Google is verb.  It has become part of our language.  Even the most computer illiterate know that ‘googling’ means searching the internet.  I understand that Google commands over 60% of all internet searches, which is truly incredible. So Microsoft aren’t known for taking a back seat to competitors.  Over the years we have seen their relentless attitude to winning market share, with the dominance of Windows, and the prevalence of Word and Office (remember Wordpefect and Lotus 1-2-3?).  Exchange now dominants corporate email, with more than half the remaining Lotus Notes users moving to Exchange last year alone.  And we’ve seen antitrust action in various courts in the battle of the browsers. So now we come to the great search engine war.  Microsoft’s first few sallies were rebuffed.  Their deal with Yahoo fell through.  Their share of the market was reported recently at a paltry 6%.  I’m told that the word ‘Google’ was banned at Microsoft (but then again, allegedly so too are iPhones and I know for sure than one or two Microsoft employees have them!) This weekend, a new front was opened up in the war.   Microsoft search is now called “Bing”.  It’s hard to see that being a verb.  ‘Just “Bing” my website’ doesn’t have much of a ring to it.
So, first impressions? Well, the welcome screen looks a lot like Google with the ‘web/images/new/etc’ idea.  I’m sure the lawyers have been over it and this is all kosher.  I’m disappointed that the home page for a New Zealand search features a Mediterranean backdrop, although given the weather this weekend you’d think that a link to an airfare and holiday package to a Greek island would work wonders! As you type in your search, Bing tries to predict it, reminiscent of a Yahoo search. (I’ve just noticed Google does this too – that must be new).  I need to hire a rubbish skip.  We did some work around the house last weekend pulling out an old spa pool.  Now I need to get rid of the rubble, so I’m going to search for the best deal online.  I’m trying this with Google, Bing and Yahoo.  Google immediately lists the paid ads and a bunch of useful sites.  We are away and I’m immediately able to look at deals and find someone in my area. Bing has a party piece, the ‘related searches’ list.  And it’s empty.  But, like Google, there are a bunch of commercial ads and a number of sites.  Not bad, but a fair number of the links relate to Australian suppliers, so they aren’t a huge amount of use to me.  Finally, a look at Yahoo and the first link there is about some poor bloke who fell asleep in a bin, while the third is a line to the Wikipedia entry and the fourth is link to further directories.  So, it’s a clear win to Google.
For my next search, I want to find out more about New Orleans.  I’m going there for Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in  a few weeks.  It is a city I have always wanted to visit, and I’m going a day early so I can take a look around.  Google starts with a map, then the Wikipedia link and some travel guides.  The ad’s don’t catch my eye, but the search has returned enough for me to be starting to think about what to do on my sightseeing day.  Over to Bing and now we have something really useful.  The ads are relevant, the Wikipedia links are there and the travel guides, but as well, the ‘related searches’ list is giving me some suggested links that’ll return more valuable information. But, why on earth isn’t Virtual Earth showing in the results?  Why is there NO map, when we know the rather excellent mapping tool is hiding elsewhere under the ‘Bing’ skin? Finally I switch to Yahoo and it is looking like the poor cousin.  There are some tourist guides but it is intermingled with ads for apartments, and sports links. For my final search, I’m looking for information on “colds and flu” (yes, I’ve got a cold and its proving stubborn!).  Google pops up with only two sponsored ads, a couple of US links then we’re into a NZ site and some Youtube videos.  Bing’s results are equally useful, but the related searches feature lets me quickly home into a collection of links that catch my eye – remedies.  Perfect! And Yahoo links me to similar sites and again I can quickly find what I want.  This research means that I’ve found the hypochondriac’s best friend – the about.com symptom checker.  And bookmarked it!  It also tells me that three days on a tradeshow stand in the middle of winter more or less guarantees a cold!
Innovations like the preview are welcome.  That's the orange spot to the right of your search - simply hover the mouse over this and Bing will preview content on the page - and video/audio as needed.  It's a great way of quickly assessing if the search result is worth jumping too, before you do it.  So, Bing’s showing promise.  But it’s got a long way to go.  The mobile site is still ‘live’ (m.live.com).  Bing isn't yet smart enough to only show me links that are relevant to products and services in my neighbourhood. The other newcomer, WolframAlpha's logic is unchallenged. And most surprising of all, the rather excellent ‘local.live.com’, (Virtual Earth) doesn’t feature on the search results.  The Live brand lingers, with links from Bing, and it incorporates the storage tools of Mesh and Skydrive.  But it feels disconnected.  This is a battle Microsoft is determined to win.  The “cloud” is the battle ground, and we’re seeing huge investment on a number of fronts, from Amazon’s virtual space for hire, through to the Azure cloud operating system.  The only rules are that the pace of change is ever increasing.  No longer do software companies need to wait for you to install upgrades on your PCs – they can simply update the web services they offer as often as they want.  And that’s exactly what they do, with continuous change resulting.  Which means that my article is probably already out of date before I’ve finished writing it!