# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**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, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/21 "2009-07-10T18:24:31Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > opera +music > opera +browser > done. Or I guess you can be an optimist and use plus signs. šŸ˜› ---
**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, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/22 "2009-07-10T19:03:08Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > You must be the only person in the world that doesnā€™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 companyā€™s name for whichever Opera youā€™re looking for. Iā€™ve tried using all kinds of terms like -browser -windows -links -app, etc. It doesnā€™t filter out enough. Lots of sites referring to the Opera browser never use any of those terms. As for adding +music, lots of sites referring to the opera in that sense never use that term either. Hereā€™s the thing: opera +music would obviously give me ONLY links that refer to the theatrical production. But thatā€™s not what I want. I want to retrieve ALL links that refer to that, and NO links that refer to the browser. And I canā€™t find a set of filters that will do that. Maybe Iā€™m just asking for too much. ---
**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, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/23 "2009-07-10T19:11:15Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > You must be the only person in the world that doesnā€™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 companyā€™s name for whichever Opera youā€™re looking for. I should perhaps clarify that I am currently more interested in looking in Google Groups. Try doing an advanced search there for Opera, excluding browser, for example. Most of the links still refer to the browser. ---
**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 10, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/24 "2009-07-10T19:22:52Z")
opera +music in Google groups returns what you want. None of the links refer to the browser, I see what you are getting at though. You want the search engine to understand context, not just terms. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/25 "2009-07-10T19:24:59Z")
I find that the Bing Maps ā€œaerialā€ view is a lot more useful than Google Mapā€™s ā€œStreet Viewā€. It took me a little while to figure out that you can actually rotate the angle of the aerial view, though. ETA- actually, I meant ā€œBirdā€™s Eyeā€ view. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/26 "2009-07-10T19:36:24Z")
If you want to know what makes Bing better, watch [this](http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1915736) šŸ˜ƒ ---
**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, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/27 "2009-07-10T21:02:10Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I should perhaps clarify that I am currently more interested in looking in Google Groups. > > Try doing an advanced search there for Opera, excluding browser, for example. Most of the links still refer to the browser. Iā€™m on my way out of the house right now, but I want to take this time to apologize. The tone of my last post was unnecessarily harsh and undeservingly snarky, for this I am sorry. ---
**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, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/28 "2009-07-10T23:15:21Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Iā€™m on my way out of the house right now, but I want to take this time to apologize. The tone of my last post was unnecessarily harsh and undeservingly snarky, for this I am sorry. Apology accepted. I really should have been more clear on what I was trying to do, and what I tried. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/29 "2009-07-11T02:36:41Z")
> [@kevin\_c](#): > > Personally I am not impressed with Bing, and Google would still do it for me. Recently Iā€™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 doesnā€™t replace Google, but at times when I want to see all my searches in one page with pictures, Iā€™d head there without thinking twice. Thatā€™s pretty cool. It didnā€™t do anything weird to my computer. But it seemed to include a lot of twitter (?) thingies in the results. What use is that? ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/30 "2009-07-12T02:39:47Z")
I hated it. It was the same as Google. I wonā€™t use it again. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/31 "2009-07-12T03:18:41Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > If you want to know what makes Bing better, watch [this](http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1915736) šŸ˜ƒ Nice! I looked at Bing a couple days ago, and had the same response as other folks. If someone explains to me how to use it awesomely, Iā€™ll take another lookā€“but until then, no way. I do think thereā€™s room online for a really strong shopping search engine; whatā€™s out there right now is very unsatisfying to me. Airline tickets are a case in point: I want a site that lets me say, essentially, ā€œIā€™d like to take a trip to the Southwest next June. Thereā€™s two of us, and we can fly into any of these three airports. The trip should be about two weeks long, plus or minus 3 days. Give me some options!ā€ When we book airline tickets, instead of doing a lovely little search like this, we end up spending hours visiting different websites and putting in permutation after permutation of what weā€™d like. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/32 "2009-07-12T04:39:23Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Nice! > > I looked at Bing a couple days ago, and had the same response as other folks. If someone explains to me how to use it awesomely, Iā€™ll take another lookā€“but until then, no way. > > I do think thereā€™s room online for a really strong shopping search engine; whatā€™s out there right now is very unsatisfying to me. Airline tickets are a case in point: I want a site that lets me say, essentially, ā€œIā€™d like to take a trip to the Southwest next June. Thereā€™s two of us, and we can fly into any of these three airports. The trip should be about two weeks long, plus or minus 3 days. Give me some options!ā€ When we book airline tickets, instead of doing a lovely little search like this, we end up spending hours visiting different websites and putting in permutation after permutation of what weā€™d like. There is no incentive for google to help you find the advertiser that is cheapest, the only incentive they get is to present the advertiser that pays the most (which wont be the cheapest). ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/33 "2009-07-12T05:29:50Z")
I did a vanity search and Bing came up with more relevant hits than google. As a published author, Google came up with numerically more hits, but most of which were crap book seller links. Bing came up some some unique links to interviews, speeches Iā€™ve done, etc. The mouseover is a very useful function. Iā€™m not a big google fan. I tend to use new search engines, and if I canā€™t find the answer quickly then go to google. Most cases, if I canā€™t find the answer quickly on Bing, it will not be readily available on G either. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/34 "2009-07-12T06:54:19Z")
I do like that bingā€™s image search isnā€™t blocked at work like googleā€™s image search is. But perhaps Iā€™ve said too much. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/35 "2009-07-12T13:27:50Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Nice! > > I do think thereā€™s room online for a really strong shopping search engine; whatā€™s out there right now is very unsatisfying to me. Airline tickets are a case in point: I want a site that lets me say, essentially, ā€œIā€™d like to take a trip to the Southwest next June. Thereā€™s two of us, and we can fly into any of these three airports. The trip should be about two weeks long, plus or minus 3 days. Give me some options!ā€ When we book airline tickets, instead of doing a lovely little search like this, we end up spending hours visiting different websites and putting in permutation after permutation of what weā€™d like. [www.kayak.com](http://www.kayak.com) can do some of these things. Enter departure airport, destination, and dates. There is a calendar on the right that will give you low fares for that month. Click on low fare date to see the trip. Also, sign up for email alerts-I do daily, but you can have them less often. Iā€™d sign up for all three departure cities and your destination. Theyā€™ll give the lowest airfare for the trip everyday. Right now I have about a dozen destination cities, and just check quick every day, less than a minute. Iā€™m going to Ireland in a week or so, bought them on a Sunday morning when the airfare had dropped $300. Spent almost $700 RT, but much better than anything else I had seen-with a short layover, and good times to fly. Typically for the couple vacations a year we take itā€™s $139 RT, which is the only way Iā€™ll bring the whole family. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/36 "2009-07-12T14:59:23Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > [www.kayak.com](http://www.kayak.com) can do some of these things. Awesome linkā€“thanks! Iā€™ll bookmark it for our next trip. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/37 "2009-07-12T16:45:02Z")
I like bingā€™s shopping. Iā€™m getting $5.00 back on my pre-order for W7 Pro ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451/38 "2009-07-12T17:12:25Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Ned? [Ned Ryerson](http://www.bing.com/search?q=ned+ryerson&form=QBLH&filt=all&qs=n)? Well played, sir. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-tried-bing-microsofts-new-search-what-do-you-think/502451.md?page=1)