4.29.2010

Bing!

Hi all. I don't know if you're anything like me- if you are, you're just one of those people who learns one thing, gets really good at it, and passes on all the alternatives to stay in your comfort zone.
If I don't make any sense, I'm talking specifically about search engines. I love Google- I learned how to use it eons ago, I probably use it a million times every day, and it works for me. So when all the buzz came around about Bing, I didn't think twice.
I was in a lab the other day and needed to search for something, so I immediately went to the little search bar in the upper right hand corner of the web page I was on. I'm so used to the search bar being for Google that I was really surprised when I hit enter and Bing delivered my results. It looked interesting, so I looked into it a bit. Bing, Microsoft's 'decision engine,'(they're very hard core about this distinction apparantly) is, after all, supposed to be the 'worthy competitor' to Google..

So I made a list of Bing's features that kind of stood out to me to give any of you diehard Google users a look..

Bing Features:
* Explorer Pane: This is a pane on the left-hand side where you can not only see your results organized into categories and related searches.
* Related Searches: A section that shows more organized and relevant results. It's supposed to be a better showcase than Google's.
* You can preview the content of the sites which show up as results from your search. This is supposed to help users weed out sites that don't pertain to what they're looking for.
* Preview a video without clicking on it simply by holding your mouse over it.
* Track and store your previous searches in your search history.


* Video Search: You can filter your search by length of video, resolution, etc..
* Image Search: Scrolling through images instead of flipping through lots of pages.
* Shopping Search: Sort results by price, brand, category, and even see reviews.
* Instant Answers:
o Math calculations
o Check flight status by typing in flight number (pretty cool!)
o Direct stock info

My opinion? Bing looks great, but way too super organized and hi-tech for me. I don't go lots of flights, and I don't have a lot of issues not finding what I'm looking for in my non-Bing searches now. Maybe in a few years I'll have to switch to Bing, but for now, I'm happy with Google.

2 comments:

Rachel Pryz said...

I completely agree: I'm not just content, but happy with Google. I've only used Bing! by accident through using the tool bar and not realizing it wasn't powered by Google. Additionally, I've found with Bing! that I am not as satisfied with the results I receive, as I would be with Google. For example, searching for "Chris Harvey Jour352 Spring 2010" in order to find the Syllabus only turns up a 2004 syllabus. Google, however, gives me exactly what I need.

Naz Beyranvand said...

I agree with all of this. I think I am so used to Google that I am not ready to shift to Bing yet. Also, when I search for things compared to Google, I don't get the results I am looking for. Although it has nice detailed subheads such as maps, travel, history, videos, I still am not ready change from Google to Bing. Hopefully, with more advertising and practice, we can understand Bing and it's search engine better.