It is too early to compare Bing with the other two major search engines ( Bing calls itself a decision engine, but its a search engine nevertheless), but that is exactly what Tom Spring of PC World has been upto.
Spring starts off by comparing the home pages of the three. He seems to have been attracted by the flashy Bing home page which also provides quick access to Bing Travel, MSN etc. The simple home page of Google is what I like and since many people search from toolbars, it really doesnt matter how the homepage looks like and to a lesser extent, what functionalities it provides.
Then comes the Search Results. Google and Yahoo’s “no frills” search results page showing relevant links are like better than the Bing’s categorized results and the left-hand panel having options to focus the search. But with experts in Semantic search pointing that presenting more data in the available screen space is what the future is all about, I think Bing is heading in the right direction.
The article then compares the results got for Popular Searches, Airfare search, Hotel Search and in all these Bing seems to have got the upper hand or almost on par with Yahoo. One thing for sure is that Google lags behind both of these in these aspects.
Refining results through the Explorer Pane of Bing got the thumbs up of the author, mainly because it is ever present and similar facilities have to be obtained in Google and Yahoo through extra clicks. But I feel Google’s options are better ( and of course, I havent tried the Bing yet).
Then comes the comparisons of the video search facilities of the SEs. Here to Bing seems to have got the author’s attention. I basically feel, from the screenshots, there is little to choose between Bing and Google in this aspect and Google seems more funtional. And when it comes to shopping Yahoo is preferred, eventhough all the three seem to be neck and neck when it comes to Shopping related features. Bing’s cashback feature stands out though. Local searches, again Bing wins and by seeing the official Bing video, I can really see that Bing is very functional for local searches. Yahoo wins in the Health search field, with Bing close behind.
And of course Maps. Here it should be obvious who the winner is - Google. This is one field that Google has constantly outdone itself.
From the author’s assessment, it seems that Bing is better than the competition. What surprises me is that Yahoo consistently fares better than Google in many areas. Does this show something about the SE arena? People want to stay with what they are used to . Google need not fear much about Bing or Wolfram Alpha or any other that comes by, as long as it continues to innovate — which it surely does. After all, it just has to retain its customers. Bing and others have a bigger problem of winning customers. Bing show promise, but its not miles ahead. It is a good start, but still much work has to be doen to woo customers and unseat Google from its throne. And knowing Microsoft, it just might be possible. And again knowing Micorosoft, Bing might become a flash in the pan.
