bought practically every piece of software they made (yes, including Bob). I was at the midnight launch of Windows 95 in my hometown. I bought Windows Me and XP the day they came out. But then a combination of things happened. First, Apple’s products started to get better and the iPod served as a gateway drug of sorts to their computers. Second, the rise of Google and the web as a whole made what desktop software I was using less important. Third, Microsoft’s products went through a period of lack of innovation, or worse, regressed.
I bring this up because some people familiar with my work, seem to want to believe that I dislike all Microsoft products by default. That’s simply not true. Even to this day, I will praise the work Microsoft has done with the Xbox 360. And I find a smattering of other things within the company that I find interesting, like Azure. And now something else from Microsoft is coming on my radar: Bing.
I’ll admit that I mocked Bing from the second I heard its name, as basically a non-starter. But here we are a few weeks later, and I’m still hearing a significant number of people talking about it when I go various places. At the very least, that’s a marketing win for Microsoft — but that will only get you so far. More interesting to me is that Bing does actually seem to be pretty good at what it was built to do: Search — er, sorry, “Discovery.”
Take tonight, for example. The Los Angeles Lakers just won the NBA title, so there are a ton of searches right now for Kobe Bryant, the Lakers’ star player. I just did a search for him on both Bing and Google, and to be honest, Bing’s results are a lot better, at least for the here and now.
On Bing, the top result is a full listing of Kobe’s box score from tonight. On Google, the top result is a link to his NBA.com player profile. A few spots down, Google gives me some YouTube clips, but they’re all old. There are no clips on Bing’s main page, but in the top “Highlights” tab, there is a ton of video from tonight’s game. The other tabs on Bing offer easy access to relevant information as well. Sure, Google has its own options to better tailor the results to my liking, but they’re still tucked away, the average user is not going to click on those. And so I really have to say that Bing’s results, as presented to me in this case, are better than Google’s.
Now, that’s just one example, and it’s of a breaking event. But still, I’ve noticed this on a few hot items recently. And perhaps that’s why we’re hearing all the talk about Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin scrambling a team to address the Bing question. I’m not sure how much weight to put in such a report — while it’s become basically the company’s canned response, I’m sure Google really is always tweaking its search engine/strategy. But even the rumor of Google being at least interested by anything Microsoft is doing in search is something we really haven’t heard before. And that’s more than anything Yahoo — still the #2 search provider — can say recently.
So will Bing replace Google as my default search engine? No. The main reason for this is still very simple. Even if Google and Bing have similar results, and even if Bing offers better results in some cases, Google has already won the search war as it exists today. It already exists in people’s minds as basically synonymous with search. Bing could do very well on the desktop web, but that will basically mean low double-digit share versus Google’s high double-digit share.
And while you might point out that something like how Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser once had an over 90% share of the market, but has been failing steadily in recent years. I’d blame that on the fact that Microsoft rested on its laurels with that huge lead for far too long (it basically stopped work on IE for several years), and now has a browser that is arguably the worst on the market.
Google, as a search engine is not in any way, shape, or form the worst on the market. And plenty would still say the exact opposite. I just can’t see Google becoming complacent and yielding ground on search the same way Microsoft did with IE. And so its success should remain perpetual. If nothing else, Google is now built-in as the default browser or homepage on far too many web browsers. That’s not a battle Bing can win.
I know that it’s touting itself as the “decision engine,” but that’s a marketing gimmick that will wear off soon. Search is search — ultimately, people want one place to do it. For now, many will settle for two (Google and Twitter being two examples), if they serve a completely different purpose, but that will change with time. And everyone will also realize that despite the rhetoric, Bing is really not any different as a tool from Google. And when that happens, Google will win that battle.
But there is an interesting opportunity for Bing in the mobile space, I think. Yahoo has been touting mobile as a bright spot for its search product in recent months because it knows that the one really hot area where Google had not yet fully won the battle. The reason for that is that mobile web browsing is still a fundamentally different beast than desktop web browsing. While some browsers like Safari on the iPhone have search built-in, most do not. And so the playing field is much more open on the mobile web.
Microsoft should be pushing hard to make Bing the mobile search (or decision, or whatever it wants to call it) engine of choice. Because mobile browsing on the smaller screen with different input methods is different than the desktop, it stands to reason that searching on these devices should also be somewhat different aside from the simply cosmetic changes. And there are quite a few interesting things you can do easier on mobile device than you can on a desktop, like location. And location leads to some interesting things with advertising, which, at the end of the day, is what this all really comes down to for both Google and Microsoft now from a business perspective.
It’s interesting that Microsoft seems to have some good buzz for Bing so far. And I do think it’s actually warranted. But it’s just a first step. Bing has a name that is on people’s minds right now, but it needs to continue innovating to keep it there. And in my mind, that extends far beyond the desktop space, which Google is not going to yield anytime soon. If Microsoft insists on playing Google’s game on Google’s turf, I fear Microsoft Bing may ultimately end up just as forgotten as Microsoft Bob. But I think these past few weeks have proven that there is at least a little something to Bing, and so it doesn’t have to be that way.
Oh, I see! This is a quick post to “prove” that you are not always bashing Microsoft. Yeah, now I believe you MG Siegler. Too little too late.
Ah yes, the quick 15 paragraph post. Love those. So quick.
So, do you get paid by words or how trashy posts you can write?
You might want to check out TMZ, I bet they will pay you a lot more than TC for trash-talk. You also get to treat readers like crap while they respond with reasons, like you do here at TC.
cover up act by MG.
There are mediocre people who hate excellence. After realising that they cant be above normal level, they start hating those who stand above. Same is the case with MS haters who are jealous. I’m not saying normal is bad at the same time.
Suggested improved structure for this post:
1. I was wrong about Bing so far.
2. In light of that, I’m switching for a week or more.
3. Here is HOW to switch: http://www.read...arch_engine.php
4. Since I’m a reporter, I went out and found out how to do the switch in OPERA as well (since this article doesn’t cover it).
5. In a week, I’ll check back in an tell you how it worked out.
See a similiar (yet unfortunately better) post from a blogger (since you are a REPORTER):
http://www.avc....l#disqus_thread
The worst part is I tried to assign you this post last week. You should race to beat these bloggers to the punch.
i still hate your biased articles
You can’t please all of the people all of the time!!!
Yeah… I don’t know the secret to success… but I do know the secret for failure… trying to please everyone. Stick to your guns MG, you’re a kick ass writer and I’m positive half of the idiots who leave you comments don’t read the articles they’re commenting on.
Why do you effectively blog-stalk MG Siegler? You read everything he writes just to post what a “jerk” you think he is.
This, to me, says “I have never touched a woman.” Either that… or you’re sexually attracted to Mr. Siegler, and are in deep, deep denial of it.
+1
I can see clips on Bing main page on your same search.
one think i agree with you is we do associate search with google, in fact when i think about searching something (google is not my default) i see myself typing google in the address bar … so it has won the war already but a new front is open now. Bing.
No. The war hasn’t been won, the war is still going on. Google are simply leading it; massively so.
If the 360 had a web browser I would buy MSFT stock.
The 360 really does need a freakin web browser
I hate to say it but if the 360 had a browser it would become a security nightmare. I just prefer to play games on it anyway.
Bing sucks. Sorry
At least its better than Ask.com
I really like how bing was thinking internationally right from the start (which is probably how Google got it’s search engine monopoly in the world) while searching Yahoo! for anything in my native language is as useful as George Bush as a president.
GBush is smelling like a rose next to BHO.
It does not seems so quick post, but should be taken time more than three hours and a little study too I think.
And the point of this article is…??
and it won’t be too long, when they start charging to figure higher in search list …. google has a more transparent policy in that matter
I also turned from a Microsoft fanboy into an Apple one over a period of 15 years which were interspersed with a lot of Linux love. Microsoft does some great things, they still do the best research (of the academic kind). However they are a little less bothered about quality and usability to some extent. Once they get over this hurdle they might be back in business.
I’ve actually went the opposite direction. From Amiga fanboy to MS fanboy. Part of the reason is that I think MS tends to excel at the things that matter to me. Visual Studio and C# are soo much better than xcode and Objective-C (c’mon, Objective C?).
My problem with Apple is that people really do give them a free pass. Honestly, imagine a world with 90% Apple marketshare. In a world like that Apple would charge for security updates. They’re the least compassionate company I’ve ever seen, yet people love them. It really seems like a cult.
hey guys, what the fuck is the point of this article? havent you better topics ya?
What’s with the hate? How hard is it to bounce off of the page if the first paragraph doesn’t suit you?
I don’t get posts like this. You read it and you feel compelled to post about it. But you say nothing.
Odd.
ditto
The screenshot “This is where I do my search” is the one that kills.
Both Safari and Google have these buddied-up, unable to change the default search to Bing, as of yet. Perhaps with the next updates.
There are some workarounds for this… seen it done… but its beyond the point-n-click savvy.
“unable to change the default search to Bing, as of yet”
I use Glim for this:
http://www.machangout.com/
It’s incredibly flexible, dynamic, and stable without bogging down the browser like some Firefox plugins I’ve tested in the past.
HaHa! I didn’t even realize until you said something and I went to check that in Safari you can only use Google or Yahoo for search. At least in Chrome they have built in support for Live and Ask and others and you can add whatever site you want.
This is wrong. Microsoft should sue them.
So the logic goes…
‘I will keep using Google because they have won the search war’.
Mobile search is different because the ’screen is smaller’.
Surely using the best product for anything is the best policy. I’m not sure if Bing is that yet, but I’m using it for certain types of searches. I also check the great photos on the home page occasionally too.
On Mobile search – this is just a UI detail. I wouldn’t say google won the desktop search because of it’s UI. The engine won it.
Mr. Siegler, I must admit I don’t know what to make of your post. You tell us that you do not “dislike all Microsoft products by default”; however, certain elements of your post might make the reader suspect otherwise,
For example, when comparing a search, you say “and to be honest, Bing’s results are a lot better”. Why add the “to be honest”? A person that does not “dislike all Microsoft products by default” would not need to preface the comparison with a confirmation of honestly; unless there was some preconceived notion that no one would believe him if he said a Microsoft product was superior.
Additionally, you even admit that you “mocked Bing from the second (you) heard its name, as basically a non-starter.” Not a very convincing argument for someone who wants us to believe you do not have a “default” bias against Microsoft.
Finally, the reason you give for not using Bing as your “default” search engine is that Google “already exists in people’s minds as basically synonymous with search.” What does everyone else’s opinion have to do with YOUR default engine? Would a person without a “dislike (for) all Microsoft products by default”, really care what others think when picking a default search engine? I understand your point about not being able to pick your search in certain instance; however, the term default implies choice. By definition, when CHOOSING a default search service, you must have the ability to choose.
If the intent of the post was to prove that you don’t have a “default” bias against Microsoft, you should pick up the pen and try again. If your intent was to prove you like Bing, bravo.
Well, said ET. I was going to point out these things myself if nobody else did first.
Siegler, could you please respond to ET’s comment? I’ve been trying to give you the benefit of the doubt up until now, but I don’t see how I can now considering these three points.
This article basically confirms your bias against Microsoft imo.
+1
Mr. Siegler i would like to see your respond to this comment
Ah, the good old days! If I remember correctly, Gates’ wife was the product manager for Bob.
Yes, true.
“Google is now built-in as the default browser or homepage on far too many web browsers. That’s not a battle Bing can win.”
With all due respect; Bullshit.
Any company who can pay browser developers enough and have half-decent search results can become the default search engine on most of the main browsers (with the possible exception of Chrome, for obvious reasons).
If you think the battle for search is over, I suggest you borrow my time machine and go back to 1996 when people were saying *exactly* the same thing about AltaVista.
I second: Bullshit!
Bing=Mircosoft Bing already updated new inner features i searched this morning .
This article was stupid…
Pretty much; “I don’t care if Bing is better; Google already won so I’m going to keep using them”.
Fanboyism of the worst kind. The “Built in default” search is where MS can most easily gain market share (IE still has most share; and pay firefox enough “bing” and why wouldn’t they if it’s to a superior search? )
Your initial “I was an MS fanboy” speech to start just makes me think your prone to it. Give up trying to change the perception; your just cementing it. (And this is typed on Ubuntu).
you’re still a tool. no matter what you say. moron.
I have to agree, Bing is a lot better than I thought it would be and it has become a lot more popular than I thought it would too. I’m not about to switch to using it, I like my iGoogle setup and am more than happy with google search results, but I can see young web newbies ending up on Bing. If you’re not already invested and happy with Google, Bing is good enough for you to use.
Just checking my web stats, Bing is starting to refer more and more people to my site every day. It’s no where near Google, but it’s gaining a lot of ground on Yahoo. As someone with a website, if Bing starts sending me more and more traffic, I’ll pay more and more attention.
One thing I don’t get about most techcrunch readers and contributors is their uncompromising passion for Apple products, and particularly laptops.
About laptops now. The machine is exactly the same as the one you get with be it samsung or sony or whatever make you buy. Again, EXACTLY THE SAME. Now, why would you pay twice as much money for it?
> because it’s hip and cool (agreed) ;
> because there are a certain number of cool features (Garageband and Keynote ; agreed)
…it all adds up to : YOU ARE A WEB-DESIGNER and YOU WOULD ALSO BUY A LOUIS VUITTON !
In many ways, buying a Mac is contrary to the very principle of bootstrapping : you’re paying for things you’re most likely never to use and if you do use them, it’ll be like a short-lived fling.
Now I’ll have to buy a new laptop soon, but there’s no way I’m putting more than 2000€ in a Mac when Samsung’s model is only 785€ !!! OK, I’d love to get one or two features from Apple in it but I won’t pay more than 1000€ for it! It all seems sooooo normal to most of TC readers…
Fed up with hearing praise about Apple products all the time. Apple has done great things. But Apple laptops are just way beyond expensive if you compare them with other makes and on performance.
Possibly an off-topic comment!
Most of my searches are coding related. Bing usually returns better results on the first page. I’ve switched my Firefox search bar to default to Bing.
I’ve found one occasion where I wasn’t happy with the Bing results and went back to try Google on a search. But Google results showed mostly the same links.
I write code for Windows, Windows Mobile, Android, iPhone, Linux, and Blackberry. My only preference is for what works.
“So will Bing replace Google as my default search engine? No. The main reason for this is still very simple. Even if Google and Bing have similar results, and even if Bing offers better results in some cases, Google has already won the search war as it exists today.”
Do you drive a GM car?
So even if its the same most the time, and better the rest, you won’t use it… because you are currently a google fan boy? interesting…
“You may find this hard to believe, but back in the 90s, I was what you might consider a bit of a Microsoft fanboy.”
No I don’t find it hard to believe, thats all you are a fan boy on the latest hype… From the 90’s todate you are a FAN BOY…
Even though I am using Bing by default for search, I have found Google results to be better: http://blog.gad...nal-experience/
I’m proud of you; this wasn’t even about Twitter! While this “article” isn’t really stepping out of the box for you, it does show you to be a little more diverse.
Interesting, I went through a similar transition with MS. I was pretty much inspired by their software through XP, then I think it wasn’t that something happened, more that nothing happened. They got dull. Back in the 90s there were all the same books about the “genius” of MS that then were written about the “genius” of Google. The “genius” is now being attributed to Twitter, Facebook is already old hat. Browsers were where they lost me, IE was just so slow and featureless (unless you wanted to use MS products).
Google is evil. I trust Microsoft before I would ever trust Google. Behind the bright Google smiles are vicious ruthless people who break every rule. They are not worthy of your trust.
If you had a new idea and had to do research on the topic, would you trust Google not to monitor your IP address to see what you are searching on? It is a problem, isn’t it?
People don’t get ethical over time so Google’s already compromised ethics can only get worse.
I agree.
Apart from good results, one of the reasons I shifted to Bing is to avoid handing out too much of my data to the arrogant evils.
Don’t know if it is true about Google’s ethics, but that’s a good reminder, that people don’t get ethical over time.
OP is correct. When I’m using a new program, it needs to be “twice as good” as what I use now, allowing for ease-of-use and price etc.. Slightly better is not enough, because there’s always a learning curve and I value my time. Bing seems better than Google at some things – e.g. image search – but it’s not yet twice as good, so I’ll stick to what I know.
Uhm. Learning curve…on a search engine? Interesting.
lol, learning curve… ummm whats the white box with the search button next to it for????
“I value my time”… enough so I waisted it posting a response….
question, what was the learning curve to fill out the comment form I wonder????
Bing is doing enough really interesting, powerful things with the presentation of search results – the highlight items and image/video results displays are clear advantages – that I think you dismiss it prematurely.
Mapquest “won the war” for mapping but Google Maps provided enough of a presentation advantage for just about everyone to jump over.
That said, I find Bing’s search results to often be second rate on anything but “easy” searches. Searching for the sketch comedy bit “It’s not Jackie Chan” returned generic Jackie Chan clips in Bing while Google returned a lot of stuff relevant to the “Tim and Eric” sketch. Looking for a local festival “Tastefest” returned years old results in Bing while Google put the upcoming event at the top.
Bing has really come through for me this playoff season as well. I’ve consistently used it to find the time of the game that night, which has been tough on Google.
I think they’re doing a great job with the instant answers and refinements. Maybe search is an winnable fight (I don’t think so), but MS is finally putting a good horse in the race this time.
From you: “So will Bing replace Google as my default search engine? No. The main reason for this is still very simple. Even if Google and Bing have similar results, and even if Bing offers better results in some cases, Google has already won the search war as it exists today.”
Ouch, that’s with that kind of thinking that German nazis (Google) took over Europe (search) back in the 40s. Hopefully, Americans (Bing) can come and save the day again (search industry).
All these people kissing Google’s ass right now will be the same complaining about privacy in less than 5 years. People open your eyes, Google is creeping into your life and you’re too dumb to see it! That pisses me off!
Try doing a search for “pre” (as in Palm Pre) on the 3 majors (Google, Yahoo, Bing) and you will be surprised who wins that battle.
things will go out of style.
if google and microsoft search are on equal level in 5 years. all the cool little kids will use bing, cuz who really wants to play with the same toys old folks play with?
How come everyone online has been using X forever or was on line for a midnight launch of Win95? Next you were using LANtastic back in the day and building PCs when you were 7 years old. Lame.
MG,
What was the purpose of this post? You like it but you won’t use it? And your reason is that Google is pretty much the de-facto search engine even though Bing returns better results?
You are a hypocrite who wants to seem like you are not Microsoft bashing, but yet, you say that you will only use Google and present a screenshot of a browser that locks you into using Google?
Where is your article bashing apple about not giving users a choice about which search engine to use in Safari? You were very quick to bash microsoft for changing the default search engine to Bing but nothing about Safari.
You are a hack and a fake reporter who is probably getting payouts or free products from Apple and Google and feel that you have to glorify them. In any other environment other than the blogging, your reputation would be questioned and your life would be investigated to make sure that there are no conflict of interests.
Quoting you – “So will Bing replace Google as my default search engine? No. The main reason for this is still very simple. Even if Google and Bing have similar results, and even if Bing offers better results in some cases, Google has already won the search war as it exists today.”
So you let others determine your opinion and usage? As a reviewer and reporter, you are a failure if you can not make up your own mind and rely on the opinions of others.
yeah you just mentioned MG true face..
+1
I agree with the overall premise of the article – but think Bing might have a greater opportunity to reach the mainstream. As a start, people in the corporate environment frequently have Microsoft search bars on Internet explorer. I know, and until now, I simply bypassed that for a manual Google search via the url. I even tried to install the Google toolbar before, but it is blocked by our IT department’s security policy. I’ve started using Bing and am pretty impressed. Over time, people may stop taking that extra step to circumnavigate the default Microsoft search. When that happens, this will quickly become a mainstream phenomenon. In my opinion, this really represents the commoditization of search, because we will now have multiple engines that do a reasonably good job of search, which has not been the case until now.
While the [ kobe bryant ] search is indeed good on Bing, searching other basketball players’ names shows out-of-date stats.
Today’s June 15th. For [ lebron james ] , Bing shows stats from May 26th, 25th, and 24th.
For [ Wilson Chandler ], it’s worse: Bing shows his stats from April 10th.
This is because these players’ teams didn’t go as far as the Lakers, so their last games are less recent. And the feature isn’t smart enough to take freshness into account.
People doing a generic search on Wilson Chandler probably want his twitter feed or lifetime stats rather than April 10th results.
If Bing were to really impress, the freshness of the stats would be part of the algorithmic decision whether to show them on the search results page.
i like the result set when searching for athletes. I certainly do not want there twitter account. it also display the season’s average which is cool. if they wanted the lifetime stats. it’s one click away to their profile on fox sports.
I certainly don’t want anyone’s twitter account, so the results works for me. if you wanted his twitter account, then type in twitter next to his name before searching.
Who in their right mind would switch search engines because of the results from ONE query? Sure Bing has some nice hand-tuned results for popular queries, but for any serious searches, it returns the same old junk as live did. That’s why nobody in their right mind would switch. Except MS paid shills maybe.
As many others have quoted this incredibly “unbiased blogger” (and I really do mean blogger when used to demean someones work) I’ll do it again:
“So will Bing replace Google as my default search engine? No. The main reason for this is still very simple. Even if Google and Bing have similar results, and even if Bing offers better results in some cases, Google has already won the search war as it exists today.”
After that what more can someone say? You’ve proved Mr. Seigler with this article (specially when you say that you were a Microsoft fanboy) that you simply follow fads. You have no critical thinking. You just follow what is popular to feel like you belong…probably it’s the only way you keep friends and can opt for a job.
No worries man, you’ve droned about MS and Facebook until it was not cool anymore, same as you do now with Twitter and Apple…it will fade away..probably the same way as the music you listen to.
It will not hit you now but probably when you look back later on at what you did with your life you will notice that you were too busy looking for ways to fit in that you never developed a personality of your own. What a waste of a human being.
true..
Google didn’t win. They are currently winning, but there isn’t a finish line. That’s like declaring GM the winner of car manufacturing in the 1950s of K-Mart the winner of retailing in the 1970s. We are probably looking at Zenith of Google’s power right now. I see more and more contenders finding small breaches in the walls and are exploiting them. Google has to remain somewhat complacent. That is the curse of being a market leader. If they do not retain some complacency, they will destroy part of their share. They are saddled with the Entrenched Player’s Dilemma.
The Empire (MSFT) strikes back again.
Google has just one source of revenue: AdSense using search and content placement: both B2B business.
If Microsoft can steal a part of that market, Google becomes weaker as it has no other place to go.
Microsoft has multiple income streams from both B2B as B2C.
Interesting point very early on in the piece about Azure. I’ve seen very little press coverage on it outside the official Microsoft announcements.
What’s so good about it?
The big difference between Microsoft and Google in this market is while Microsoft is optimizing his new browser and is doing things just to IE Google released a browser, but continuos doing tools for the others browsers.
Microsoft is never, ever as dangerous as when they are stealing something. Stealing is what they do best – better than any other company I can think of.
I think Bing is scarily adequate.
Barah Bing! Bara boom! OK, I just Trade Marked this!
Bing does not have to be orders of magnitude better than Google for people to switch(the traditional rule for getting people to switch away from software they are used to). All it has to do is make Bing good enough for people not to switch away from it when they are setting up their browser for the first time. They win, by virtue of integration with the desktop, the browser, the office and collaboration software. Google is more formidable than the Netscapes and Word Perfects of the past, but eventually, the same formula will get them as well. IE did not have to be better than Netscape. Word did not have to be better than Word Perfect. They merely had to be “good enough”.