I have been meaning to write about the new Search (sorry… I mean “decision”) Engine launched by Microsoft in early June, Bing.com.
I have to say, I really like Bing.
Though Google is still my search tool of choice, Bing has been catching on quickly and is gaining some market share albeit mainly from Yahoo’s user base from what I have read.
Following are some of the things I like about Bing and how it approaches them differently from the competition:
1. The homepage always has a new main image that does not detract from the all important search box, but is nice to look at. It kind of reminds you to get out and see the actual world we live in as opposed to sitting in an office behind a computer forever ;) As you move your cursor around the image you uncover little “hotspots” that offer cool tidbits of information.
2. Search results are formatted nicely. Aside from the normal presentation you see in Search Engines for organically indexed sites, Bing tries to offer deeper results displayed in an empowering way. Often, if it’s a very popular site, some important links (within the site) will be listed underneath the main indexed listing. Sometimes even a search box will appear under the result so you can immediately search within that site. Sometimes relevant news articles, weather, traffic data, etc show up as well. You can even hover your cursor over a result, and a little pop-up will display on the side of it that will show you a text preview of how your query relates to the site.
3. Great image search that allows you to scroll forever instead of paginating. Again, you can get additional info on each image by holding your cursor on the image you are interested in. The filtering tools are great as well and allow you to zero in on your target image.
4. Video search ROCKS! Seriously, I think Bing has to be the best on the web in this area. The awesome thing about Bing’s video results is that you can hover over a thumbnail and it will play a preview of the video. Not a chopped up version of the video… the actual video itself, with audio, in the thumbnail!
5. Finally, I would say that Bing has picked the perfect time to approach shopping the way they have. You can find great deals with their CashBack program. Additionally, filters allow you to sort the search results of goods and services by popular points of interests such as reviews filtered by screen size, resolution and price for items such as monitors.
Check it out!
