# Have you tried Bing, Microsoft's new search? What do you think? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451 "2009-07-09T14:18:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/1 "2009-07-09T14:18:57Z")
I tried it a few times and it did nothing special. The TV ads say “not search but help deciding” Deciding? The choices I use, news, images, videos, don’t have any deciding. But every week or so I try it again to see if it does something special. So far, nothing special for me ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/2 "2009-07-09T14:25:20Z")
I tried it versus Google just last week and found it no more useful than Google. I won’t go back. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/3 "2009-07-09T14:28:08Z")
Nothing better than Google and it has a bunch of background images and Java crap that I go to Google specifically to avoid. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/4 "2009-07-09T14:29:13Z")
It’s ugly. Very ugly. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/5 "2009-07-09T14:39:55Z")
Here is an article that points out some of the things Bing does better. [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/technology/personaltech/09pogue.html?\_r=1](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/technology/personaltech/09pogue.html?_r=1) They all get a big ‘meh’ from me. ---
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/6 "2009-07-09T14:56:14Z")
I just did three same-words comparison looking up stuff to post and the answers I wanted in those three cases was at the top of the answer window with Google and down near the bottom for Bing. The thought of mouseover for more info sounds nice, but not if the first line is wrong anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/7 "2009-07-09T16:21:43Z")
I heard shopping was good on Bing so I used it to look for shoes. Terrible. I’m not impressed at all. I like the pretty picture but I’ll stick with Google thanks. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/8 "2009-07-09T16:44:07Z")
Tried it for the first time when I saw this thread. I searched for “Visiting ancient Rome”. Four of the first seven hits were references to Google Earth. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/9 "2009-07-09T17:42:02Z")
I used it the other day while connected to a network that, for some reason, blocked everything google. (No email? NOOOOO!!!) I was filled with an overwhelming sense of meh and jumped over to yahoo. I can’t stand their ads, however. All I hear is “Use our search engine and get fewer results.” I want results when I search for something, damnit! ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/10 "2009-07-09T17:56:00Z")
I like the video search. It shows a short preview of each video, complete with sound. In spite of Youtube being blocked at worked, I can still use the previews if I want to link to one. Hmm, I hope I haven’t said too much… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/11 "2009-07-09T18:40:22Z")
Ned? [Ned Ryerson](http://www.bing.com/search?q=ned+ryerson&form=QBLH&filt=all&qs=n)? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/12 "2009-07-09T18:51:35Z")
Missed the edit window, but if they are going to use pretty pictures, they should at least say what the picture shows! I had to Google (heh) to find out, using the photographer’s name from the copyright credit. [And here it is](http://www.art.co.uk/products/p13561777-sa-i2405222/ruth-tomlinson-lac-blanc-white-lake-and-mountains-chamonix-haute-savoie-rhone-alpes-french-alps-france.htm?sorig=cat&sorigid=0&dimvals=0&ui=ad75765c17df46ee81e8b6ea07133249%5B). One other thing, having just used it for the first time - the search results page is UGLY. It reminds me of those “Link farm” sites you get when you misspell a URL. Yuk. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/13 "2009-07-09T19:17:31Z")
It didn’t help me find the name of the French movie (a tragic romance) where the lovestruck mime (not Marcel Marceau) did an awesome moonwalk. And what **Colophon** said – I didn’t like the link farm thing either. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/14 "2009-07-09T19:30:58Z")
The image search is better than Google’s for me. ---
**Author:** ![jimmycolorado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jimmycolorado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmycolorado)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/15 "2009-07-09T22:26:59Z")
I had seen the commercials, and man, they were very annoying. It completely exaggerates the idea of a “search gone wrong/haywire”, as if this is some epidemic of the web’s various search engines (or perhaps only Google, as that’s the only search engine anyone uses). It reminds me of the commercials for the Dyson vacuum cleaner. I’m sure it’s a nice machine that does what it says, but whenever I hear the spokes person exclaim matter-of-factly that the Dyson “never loses suction”, I raise an eyebrow: the shit Orecks and Hoovers I’ve used over the years “never lost suction” either. They fell apart because they were pieces of shit, but never stopped working because of “suction loss”. tl;dr: Bing seems to offer “solutions” to problems that don’t exist. I’m sticking with Google, tyvm. ---
**Author:** ![kevin\_c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7bcc69/32.png) [@kevin\_c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevin_c)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/16 "2009-07-10T02:54:38Z")
Personally I am not impressed with Bing, and Google would still do it for me. Recently I’ve found a search engine that is in flash at [www.spezify.com](http://www.spezify.com) and now this is what I call cool! It doesn’t replace Google, but at times when I want to see all my searches in one page with pictures, I’d head there without thinking twice. ---
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/17 "2009-07-10T15:28:07Z")
> [@kevin\_c](#): > > Personally I am not impressed with Bing, and Google would still do it for me. Recently I’ve found a search engine that is in flash at www. spezify. com and now this is what I call cool! > It doesn’t replace Google, but at times when I want to see all my searches in one page with pictures, I’d head there without thinking twice. I hope that works correctly on YOUR machine, because on mine I couldn’t make it stop loading pictures, and it started opening dozens of tabs. Tied up the entire machine, I couldn’t kill the browser or even quit the operating system. I pulled the plug to stop the machine. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/18 "2009-07-10T18:05:05Z")
Neither Bing nor Google solves what is, for me, a fundamental problem with search engines: They don’t distinguish between terms that are spelled the same but used in entirely different contexts. A current example: If I look for “opera”, this can refer to either the web browser or the theatrical production, and if I’m looking for web sites discussing the latter there’s no way to filter out the millions of links that refer primarily to the former. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/19 "2009-07-10T18:13:15Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Neither Bing nor Google solves what is, for me, a fundamental problem with search engines: They don’t distinguish between terms that are spelled the same but used in entirely different contexts. > > A current example: If I look for “opera”, this can refer to either the web browser or the theatrical production, and if I’m looking for web sites discussing the latter there’s no way to filter out the millions of links that refer primarily to the former. You must be the only person in the world that doesn’t know how to even basically use Google. Just use a minus sign to keep Google for searching for terms related to Opera, the browser. Or include the production company’s name for whichever Opera you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/20 "2009-07-10T18:16:13Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Neither Bing nor Google solves what is, for me, a fundamental problem with search engines: They don’t distinguish between terms that are spelled the same but used in entirely different contexts. > > A current example: If I look for “opera”, this can refer to either the web browser or the theatrical production, and if I’m looking for web sites discussing the latter there’s no way to filter out the millions of links that refer primarily to the former. opera +music opera +browser done. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451.md?page=2)