Bing is something of a rarity for Microsoft these days: It’s a product that actually has good natural buzz. And for good reason too, it’s a solid product. For certain queries, it seems more useful than even, yes, Google. (And not just porn queries.) And Microsoft isn’t squandering away this opportunity, it’s keeping its foot on the gas, today attacking what is perceived to be Google’s weakness: Real-time search results.
While that’s a little misleading — Google actually does have plenty of data that gets into its system almost immediately — what everyone seems to mean by real-time results these days is Twitter results. And that’s exactly what Bing is adding. Kind of. As it notes on its blog:
Today we’re unveiling an initial foray into integrating more real time data into our search results, starting with some of the more prominent and prolific Twitterers from a variety of spheres.
While Microsoft is still in the process of rolling this feature out, you can see what it will look in the image below featuring AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher (who also has some more details about the feature). Apparently, Bing will update these Twitter results every minute, reports the New York Times.
But it’s important to note that Bing will not be crawling every tweet that runs through Twitter. Instead, it will focus on only those from people it deems important based on follower counts and volume of tweets. As they note:
We’re not indexing all of Twitter at this time… just a small set of prominent and prolific Twitterers to start. We picked a few thousand people to start, based primarily on their follower count and volume of tweets. We think this is an interesting first step toward using Twitter’s public API to surface Tweets in people search. We’d love to hear your feedback as we think through future possibilities in real time search.
What else is a bit odd about Bing’s addition of tweets is that apparently they’ll only show up for very specific searches. So, for example, if you search for “Ryan Seacrest tweets” you’ll find them in the results, but presumably you won’t (at least not yet) if you just search for “Ryan Seacrest.” That would be much more interesting.
Google has been doing things in recent months such as adding Google profiles and Facebook profiles prominently in search results. But so far it has shied away from highlighting tweets in their results, even as dozens of other search companies pop up to do just that. Even if these tweet results are rather pointless, this will be seen as Bing doing something Google cannot. And that may just give a few more people a reason to use Bing.
Well played, Bing.
Update: The feature is now live. Here’s my result:
I started using bing because I liked their image search results and I’ve found myself using it almost exclusively lately.
I had been using a combination of Yauba and Bing for the past few weeks, but if Bing starting incorporating more real time features and continues to innovate, then I may use Bing exclusively … it’s really a great search engine.
Yauba is quite good and quite innovative … unfortunately, I don’t think Bing or Google or anyone else is going to offer cookie free searching with no recording of search data anytime soon like Yauba. So you may need to use Tor on top of Bing. Other tools I can suggest is Elgoog.
I LOVE BING!
It’s too bad that Google seems to have locked up a lot of distribution deals, as if this was solely a head to head comparison, Bing would win!
I love that BING! is just Live.com with a new UI. No one used Live but Bing has great buzz… nice work, marketing and UI teams.
Thanks for turning me on to Yauba: looks great!
AAfter Search is offering real-time results from Twitter for months now, and it also offer cookie free high privacy search, and they also do not use any Javascript based ad [like absence].
Very cool way that MTV promoted the launch of Bing: http://somethin...th-jon-stewart/
Those crazy bing guys…what will they think of next.
Here in Arlington Virgina it different than my hometown in India we dont use twitter in India the same way your guys use twiter and myspace in the us I mean the other day I go to the Starbucks the lady told me to thing about it she say thing about it Momar if you dont use Twitter the same way it not going work it might work different but not the way your guy want to work I laugh but the true is the true so I take a sit or have a sit and thing about it.
periods are your friend
great comment lol
LOL
Ease off on the glue, Momar.
They say it not what you know it who you know but it really not who you know it who know you and that what Twiter it all about it about who know you not who you know Mike I done know what you talking about your guy making fun of my english but I am a very intelligent man I own my own company my company get very sucess on Twiter.
Bing is the best browser ever !!!
Tell it like it is Momar. I agree 100%.
Again a great move by Microsoft to upset Google. I hope Google fires back with something similar or even better.
Any kind of quantification of that “a few thousand, quantity of tweets/followers” stuff? Educated guesses?
I have a few thousand followers, in fact, many more followers than @karaswisher has, and my Tweets aren’t on Bing yet, at least not anywhere I am seeing them.
Sounds like an interesting move, though.
I’m pretty sure no one’s are yet, at least when I was trying it an hour ago or so.
Uh, reread the quote…the “few thousand” refers to the “few thousand” of twitterers that qualify as being worthy enough to include in the search result (i.e., it does not mean, “We are including folks who have a few thousand followers in our results”).
Presumably that would mean high profile figures (not necessarily high profile bloggers
,and/or folks who have significantly more followers than “a few thousand”. A criteria which suits me just fine…
what someone needs to do is have a rating system where people rate the links people put in twitter… there are a lot of people who work hard at finding good stories.. and then feed this into bing in terms of which people it shows.. who cares how many followers.. obama girl could run a contest where she will appear in playboy if she gets a million followers but I still don’t want to see her comments on good sites… see google made a mistake expecting users to comment after the fact… when you go to site you are not on a search engine anymore.. they should do a link ranking system and then have that below the search results
maybe thats because nobody wants to read your four eyed tweets thank you very much, scoble schmoble
For that reason alone I think that Bing has earned my respect.
I guess all your respect will melt cause now Bing is showing my Tweets.
using bing a lot too lately. Google better be scared!
I’m not sure if Google should be scared, but they certainly need to get less complacent and arrogant.
This time I am cheering for MS.
This is another cheesy gimmick to side step the fact that they haven’t any more of a grasp on real time search that Google does! I mean seriously, they are hand picking twitter users to crawl and only making them available on certain queries. Google hasn’t mastered real time search either but atleast they are leading the pack by pioneering real search technology that is based on IR methodologies. Not pathetic gimmicks like this one.
This is a legitimate method given the SNR of Twitter today. And certainly a step in the right direction. Sure it’s not perfect, but I think it does show that with Bing we may be looking at a different kind of Microsoft. One that can rollout new technologies faster and w/o their historic long lead times.
I agree that Google should be scared. And Yahoo screwed up. Yahoo is looking more and more like the cloud version of Sun… dead man walking.
This is not a new technology or method. twitter.grader.com has been using different algorithms to grade twitter users for quite some time now. Google often times indexes tweets at a very high frequency. The difference here is that Microsoft is drawing attention to a select group of tweets with a select query set. If they want to really tackle real time search they would crawl everything and then use ranking algorithms.
Well Joe, every journey begins with a step. Bing will get there and so will Google. Don’t worry. You just wait and watch.
I’ve never seen Google index tweets at high frequency. But that’s not the point anyways, nor is the existence of some website that does grading of tweets. The point is rolling out new technologies into the MS search engine (and when i say “new” I don’t mean that its new in the sense that no one has ever done anything like it… because we all know you could do this in Lisp 30 years ago, but rather that it is a new application in this domain as part of a relatively popular integrated service).
You do realize that for real time tweets you probably don’t crawl. They all come from one source. The only moderately difficult aspect of this is a layout/presentation one. You don’t want to always display tweets because 95% of the time they’re not interesting. The question is when do you do so, and how do you display it to make it clear that it is a low content item.
Well yes, what you have just explained is the main problems surrounding real time search. And I can maybe even concede that in doing a method of rank you would have to elemenate a large part of the noise. But what i have a problem with is the fact that it appears they are doing the same thing Google does, but are drawing attention to it by pulling it out of the regular SERPs. I mean, it would be one thing if they treated them as regular results, but the presentation makes an effort to point out that they index twitter, big deal, so does Google. They just don’t make a special section for it. Because to them its about improving their product not pushing a gimmick.
@Joe, we’ll have to see when this goes live. I think it will make the product better. Not miles better, but I think it is good incremental improvement. And the nice thing about it is once they have it out there it becomes a lot easier to do A/B testing and such to really improve the service as they start adding more real-time capability.
I think if you don’t view this as the totality of their service, but as the first step, you’ll see that it is a very reasonable move. Compare this to a feature like Google Squared, which seemed a LOT less useful, yet Google was fine to unveil it. I think Google is probably scrambling right now — if only to make what they’ve done more apparent. A little competition in this space is a good thing.
Have defaulted to Bing and haven’t looked back. its a solid product, looking forward to Microsoft making a comeback in search.
@cliffdailey
Joe Hall ‘gets it’……..ZZZZZzzzzzzz
Agreed. Thanks Joe, now my scrolling finger hurts.
or not. i don’t want tweet result on my google.
Agreed. I’m not conducting searches to find 140-character results. This is actually a good reason to stick with Google.
Yes, there is a big difference between can not and will not. Adding tweets into the index will probably just add extra clicks to arrive at the resources you really are looking for, plus quite a bit of noise as a side order. I’ll stick with Google as well.
I’ve been using it as my primary search tool since its launch. I really thought by now I’d be back to Google.
I’ve been using Bing as my default search engine for the last couple weeks. So far I’m impressed. I have found myself checking Google to verify the results I’m getting from Bing on some search criteria, so far they’re very close (with very few exceptions). I like the interface, it’s clean, intuitive and improved over Google Search. I would like to see Bing really give Google a run for its money so the consumers win with a better product-set from both companies.
Or you could just use this greasemonkey script and stick with Google.
I heard that MS quietly acquired a real-time search startup – not sure if this is a rumor, but looks likely. One of my sources at MS says it might be either http://www.scoopler.com or http://www.boilingpage.com. Whatever be it, I like the competitive energy from MS that keeps Google on its toes.
I see this as a great move..but the outcome would be interesting.
We always wanted a healthy competition in SE field as we don’t to be manipulated by all kind of paid model which google is running after.
FWIW, I added Bing to my Firefox search box and have been using Bing as my primary engine. I will go to Google if I want a second opinion, but Bing is my first stop now. Ironically, I think people like Bing for some of the same reasons they initially liked Firefox over IE. Principally, you don’t feel monopolized by one product. You have a new choice, more choice = the feeling of freedom. The new choice needs to be at least as good (in most use cases) as the old choice, and it seems that Bing is. There is a lot of irony here, being that Bing is from MSFT.
If you’d like to see Twitter results for all of your Bing searches, you can try http://www.surfcanyon.com. Make sure to check the “Twitter” box on my.surfcanyon.com. Oh, they’re added to Google and Yahoo, too. Enjoy!
Spam alert!
I’m enjoying it, as the battle between Google and Bing is getting intense by each passing day.
Is search becoming like one of those industries (like telecom) where its become financially impossible for the small player to do something innovative and corner the market from the big players? The servers, the spidering…that takes too much money man..
A monopoly to challenge another monopoly?
Bad idea..
No, it is not “becoming”…it has been that way for years. Microsoft is really one of the few companies (if not the only company) with the financial muscle and intestinal fortitude to even try. So from that perspective, it is actually a good idea for a monopoly to challenge another monopoly (Microsoft challenges Google on search, Google challenges Microsoft’s dominance of the desktop).
P.S. Feature innovation on the margins doesn’t really count. That happens in the operating system world too, but that doesn’t mean you can become an economically viable business.
I don’t *want* to like Bing — Microsoft never seems to have much of a handle on anything concerning the internet – they are followers, not leaders.
But – despite myself – I actually kind of like Bing. It’s crisp and clean (they’ll start adding the ads back in in volume a bit later – for now, the relative lack of ads is adding to the clean look and feel). It’s not indexing the number of sites that google indexes, but who cares? The results on the first page are pretty close to google’s for the searches I’ve tried.
Still, I hope they don’t get too much market share – if PPC advertisers are forced to spend more time managing adCenter PPC accounts, the advertisers will be the losers. The adCenter platform is horrible.
In the long term, it’s just so hard to imagine Microsoft (Microsoft!) taking any significant market share from a company like Google.
Eh, what you trade off in additional management overhead you might make up for in more competitive pricing in terms. We’ll have to see how it plays out though.
Way cool
This shows you just how desperate microsoft has become… Their PR hacks have taken to filling techcrunh and related sites with fake commenters claiming to actually like Microsot Bob… I mean Microsot Bing
I have switched to Bing now and as so many you have said, I have kept Google as a back up. I am enjoying it. More importanty, there is an urge every midnight to see a new photo on its main page. Its a killing move.
As far as real time tweets for few users, I dont think that’s gonna be useful for an average user.Imagine I am following a friend on Twitter and I anyhow get update on my facebook or to twitter so why would I concern myself spending time seeing twitter results on a search(sorry-decision engine).
But the curious thing is that many people still dont know about Bing. This reflects in the latest June data by some websites that Bing share has just climbed a single pct to 8%. Not a much gain. I was expecting that it would atleast cross double digit share…Good I didnt buy MS shares…:) for now….
I’ve been trying hard not to let myself like Bing. I think this is going to make it hard!
It’s becoming increasingly important to have Twitter in your search results. I found out about Billy Mays and Michael Jackson’s deaths on Twitter before they were posted anywhere else.
What are you guys talking about???
Bing does NOT give better results than google it is CLEAR on hundreds of searches I have done.
If you go to bing now they are featuring a “botanical garden”
I simply query bing “what is a botanical garden”
I get a bunch of websites that are botanical gardens. (not the answer to my question at all.)
Same query to google, and I get the definition, a wiki, and other of the same results.
Bing has never once given me a better result, ever. Bing also has a huge image around their search box that is NOT related to anything I could be searching for at any moment. Google wins with minimalism.
I don’t understand why some of you like bing. Do you actually think people will be switching over to bing ever? Do you think every library in the USA is going to say “wow bing is sooo much better than google they do twitter searches now WOW let’s use them.” Do you?
Bury!
Depends on your query. I never use the “What is a” syntax. But for example, here’s something I told someone to query today, “ssa use def” (w/o the quotes). I expected the right thing to come up. On Bing the top hit is on the money (wikipedia entry for static single assignment). On Google it goes to an answers.com page about the social security administration.
In this case Bing seemed to do a much better job getting that “use”, “def” and “ssa” have special meaning together for static single assignment, but are just random words when applied to social security — Bing did the right thing.
Right now both search engines are really close. Soemtimes Google is better. Sometimes Bing. I think this is the first time I can ever remember when there’s been a search engine that beats Google as often as it loses to it.
Minimalism is your preference, not a reason Google “wins”. If Bing’s daily image were performance degrading (and I personally have not found that to be the case), then you would have a better argument on that point.
Instead, I find the daily Bing image makes the very mundane task of web searching actually be a bit more refreshing and fun…and the results are not really that much different (in fact, Google can be a bit spammy at times because their index is so large).
I really think Bing is better overall.
Better search experience, better interface and comparable results.
PERIOD.
But I understand that people without a 20/20 vision cannot see it.
And people who aren’t being paid by Microsoft
And people who can’t handle the truth.
This is a great move. A few months ago I installed a small greasemonkey script that placed 5 recent Twitter results above the results of a Google search.
I was really surprised to see how useful of a tool this was, and now I feel naked without it. I think that this is more of a testament to the fact the the true power of Twitter is the search.
Hehe.
This is the FIRST advanced MS product ‘Siegler’ has ever seen and ‘he is impressed’. 
ROFL
Try something else! Here’s the short list:
1. MS SQL server
2. .net framework
3. MS server
No, guys, really, don’t fire him, he’s such a funny clown, I won’t go to the circus no more, I will read ‘Siegler’ instead.
right now it’s 50/50 for me on instinct, but when I’m being very intentional about a search I’ll go to bing.
It’s all about design. kudos to Microsoft on this one.
Search is “all about design”???? Not for most people my friend.
It’s a lot about how you display and present the results, particularly for people with 20/20 eyesight.
So, the actual search engine doesn’t matter, just the presentation?
All else being equal, or good enough…then yes, presentation matters a lot.
I like the Bing, in fact I turned it to my default provider a couple of weeks ago…
Only I find myself out of habit using the Google toolbar more often than not. I have been using the Google toolbar and not the browsers search bar for years because of the suggest feature it offers… I guess to fully break the habit I would have to un-install the Google toolbar, only I won’t because I look at their page rank feature all the time.
I hope that Bing will allow people to turn on/off this twitter feature, while I see its cool for some, and maybe even useful, it would annoy me. When I am searching for something it is not 140 characters, it is for a how to article, maybe a paper on a subject, not 140 character random postings.
Agreed
It always amazes me when people are surprised Microsoft steps up to the plate and delivers.
All the comments about idiots running the company and no talent programmers writing the software is hilarious! Here’s a news flash….MS didn’t become a global powerhouse by accident.
Can’t you just hear some of the back office gossip that occurred…
Novell…Screw MS, we own 95% of the networking market.
Sony…So those nerdy geeks in Seattle thinks they can produce a game box.
IBM… Has MS signed that OS/2 development agreement yet?
Borland…MS sucks at development tools, we own the OOP market (Hi Anders)
Netscape…How cute MS is making a web browser (Ok MSIE 6 really sucked)
Google…What’s that approaching in the rear view mirror?
Gen Custard…Should we be concerned with them Indians?
Microsoft can dominate any market like nobody else can; it may take them several swings!
Good one!
I think the complete strategy circle behind Bing is getting clear, At first when it was launched it directly placed itself with Google so that users started comparing the services and results i.e. where it matched Google for points of parity After a while they started launching the new and new features which are unique to Bing in this way they are carving a way for themselves i.e. they looking for points of differentiation.
@Chris: You exactly got the point, I only use Google toolbar these days and Bing is my choice for searches, hopefully Bing has something in store to match those services as well.
Sonal Maheshwari
USourceIT: Your single source for all IT needs
Video killed a radio star.
Real-time search killed a search engine star.
Poor Google doesn’t know what’s happening and seem clueless how to respond.
Isn’t it puzzling how Microsoft can roll out so many duds and then turn around and give us this superior search engine?
Plus they’ve come up with a great social media push with Facebok that indicates they might be ‘getting it’.
Hmm, very interesting move indeed. Microsoft have had so many failed attempts at a good search engine it’s refreshing to see they finally seem to be nailing it. Will they be rewarded with market share though?
Something stinks about Bing and the market coverage of it.
How much are you guys being paid to cover it so much and so positive?
They’ve just slapped a new sticker on their old search engine with a few tweaks – but none that warrant the glee that you journo’s are flooding towards it.
I stumbled on this hack at Tweetcamp London 09. A blog I set up on the day was indexed immediately and it topped the SERPS for the keyword “tweetcamp”
Google search is still the best for web traffic.
Nice work … I love the new wave of internet, realtime it’s very intrested, i found a beta realtime media search for videos and live stream that looks very good http://www.movip.tv for now it’s just for invited people but look good
I would like nothing more than to have Bing pick up more market share. (my pages rank better in Bing)
for some reason I can’t see any twitter results on Bing.
Adding Twitter is a good start, but if Bing wanted to really be innovated they’d incorporate Metaflavor.com into their restaurant and dining search results.
I think you meant “innovative” Robert. The challenge would be how would Bing display Meta Flavor’s 4 million menu items and 2 million photos?
Twitter is a great start but if Bing wanted to be really innovative they’d start incorporating MetaFlavor.com into their restaurant and dining results.
“this will be seen as Bing doing something Google cannot”
I think this is vastly incorrect; Google can very easily implement that if they *wanted* to, I’m sure (Twitter provides the API necessary to make this sort of service easy). The main things I see against it, however, is not everyone uses Twitter. Why include results that only a select group of people want to see (especially considering it’s useless)?
My honest opinion: Google should implement this for people to enable who *want* to use it, but not for everyone. I personally would hate to see that spam on my Google search results.
I’d filter it if ever it appears on my results with AdBlock.
One of the things that I don’t understand is how is Yahoo able to maintain the 10% of the market that it has even after all the hype bing has generated. http://gs.statc...090626-20090702
yahoo is the top 10 most visited site in the world, and it has millions of users using their mail services. with such a large user base, 10% is easily achievable
One thing I noticed about Bing is that it seems to convert better so I am loving the slogan the decision engine or whatever they are saying in the commercials.
Bing is powerfull than before ..and i like this new features on BING …..
Bing stinks of control