Why I'm Dropping Bing For Google (by Dave Methvin)

[Lordbob75]

Why I'm Dropping Bing For Google

It's been about a month since I started a Bing experiment, and it's gone pretty well. Search results are about as good as Google (NSDQ: GOOG), sometimes better. After a month, though, I've decided to go back to Google. The problem isn't with the search results quality; it's all the other things that Bing doesn't do -- and some things it does that I wish it wouldn't.
I do at least a dozen searches a day. The Google page is no-nonsense and boring, with nothing there to distract you from your goal of entering the search terms and getting on with your work. Bing, on the other hand, opens with a breathtaking page of full-color distraction. Okay, I'm going to search for ... wow, Morocco, how exotic! I'd rather be there than sitting at my desk, but it's 11 in the morning and I really need to get some work done ... what was I searching for again?
They don't take a lot of space on the page, but the searches related to the pictures are distracting nonetheless. It's great to know that I can find "Deals on water slides" and "Ice cream treats nearby," but right now I need to get some work done. The "What other people are searching for now" section at the bottom of the search page is usually full of celebrity gossip. In the past month I've gotten an in-depth education about Jon and Kate, Tye Strickland, Maria Chapur, vitiligo, and other important issues facing our society. This ambiance gives me the impression I'm in the wrong place if I'm interested in doing serious business searches.
When I do want to know what's going on in the world, Google's customized searches and news pages do a much better job of delivering the news I want than Bing's search. I can get Bing to email me the results of a keyword search, but I can't view a customized page with the search results I want. Bing just doesn't match the depth of features that Google offers, and doesn't integrate them together the way Google does. Microsoft has a jumble of services under Bing, Live, and MSN with the potential to compete with Google, but they need better organization.
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) also needs to drop the hammer on sites that employ cloaking such as Experts Exchange. If you come to an Experts Exchange page from Google, you'll see the full discussion thread related to the topic that probably brought you to the page. You may have to scroll down a lot but the real content will be at the bottom. Come there from Bing, though, and the real content won't be there. All you'll see is a come-on to pay so you can see the answer. If they tried that with Google, they'd be thrown out of the search results.

http://www.informationweek.com/blog...l;jsessionid=NGID3LL0YL5MOQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN

He makes some good points. Same reasons why I don't use Yahoo!

~Lordbob

 

[Win7User512]

Yeah...but even with Google you get to wandering by clicking various [unrelated] search results.

 

[Gemini Man]

Yeah...but even with Google you get to wandering by clicking various [unrelated] search results.

Agreed...sometimes I get off topic by one link and end up on a 45 minute journey completely distracted until I get way off base from my original search. :huh:

 

[Iknewitwin7]

That's the exact same thing I tell people why I starting using Google. Before I even knew how good it was, I loved the fact that there are no distractions. Yahoo is probably the best example I can think of. Loads of information your eyes wonder to.

 

[vasujain]

atleast bing isnt keeping a track of ur search records and is thus nt peeping in2 ur world..

 

[User Name]

I have had enough instances where Bing found results that Google missed to stay with Bing.

 

[stormy13]

atleast bing isnt keeping a track of ur search records and is thus nt peeping in2 ur world..

Easy solution to that; Firefox with Adblock Plus and CustomizeGoogle.

And yes, Bing is a mess when unfiltered.

 

[Petoskey]

Don't use google or Bing, use SwagBucks. It's 100% free, and you get points. When you get enough, you can claim prizes!


Click the image below, and sign up. 100% free, not a scam. I got refered by my friend, and he got most of his points by shopping on the internet, and he got a free iPod from them. It took him a month to earn the points to get it.

 

[DJG]

I've been trying out Bing for a couple of weeks, and all I get are listings for my search, no extraneous stuff. I use it from the search bar in IE8.

 

[Pain]

Why would anyone waste their time going to either bing.com or google.com when you can just search directly in the browser toolbar and get the results? I got to wonder what kind of "experts" these reviewers really are.

I have tested Bing enough to see that the hit results are very similar to Google. The search tracking in google is enough to make me just permanently switch to Bing.

 

[Iknewitwin7]

Why would anyone waste their time going to either bing.com or google.com when you can just search directly in the browser toolbar and get the results? I got to wonder what kind of "experts" these reviewers really are.

I have tested Bing enough to see that the hit results are very similar to Google. The search tracking in google is enough to make me just permanently switch to Bing.

Hello Pain, Welcome to SevenForums!

You have made a good point, using the browser tool bar gets rid of the distractions of the home page itself.

I myself, use both and have seen different search results, but only slight differences. I think MS made a good thing with Bing, but I prefer the home page, because I don't like installing toolbars on my browsers.

 

[Dwarf]

I tend to favour Google (I have that set as my default), but I also ocassionally use Bing and Yahoo! as well (I have them set up as alternatives) because sometimes they pick up sources which are not picked up by Google (very rare, I know, but it does happen).

 

[Pain]

Hello Pain, Welcome to SevenForums!

You have made a good point, using the browser tool bar gets rid of the distractions of the home page itself.

I myself, use both and have seen different search results, but only slight differences. I think MS made a good thing with Bing, but I prefer the home page, because I don't like installing toolbars on my browsers.

Which current browser does not have a built in search tool with a selectable search engine?

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

Which current browser does not have a built in search tool with a selectable search engine?

IE6 for those who hate change.

 

[TechOutsider]

I wonder why MS did not bundle IE7 or IE8 with one of Windows XP's service packs.

As for Bing, it takes too long to load.

 

[hotbread]

No matter how much I tried to switch from Google to Bing, I find myself back on google 90% of the time. It's not that I don't like bing, it's that I really like google.

My homepage is google.com, but when opening a new tab in Firefox, it opens at both google/bing at the same time

bingandgoogle.com - Faceoff between bing & Google!

 

[Lordbob75]

Why would anyone waste their time going to either bing.com or google.com when you can just search directly in the browser toolbar and get the results? I got to wonder what kind of "experts" these reviewers really are.

I have tested Bing enough to see that the hit results are very similar to Google. The search tracking in google is enough to make me just permanently switch to Bing.

Welcome Pain. The problem with searching directly from the address bar is that it automatically goes to the first page result. For me, this is next to useless. My pages load fast enough that a second click is nothing. I have a Google Search Bar right next to my address bar that I use. I have not typed an address into the bar in months, because I can find it faster on Google, and if I mis-spell, I won't get directed to either an ad site, or a porn site (had that happen once with my mom....).

~Lordbob

 

[DJG]

Hello Pain, Welcome to SevenForums!

You have made a good point, using the browser tool bar gets rid of the distractions of the home page itself.

I myself, use both and have seen different search results, but only slight differences. I think MS made a good thing with Bing, but I prefer the home page, because I don't like installing toolbars on my browsers.

Welcome Pain. The problem with searching directly from the address bar is that it automatically goes to the first page result. For me, this is next to useless. My pages load fast enough that a second click is nothing. I have a Google Search Bar right next to my address bar that I use. I have not typed an address into the bar in months, because I can find it faster on Google, and if I mis-spell, I won't get directed to either an ad site, or a porn site (had that happen once with my mom....).

~Lordbob

I think (I could be mistaken) both of you missed the point. We're talking about the built-in search bar of IE8 next to the address bar, not the address bar itself or a third-party add-on toolbar.

I used to use the Google advance search page as my starting point, but now I use the IE8 search bar with my keywords and up comes the first search page for whatever your chosen search engine is. I can even use the Alt key to load it on a new tab.

 

[Klaw117]

I tend to use Bing for general search because it seems to do that rather well. However, Google clearly dominates when looking for maps and other stuff like that.

 

[Lordbob75]

I think (I could be mistaken) both of you missed the point. We're talking about the built-in search bar of IE8 next to the address bar, not the address bar itself or a third-party add-on toolbar.

I used to use the Google advance search page as my starting point, but now I use the IE8 search bar with my keywords and up comes the first search page for whatever your chosen search engine is. I can even use the Alt key to load it on a new tab.

Well you actually can search from the address bar, it just takes you to the first site. But hey may have been talking about that.

~Lordbob