Bing: The Decision Engine

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.decisionengine.com/Default.html' target='_blank'>http://www.decisionengine.com/Default.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1243652733.usr1.png" style="border: 0;" /></p><p>Bing is a new search engine that's coming soon - and, this may surprise some of you, it's a search engine coming from Microsoft. After years of not making much progress against Google, Microsoft is shifting gears and creating a new type of search engine. I'm sure it will have similar index results to Live Search - which isn't exactly a good thing given that Live Search doesn't always deliver results as solid as Google does - but it has some very interesting "meta tools" that look like they could be very useful. Basic search hasn't changed much in the past few years, so there's certainly room for innovation - Bing looks like it might deliver exactly that. <a href="http://www.decisionengine.com/Default.html" target="_blank">Check out the teaser video</a> and tell me what you think...</p>

[randalllewis]

Bing (the name is growing on me) certainly looks like it will be a better tool than Live Search. I go on and on here at times about marketing and while that has been part of Microsoft's problem in search, the far bigger problem is that Live Search just wasn't that good. For example, I can't think of the last time I did a Live search that did NOT return a Wikipedia entry as one of the top three or four items. I can just search Wikipedia myself if that is the source I want...and it most often is NOT.

The Bing video and a few reviews I've seen from people who used the demo give the impression of more relevant results to most searches, though there was one disappointing result I read somewhere when the user misspelled a word and Bing returned nothing rather than suggest "did you mean....?"

Certainly the Bing meta tools may be useful and I look forward to giving it a serious try. Just no Wikipedia results please.

I understand the attraction of the name Bing to Microsoft and I thought Ballmer's responses to Walt (I really don't like Microsoft) Mossberg were right on the money: short, pronounceable around the world, understandable, etc. I think an unspoken attraction of the name was that it doesn't follow the usual and painful Microsoft naming protocal. It is just Bing. It is not Microsoft Windows Bing Search Home Premium or some such nonsense. (I did notice that as part of rolling out Bing they were planning to change the name of Virtual Earth to Bing Maps for Enterprise! What the heck is that?)

Assuming the marketers can keep the lawyers away and not screw up the name, I think there is a real chance for Bing marketing to be successful.

[Jason Dunn]

For example, I can't think of the last time I did a Live search that did NOT return a Wikipedia entry as one of the top three or four items. I can just search Wikipedia myself if that is the source I want...and it most often is NOT.

Not that I'm defending Live Search results as being particularly awesome, but I constantly see the Wikipedia result as #1 or #2 in Google for almost everything I look up...so they're certainly not alone in doing this. Unlike you though, I actually like getting the Wikipedia result shown to me. :)

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Me too! I like having Wikipedia results shown up as well. It makes a great springboard for further searches, and personally I feel Wiki's own search isn't too hot.

[doogald]

Based on the results if this search (http://www.bing.com/search?q=should+I+use+Mac+or+PC%3F&go=&form=QBRE), it doesn't look like Microsoft is tweaking Bing's results to be more Microsoft-friendly. ;)

[Jason Dunn]

Based on the results if this search (http://www.bing.com/search?q=should+I+use+Mac+or+PC%3F&go=&form=QBRE), it doesn't look like Microsoft is tweaking Bing's results to be more Microsoft-friendly. ;)

They'd get crucified if they did, so they're doing the right thing. :)