Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Can Microsoft’s Bing threaten Google's dynasty?
Thursday, June 04, 2009 by Michael Holley
Microsoft's new search portal, Bing, was officially
launched yesterday (although it's been online in a partially
functional format longer), and the buzz on the web has been strong.
Bing replaces Microsoft's previous engine, Live Search, which
occupied a distant third in market share to the industry's only two
major players, Google and Yahoo.
But Microsoft is hoping that their hefty investment in improving
their search technology will earn them a large number of Bing
converts. Microsoft claims that its algorithms are optimized for
what research shows people use search for the most: shopping,
travel, and health. And Steve Ballmer is reportedly planning to
back the whole project up with $100 million in marketing.
While initial reviews on the site's interface and
functionality have been largely positive, naysayers raise an important question: what is
the incentive to change search engines? Was search "broken"
before?
Microsoft claims that search is, in fact, broken, and cites
research that tells us that 30 percent of searches are abandoned
without a satisfactory result. They hope to woo potential users
with the promise of a better, easier search experience that returns
results that are more relevant.
Bing's interface touts some attractive bells and whistles, most
notably the "hover" features that allows users to preview site
content (even videos) without clicking on a link, ideally saving
time normally wasted on browsing results by viewing them and having
to click the back button. However, the bread and butter, in my
opinion, is in the search technology. Microsoft has done a good job
at making small improvements on Google's basic idea, but if the
search results aren't better, users won't jump ship.
One thing's for sure: with Microsoft's checkbook fueling
marketing, Bing will get exposure. Whether or not it can generate
repeat users over a long period of time remains to be seen. It will
certainly take some compelling changes to pull me from my long-term
relationship with Google, but I think that competition in the
search market can only be a good thing. Google has enjoyed
uncontested rule for long enough; the introduction of another
formidable player should drive innovation that will benefit
everyone.
What do you think? Check out Bing here and leave your
comments!
Best,
Michael Holley
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support
& Consulting
Rochester
IT Support & Consulting
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