Microsoft announce new Bing search engine

Bing is to take over from Live, which has powered MSN search since 2006 and officially launches on 3rd June 2009. It's billed by Microsoft as "a decision engine" and not a search engine, although to all intents and purposes it is one - it works like one and behaves like one, so as in ducks, it is one, regardless of what the marketing people would have us believe.

But is it good enough to take on the mighty Google?

Probably not. As nice as it is to use, It would probably take a technology revolution to break Google's current domination of the web search arena, and Bing is most definitely not that. But it does have some nice added features that might win over some of those who are aware that there are other search engines than Google. In particular the way quick links to related search "topics" are shown on the left of your search results, and expanded snippets and page links are popped up on the right when you mouse over the icon on the right really do help refine your search quickly.

But these are mostly refinements of what has gone before, and Microsoft are so far behind in the race that Google will be able to cherry pick off the best features to keep their advantage long before Bing threatens too many inroads into their market share.

So, credit to Microsoft for what looks like a big step forward, but unfortunately I don't think its enough of a challenge - which is a shame, as Google's dominance of search, particularly in the UK is very unealthy indeed, and we as marketers would love to see the real competition in the marketplace that is currently lacking.

Why not give Bing a try for yourself: www.bing.co.uk