Consider this my first rant. I know, I know … it’s been nearly two weeks since my previous post and I should have something more interesting to discuss and, believe me, I do. However, “Who Uses Bing” is the first topic listed on my blog ideas I have saved in my iPhone notes. This topic actually came to me when I watched my professor go to Bing and type in “Google” before actually doing his search. Let me know in the comments section below if you have ever done this.
Bing is terrible. That may be a bit harsh, it’s not like I know anything about search algorithms, but seriously, Google is just a lot better. It was only a couple years ago when Microsoft formally launched its new search engine site and changed the name from the boring “MSN Search” (Live Search and Windows Live Search–also terribly boring names–were also used) to simply “Bing.” I remember watching some of the fabulous network news anchors poking fun of the name and trying to predict if people would start saying “Just Bing it!” as we all do with Google. Pretty sure I have never heard anyone use Bing as a verb and I don’t think I ever will. Well, there is the clever tagline “Bing and decide” used in it’s advertisements, but come on.
Okay, this is more of a rant than I wanted it to be, so let’s just head over to bing.com and see if the search engine can explain to me why Google is better. After reaching bing.com (which I typed in on my awesome Google Chrome Web browser), I proceeded to type in “why Google is better than Bing” and the auto-complete finished after typing in “why Goo,” nice. At least they’re playing fair and not trying to block certain search terms. Anyway, I came up with this nice article in the number two spot (the first site was an article from 2009 stating that Bing is a competitor, but it is not a “Google Killer”), which contained the 10 reasons why Google is still better than Bing.
There’s no reason to try and list my top 10 reasons; I think the above mentioned article speaks for itself. However, I say Google is king of search because of a few key reasons. First off, Google was founded as a search engine company and has always kept the focus on speed and finding the most relevant, pertinent information regarding the user’s search term. Secondly, Google really optimizes the user Web experience through additional tools such Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail and much, much more. Finally, Google has done an outstanding job of integrating its search function into mobile platforms. Google Goggles, voice search and the entire iPhone app is a great addition to the mobile experience.
I think I’ll finish there before I get into a rant on why I think even Yahoo! is better than Bing. Somehow Bing has managed to overtake Yahoo! as the world’s number two search engine, so I guess I’ll congratulate them on that.
Wheeler Blogs. 
Nice Wheeler! I have actually used bing to search for “google” before too. I have been using google for over a decade and I have grown to trust it more than any other search engine.
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Awesome post. Do you mind if I ask what your source is for this information?
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There are a minority of us users who DO use Bing. I switched to Bing because Google was not giving me the search results _I_ was looking for. So I tried Bing and have rarely gone to Google, except for their excellent translation feature. I find Bing easier to use, and _for me_ the results are on par with what I find on Google when I search for the same things.
Google is good for most people, but not everyone.
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You know what? You’re right. In my little rant on how much I hate Bing, I failed to mention some of the good aspects of Bing. I actually use Bing’s Airfare Predictions just about anytime I plan a trip which requires me to fly and, as someone with an advertising background, I definitely can appreciate Bing’s mobile ad push. Though I never purposely click on a Bing ad on my iPhone, I do find them intriguing sometimes. Thanks for your input.
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I, too, use Bing Travel. When Google-ITA comes out with their travel search, I’ll try that as well.
And, I am embarrassed to say it, but another reason I use Bing is because of their background images. I know that one can add a background image to Google, but it is not the same as seeing a unique, gallery-quality image like those found on Bing. Bing’s editors go to great effort to choose appropriate background images that complement the placement of their “clickable” features. Every time I go to Bing, I learn something new about the world. Many Googlers hate those background images and prefer the nearly blank screen of Google. The opposite is true for me: I dislike going to Google and seeing just a plain search box.
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Another good point. The background images are nice and I do usually learn something each time I visit Bing, which is usually by accident. I think I’m mainly hooked on Google because I use Chrome, which is the lightest, fastest and most efficient browser. I also love Google’s mobile search features. Being able to search by voice commands or by snapping a picture not only make searching a little easier, but more fun too.
Thanks again for your comments.
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I liked Chrome as well, but it crashed too much on my laptop, and I’ve installed it dozens of times. Since I used to own a Mac, I went back to Safari, only this time it is running under Windows.
Have you see the Bing iPad app?
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I haven’t had any problems with Chrome except a few weird things with Chrome for Mac. I’ll have to check out the Bing iPad app when I get the chance. I haven’t caved and bought an iPad yet.
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These people can pretend this is a microsoft search engine. But from my experience the only reason I ever run into it, is because either that or this other hellish experience called “conduit”. Tend to be auto installed some times when you use facebook or just one random pop up. The this garbage of resetting my homepage occurs and it’s always bing or conduit. Technically that makes them malware. To me, bing is just malware and I don’t care what they think. I want microsoft to know they wasted their money.
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I actually searched this in Bing. On Google Chrome.
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