If you haven’t seen in the news or noticed the commercials yet, Microsoft launched their new search engine this past week called Bing. Silly name, silly proposition.
Ever since Google came on to the scene Microsoft has been on a quest of epic proportions to beat them in the search game. In search traffic they’re 3rd behind Google and Yahoo. It’s noble to want to create a good product that keeps competition going, but Microsoft is almost doing this out of pride instead of determination. They want the search traffic so that they can make money on ads.
Well for the last week I’ve been trying Bing. For most of us, we would never notice a difference between it and Google. It’s neither better nor worse than Google. You could perhaps say that it is a good alternative if you hate Google. I saw advantages a couple of times when searching for various things. I love Wikipedia and in a few searches where Wikipedia was not on the front page of results, it was for Bing.
But here is why bing is a failure. In order to succeed in toppling a powerhouse or monopoly in an industry, you can’t just make a product “just as good” as the competition. I heard once of a study that said you have to make your product at least 50% better before you can even think of beating the competition. 50% better is a subjective improvement, however it illustrates the point. No one will think Bing is 50% better.
You should at least give Bing a shot to see if there is one feature that simply blows your mind. I won’t link to their site, just Google it 
 By The Weakonomist |
The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice. |
