5 Humble Reasons why I think Bing is actually better than Google !
Okay, lets shake off Google from our “perception” that there could be nothing better than it. We love it, and we knew nothing can get better than Google. But, though its hard to digest, Bing is actually bringing cracks on the wall. Let me not go to the extent saying that Bing outdoes Google..no. Bing performs better than Google in some areas, and that’s a reality. Let’s check.
1. Bing’s Related Search gives you more insight about your original search, its very friendly.
Which is very smart. On Google, you have the related search popping up at the end of the page, but I rarely see them because I’m more focused on the information I’m looking for, so I stay on the top area, and I rarely go down to the end.
Where as in Bing, the related search (which by the way is very relevant) shows up right on the left hand side, unobtrusively, and readily serves my purpose.
Google Screenshot: Showing the related search towards the bottom, which are often not found.
2. Bing gives me more options to choose from when I search for a product, Google doesn’t even bother.
Most of the time, Bing is really good when I search for products. It somehow “detects” that I’m looking for a product. And we all love product comparisons, and Bing shows me all the possible options, saving me a few clicks and time.
Google, on the other hand fails to detect products that I’m searching for, and gives me less options when compared to Bing. It shows images only when it detects a familiar query related to images or when I use strings that relate to images in my original query.
3. Many a times, Bing is more intelligent than Google if not powerful.
Have you noticed it ? Even though I’ve found that Bing does not give you precisely relevant results, it understands your query better than Google. Look at the following screenshot, where it gives me relevant results based on my original query.
And now, see what Google gives me.
Wait..I know what you’re thinking. They are relevant indeed, but if you think of it from a end user perspective, I’d relate more with terms suggested by Bing, than Google when I’m searching for “Buy Nikon D 80” right ?
4. Bing has a cool advanced search menu, don’t even think of using the Google Advanced search !
If you’ve tried Bing you’ll know what I mean. First off, clicking on Bing’s advanced search menu won’t take me to another page with a huge form to fill up (I know it’s not a form but it looks like one, that’s enough to scare me). That itself is a big turn off for me, when using Google advanced search, so I don’t use it at all.
On the other hand Bing has this cute little advanced search menu tucked in at the top neatly, that its a pleasure using it. It doesn’t have anything too technical there, just asks for your search preferences. The site/domain is the only thing at least a little bit “technical” here.
Check out the Google advanced search “panel / page”
If I knew how all this advanced AND, OR thing worked, I would’ve found the site – bought the camera already. I’m trying a basic..simple search, this is too technical.
5. Bing saves me a lot of time and energy. Google is sluggish.
You know the crux of an efficient search engine would be to deliver the best result in the lest possible time, right ? In that case, Google is sluggish. Bing has this excellent site preview tool, that saves me loads of time, because I don’t have to actually visit the site and make another judgement about the site is trustworthy or not.
In Google, it only points me to the site / sites and leaves the rest to me. I have to visit each site, and find out if the guys is trust worthy or not. Takes away lots of my time.
Bing on the other hand is like this friendly guide who says – “Mani, here are these 3 sites which are about the thing you searched, and here’s a preview of them, don’t waste your time going through, I know that this guy on the top is really good – check him out! ”
And I gladly would go for his recommendation, saves a lot of time and energy (and clicks).
So, there you go. Five reasons why I think Bing could be a better search engine than Google. I agree that Google is bigger, better index, powerful and all that but sometimes, being big isn’t enough. There are these seemingly small things that might make a big difference.
P.S – I took my SEO hat off while writing this, if you know what I mean.
good one
I see that you have carefully and closely watched how bing works
I still like Google better for now. The reasons you gave me just now doesn’t really phase me at all.
But, I guess I could give Bing another try.
I can’t see the preview button in search result in Bing (Mozilla Firefox browser). May be the reason bcoz I have installed the SEOQuake addon?
But it is visible in Google Chrome browser… Please clarify.
Thanks in advance
Raj
Probably yes Raj, check if you can see the preview turning off the plugin.
Bing FTW for shopping and travel. Goog FTW for evergreen information.
Bing for That Time and Google for All Time
I’ve never used bing – and thanks to your post (truly) you’ve saved me the headache of trying it. I already know where to shop for the best deals on anything I buy online, including travel, and shopping appears to be bing’s only saving grace. Thanks for this direct and enlightening post!
I see your points, but until Bing’s search index improves they are always going to be 2nd rate. For example, Google has over 200 pages on my site indexed, while Bing only has 6. What makes it worse is that Bing has indexed my XML sitemap which dynamically lists all my URLs in real-time.
I don’t have any special obstructions that would be stopping Bing, so they need to get with the ball!
Thing is with Bing it was always a case of giving the search engine enough time to learn (index). Since this article was published, I have started getting better results from Bing than I get from Google. It really down to enough time having elapsed. I’ve now removed Google as my homepage and have switched to Bing which also provides a decent photo to look at each day.
This is very true^^^^^. MS is investing so much money into this and it is improving every day for example go to google and bing and search “Australia” try to make any valid points on how google has arranged it better than bing. There is just no comparison in parts like this. I estimate in half a year to a year bing will truly be better than google in almost all fields(it really needs to improve its image search).
While Bing does all and more that you have stated, Bing seems to fail in niche topical searches. Perhaps, Bing is yet to index the entire web. Infact, there are popular sites which are yet to be discovered by Bing. As an emarketing/creative firm, we have had to personally contact MSN/Bing to have a few sites indexed though they didnt have any flaws.
Maybe, I will wait for some more time, before I vouch for Bing.
http://www.ideasonic.com
Yes you are right that Bing is best then Google but there are many things those are leaving the Bing behind.
Like wonder wheel etc.
bing is good, i am geting a lot trafic from him, but google is still google and it is nomber one search engine that generates me almost all traffic.
i like bing webmaster tool, it is better for me that google, more easier
So how do I get indexed by bing?
I’ve tried several times, and every time it stops halfway through
I hope Bing takes over in popularity. Google has been top dog for too long.
Looks like you have used Bing for lot of time to come up with these many comparisions.
Hello Mani,
I really appreciate your deep research on Bing..However i still like Google..maybe because i am using it from so may years and i become use to of it. anyways..Google is also doing great modifications in it’s search algorithm. A recent update is showing that Google is working on a new secret search engine technology, currently nicknamed “Caffeine,” that could really shake up search results and existing Google rankings.
Let’s see what will happen
this is really interested comparison, but i think choosing search engine to search is based on what options we need to use, most of people make easy search and Google does this job 100%.
I cannot make a judge about Bing because i never use it, but after your good comparison i will give it a look.
thank you
Bing is definitely making inroads, and the fact that their offering performs superior to Google’s on several fronts is exactly what is driving their success.
i have noticed that Bing is very good when searching for something in particular p[like in ur case: 'a' particular product (and anything about the product) or a company, or a travel search - it has to be some entity, something particular]
but google takes the cake when u are searching for something ‘but u dont know what u will find’ yet you know ‘what you are finding’ (got a bit complicated there eh!).
As a researcher, i use bing for company searches (thats most of what i do) but for data on the companies such as news etc I use google as that gives me the best sources.
I’m just curious how many of these postings are pure spam…?
Half of them don’t even know the topic of the post was BING
all said and done, a great analysis from a online marketing expert, but have you ever tried thinkin from the customers prespective.
how many customers actually knew or still know that a thing like bing exists. for all the clutter and fancy shows that bing offers i dont think that even come near to google in terms of simplicity and great end result delivered.
Bing is really newest searchengine sistem, it is a fact but Google has much more traffics, and more potential to grow. I think Google does not say your final word.
Bing answers your question directly . No beating around the bush. Many many times Google will give you tons of information that really not directly related to your question ;. for example Google : [is coffee very rich in anti oxidants?] Now do the same search on Bing. No contest I’m changing my home page
I totally think your right! Bing Is Way Better Than Google!
I agree Bing has got something interesting to show, good article from a general perspective.
“AND” and “OR” are quite simple expressions tho. It’s plain english man…
Nice!
I would have taken this article more seriously if the author hadn’t admitted that he didn’t have enough brain power to comprehend how the Google Advanced Search works. Come on, really?
Moral of this post: Stupid people use Bing.