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Bing adds more data to the first result if it is confident that the site is the best match for your query. This feature (already being used by Google) most often occurs for brand related searches. Search for apple for example and the first result will be an enhanced listing for apple.com and include deep links to the most popular areas of the site, a search box and a customer service number.
A useful feature that improves the speed of finding information is the ability to see a pop up with a summary of the text on a website as you roll-over links with your cursor. This allows you to find information without actually having to click through to the website itself.
MSN and Live Search were criticised in the past for their poor results, one of the reasons why users have
turned to Google since they provide supposedly better results. Well, Bing has improved! Results are more relevant to your query and a couple of new features improve usability and the speed of accessing information.
A proof of the relevancy of results can be seen on this blind search engine where users are given 3 sets of search results from the major search engines and asked to vote on their preferred set without knowing which engine each has come from. The site created by Microsoft employee, Michael Kordahi went live on 7 June. Initial results slightly favoured Bing. A day later, Google had pulled ahead. "Google: 45%, Bing: 33%, Yahoo: 21% | 8,518 votes" reported Google's search engineer Matt Cutts in a Twitter post. Although Bing has seen an early spike in usage, this has predominantly been driven by users giving it a try only to go back to their usual searching habits a few days later.
It will take a lot to get users to switch allegiance from Google. Microsoft need to come up with something dramatically different, something that users can't live without using on a daily basis.
According to Advertising Age, Microsoft is budgeting $80m-$100m to promote Bing. More recently, CEO Steve Ballmer has explained to shareholders that he will invest up to ten percent of Microsoft's earnings over the next five years - a move which could see the firm spending as much as $11billion on search.
Bing has improved dramatically over its predecessors and searching the web with Bing is now an enjoyable experience with some smart features, a great looking interface and better quality results. However it still lacks the wow factor and until Bing creates something truly out of the ordinary then: Bing Is No Google.
