Bing vs. Google results compared in blind search test
With the deal between Microsoft and Yahoo, which sees Bing become the search solution for both companies, sights can now be set firmly on Google. But all the behind-the-scenes work counts for nothing if Google is quite simply a lot better at delivering results than Bing. But does it? A blind search should solve the riddle and settle the Bing vs. Google argument.
Microsoft search efforts have up to now been plagued by varied results, poor branding, a distinct lack of advertising, and the Google effect. Which is that with Google being so goddamn brilliant, there’s no need to ever visit another search engine. However, Bing is different. It has strong branding, even if the name did at first remind me of a character from Friends, has been advertised well, and is already eating away at Google’s significant market share lead.
Bing is doing well at this stage, and is likely to do even better when the Yahoo deal comes into effect. But early growth will slow or be reversed very quickly if the search results aren’t good enough. As a loyal Google Search user for many years, I’ve dabbled with Bing and found it to be very promising. But Google is still my homepage because it’s consistent and I know I can rely on its results.
However, testing out the blind search tool by Michael Kordahi, a Developer Evangelist at Microsoft has made me reevaluate my loyalty to Google. Many people, probably including myself, are indoctrinated to a certain way of thinking, so putting a Google logo above a set of search results from Yahoo would probably help me see them in a favorable light. The answer is, of course, to strip away the branding and conduct a blind search on the three most popular search engines.
You simply conduct a search as you would normally but then choose which set of results you found most helpful. The results from the first eight weeks of the blind search tool show Google still leading the way on 41 percent, Bing second on 31 percent, and Yahoo on 28 percent. But rather than justify Google’s massive market share lead, those results make it clear that the market shares should be much more evenly spread out.
And I personally found I was choosing the Bing results the majority of the time, which is something I never expected. Maybe it’s time to move over to Bing completely. Sorry Google, your time is up.
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August 19th, 2009
I tried it but can’t stand the image search.
It sucks plain and simple.
If you right click and open link in a new page it gives you all the images in your search and not the one you expected. So if the image is way at the bottom of the search you have to wait for the page to load again and scroll all the way down again. Then you select the image and wait for that page to load.
If they fixed this I would use it.
August 19th, 2009
Yeah, I’d have to agree on the Image search. The problem Microsoft has is differentiating Bing from Google Search. Too little and it’s pointless, too much and it doesn’t work, like Bing Images.
August 20th, 2009
Hi Dave,
You make a rather sweeping statement, when you dismiss a search engine that’s been such an important part of our Web culture for the past several years, if not our pop culture. Personally, I would like to know how you reached that conclusion.
Why not publish the list of the searches you conducted to justify your statement that Google’s “time is up”.
Look forward to reading you,
Tom
August 20th, 2009
I like to say I “Spaced It” I us Infospace.com – you get Bing, Google, Ask and Yahoo results and twitter.
August 24th, 2009
I started using Google long before it became the dominating force it is today on the web. It’s so funny to me because at the time, when I would mention and brag about this new Google search engine that yielded amazing results compared to the others ; no one had heard of them. And today, everyone uses Google!!
After using Bing over the past few weeks and comparing a number of search results between the two competitors, I must honestly say that Microsoft has truly improved their search engine enough to make a difference this time around. Before the launch of Bing, I absolutely had no regard for any of the other search engines and used Google 100%. I now find myself splitting my search queries between Google and Bing while.
Additionally, Microsoft will soon offer a free online “lite” version of its MS Office which will be another smart move by Microsoft to help close the gap with Google. Google is still the better choice overall and rightfully so with Bing still being in its infancy stages. However, the road ahead gets very interesting.
August 24th, 2009
How do I get rid of this new ‘GreenAV’ Virus? I am thinking about going to Apple to get anyway from this intrusive piece of crap!