3 Ways Bing Is Ahead Of Google
After years or slogging with no apparent cracks in Google's path to dominance, it finally seems as though there is competition emerging in the world of search. I was struck today by an article in VentureBeat (link below) outlining in an unbiased way three ways that Bing is ahead of Google.
They included:
Don't give me a link to the answer. Just give me the answer. Now that the Internet has gained truly mass adoption, research is showing that many people who search want to be shown answers and information directly rather than having to sift through a ton of links. Bing seems to have sensitivity to this trend.
Pictures are better than words. Bing uses every opportunity possible to put lots of images and video on the page and their Visual Search feature does a great job in scenarios where it is easier to find something based on images rather than sifting through a ton of text.
"Cards" show a summary of information for the most frequent search requests. A large number of searches are quick-reference requests for things like the weather and celebrity photos and stats. Bing meets this market-researched need by crafting what its developers call "cards" for frequently searched people, places and things. These short lists of a picture plus basic stats on the person, place or thing are displayed above the traditional Web links.
These changes aren't for everyone. There is still a massive need for the broader, less filtered information access across the web. But these areas of innovation do tap into the needs of a large number of users. The growth of Bing's market share to 10% of searches is no accident.
I also think that this "down to Earth" messaging, similar to their "I'm a PC" commercials, will appeal to the small businesses that we work with.
The one area where I will caveat the progress that I see Microsoft making is in mobile. Google realizes that much more of search is happening from wherever you are rather than when you're in front of a computer. Unless Microsoft brings the same intensity of innovation to mobile that they are to the general search experience, I fear that Google could trump them once again.
All in all, Microsoft is doing some great work and both they and their customers are starting to see the benefits. And it's not just in their core business (e.g. they needed to get Windows 7 right to survive and they did), but also in new areas. I for one am excited to see the competition and innovation.
Go Microsoft go!
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