Everyone is so quick to condemn Microsoft these days. And that’s a real shame.

MS have a lot of problems (a lot). But they also employ many of the best developers in the world. They have Office, which is worth every penny.

They had XP (brilliant according to most), Vista (a dud according to most) and now the eagerly anticipated operating system “7″ (which from what I’ve read is looking like another “win”).

Microsoft’s problem is that no-one seems to be approaching Bing with an open mind. I get the impression everyone knows they’re going to try it out but are going to feel really dirty doing it.

What are we all so afraid of? That they might have created something better than Google? (shock! horror!)

I intend to give Bing a go and to give it every chance. The worst thing that could happen is that Google will get even better as a result of this.

So can we all please say “Thanks Microsoft!” for doing something truly innovative (because as an ideal at the very least, that is what Bing is).

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Google might be a verb, but cast your mind back to the days when Yahoo had the dominant market share.

As much a people like to Microsoft bash, I cant help but feel that if they come up with something that is truly innovative that people want, why shouldn’t they win the search space back again?

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On Friday our newly-launched startup got some press (ZDNET) and we added ourselves to a relevant Wikipedia entry. Bing brings up both in top search results.

Nowhere to be found in Google. Also Bing brings up more current Twitters than Google.

No fan of Microsoft here, but maybe this’ll give Google a little push?

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Considering Bing was only announced by Microsoft on 28th May, it’s not surprising you haven’t heard about it. Although I guess 4 days is a lifetime for headlines on the internet.

It also seems that Microsoft is deliberately avoiding the epic hype they usually try to bring with new product launches. Perhaps because of past failures with this strategy. Techically, machine learning algorithms for search engines, like those Bing uses, are susceptible to catastrophic failures early on, so maybe Microsoft don’t want to set the bar too high just yet.

To Lachy and Dave I have to say that I think for every MS hater, there are 2 MS fanboys so they don’t need to be given pity.

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The fact that you, dear author, wrote about Bing, implies you’ve now heard of it, so will the many many 1000s, who are now tired of plain, overwhelming, getting stale sooner or later search results from Google.

I am ready for efficient, new ways to get to where i want to be, without always starting from the same blank canvas!

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@Lachy, Dave: I’m not trying to condemn Microsoft. In fact I use a lot of their products (which are very useful). I would suggest however that a number recent Microsoft releases have been a little let down by their follow through.

@Brent: I wouldn’t describe myself as an MS hater, but more as an individual who uses the tools that will get the job done most efficiently and effectively.

Great comments and thoughts guys, keep them up!

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Just as a side note here, Kaushik makes a good point which leads to an interesting question… Do you think Microsoft will be able to maintain the efficiency they are promoting if and when sites start to set themselves up for Bing SEO?

Ideally, a business would set themselves up as best as possible to be found on both sites. This would ensure the maximum amount of traffic is generated from SEO as possible. A business would still not want to neglect their own marketing outside of SEO however.

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I agree strongly with Brent, and is a sense all of you. my point;
Microsoft is crap.

…but really, so is Google. I must admit that in the game of internet domination, (also in software release and update speed) Google has the monopoly, but in a general scale, they’re pretty even. If you take piracy out of the equation altogether; Google makes money from internet, Microsoft makes money from software and OS.
Considering that Google’s had a huge influence on this and earlier generations, i doubt Microsoft will be able to win them back without something amazing. Which bing isn’t. It’s a fancy name and look for live! search.

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Hi Josh

Bing won’t even get out of the starting gate for me because it is limited to 10 search results – which for me is quite useless and a fatal limitation. It appears to use the same algo as Live, which brings up (in my opinion) skewed SERPs. My sites don’t even appear on the first 10, as they always do in G and Y, so that puts it firmly im loser country with the rest of their recent offerings.

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To understand where Bing is going, sit on the shoulder of Chinese or Taiwanese people. MS is positioned quite differently in their minds, so they are into Bing. From where I was watching, my hunch looks good – go ahead and see if it holds up.

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