Went to Bing. Gives content without a lot of the "pay" stuff - you know, the "read reviews and buy" BS Google loves to pile at the top of any searches on actual products these days. The top ten results it gives are far more appropriate and relevant results.

Not going back to Google.

YMMV - I don't give a damn about fanboiz, just quick and relevant results (which drew me to Google in the first place years ago before it got corrupted by rather obvious greed).

Well I think the comments over here sum up my opinion regarding Bing vs Google. I think Bing has potential and the search algorithm will get better and so will the search results. The thing about search is, the more people use it the better the search results get, because the search engine is learning with each person search. And that is in my opinion the advantage that Google still has against the competition. But that may change. I think Microsoft is in the best position to deliver us something Google can't regarding search. And from other articles it seams they have some pretty cool stuff that may just be that added bonus people are looking for.
The thing is. The popularity of a web service is based on how good it is doing what it is asked of it. People like Facebook because it is good doing what it is supposed to do. People like Twitter for the same reason and so on. Using your core advantage in a given service is what will in turn make this companies win other markets. If for instance Microsoft provides the best Online Office tools, it may in turn take that and built the bing search engine on top of that. Such as selecting a phrase on your document and searching on bing. I think there is still a lot that can be done and it will be done.

It's a great business plan...get into bed with Yahoo and watch your profits tumble.

The problem in Microsoft trying to dethrone Google is not because of lack of effort, but because Google just works. 90% of the world's internet searches are through Google, why? Because Google is synonymous with search, and if it isn't broke, why switch to a competitor?

Agreed. If Microsoft want the slace of the search market they are going to have to give us something that is 'noticeably' better and by that I mean something not Google or any other search/content provider gives.

Maybe Microsoft gives the person searching "points" on their Live account that the user can redeem on the website they link to - obviously bots would be illegal :D

Bing still feels uncomfortable to me when using it and I’m convinced I’m getting the best results I’m looking for. Subconsciously I think after a Bing search:

“I wonder if I can get a better result on Google?”

I suggest the reason Bing had a surge in the market when it launched was generally on two counts:

First, it was launched!! and Microsoft marketed Bing quite well that it was all in the news at the time.

Secondly, people who have been installing IE8 have automatically got Bing as the primary search, I have noticed this when I have been updating some people PC's via Windows Update.

Ultimately although people say the relevance on Google’s results has gotten a bit cloudy recently, 9 times out of 10 I find what I need in the first 5 links of a Google search.

Microsoft are really missing a crucial area too (well I use it a lot anyway) and that’s news.google.com, I find that to be a winning Google feature for me.

Like most tech people, I don’t use a search engine to ask questions like:

“How do I encrypt with vb.net?”

I’d put:

“vb.net” string encryption
Or
encrypting data “vb.net”

Maybe that’s why my Google results always seem more relevant (this was just an example I have not tried it!)

i sometimes use bing when i want a dedicated search on information pertaining to microsoft and windows.

but for the most part, i still use google more often than not.

so what would make me use bing more often than not..?

They simply need to ask us instead of shoving bing down our throats, like bad medicine.

Personally I have set Bing as my default search provider for the month of October. At the end of this month I will decide who I will use more often then not. So far, so good.

I agree, a lot of the time people get into the habit of thinking of "Search" and going straight to Google. Sometimes you have to force yourself into something new before you appreciate or decide against it.

I believe Google is a part of people's comfort zone for search.

I agree completely. There is a site, bing 'Bing vs google'. Basically you do a search and it runs it on boths sites, and shows the results for each side by side. So far while using bing it has been able to find what it is a need. The only frusteration has come with UI, but to be honest that is because I'm so use to google. I'll post again on the 30th of this month to report how I like Bing, and if I'm going back to google or not.

My test was entering MSKB article id's.

Bing: Did not link to Microsoft's own MSKB articles as primary sources, and sometimes not even on the first page.
Google: Always linked to MSKB articles as primary sources.

If Google can find Microsoft's knowledgebase support better than Microsoft can, that is a problem.

That`s that then. So much for Bing, its back to the drawing board for Microsoft. Incidentally Google wave is gathering momentum http://www.yourbusinessservice.com/blog

Wonder who Microsoft is going to buy and rebrand next...

That is a business plan that works, and will continue to work. And for a lot of people, it is the goal. Get baught out and retire. Smart on MS's side of things.

Net Applications stats are similar.

I think people are giving bing a try, especially after all the TV adds. But I haven't seen a TV add for awhile, and people are going back to old habits, namely google.

Still using a mashup of bing/google. No preference needed, use them both.

Funny, I just found this at on10.net

According to multiple research firms including comScore, Nielsen, and Experian Hitwise, usage of the new Microsoft search engine Bing is still steadily on the rise. Although the firms differ a bit as to what the exact market share for Bing is, it’s clear that they’re all seeing continued increases.

Currently, comScore qSearch is reporting that Microsoft sites picked up 0.4 percentage points in August 2009 at the expense of Google and AOL which translated to a 7% gain in searches. Nielsen Online agreed with comScore on some points, but put Bing’s search share a little higher than comScore’s 9.3% – they showed Bing at 10.7%. That represents an increase from 8.8% in June and 9% in July. The third firm to weigh in, Experian Hitwise, pegged Bing at 9.6% in the four weeks measured from August 9th through September 5th.

While clearly measuring search share isn’t an exact science, the overall growth trends look good for the new engine, which is decidedly being helped along thanks to the media campaign whose clever commercials feature “victims of search overload.”

James Colborn, director at Microsoft Advertising, also recently told MediaPost that, in addition to query share increases, the company was also seeing a nearly 40% increase in click-through rates on ads, another positive sign of growth.

Well when you have google menu installing with all different types of programs that should not be allowed. SOme people are installing this as they go thru the set-up fast. I for one is starting to hate google and it's stupid menu bar.. Bing has some great pictures and I do find what I look for and at work we have all our computer set to default at google but that will change very soon as that give a few points to google as when they start IE it goes to Google.ca

How is Google Toolbar any different than the MSN toolbar? (assuming this is what you are referrign to by "google menu")

Yes, I tried Bing's image search recently. Interestingly enough when disabling Bing's safe search my results didn't turn into 10-25% porn like google image search does (I didn't see any porn in the results).

Also Bing's scrollwheel feature for thumbnails scores much higher on my usability scale than google's requirement to repeatedly click "next" or a number.

Doesn't the missing 10-25 % porn just mean that Bing's bot isn't nearly as good at searching for information as Google's is.

I think it means that Bing isn't finding the porn that people want, so they are switching back.

Moms buy jeans to match their teen's jeans!

http://www.google.com/tr...amp;date=ytd&sort=0

As I'd said somewhere else last week, I'd completely forgotten about Bing already. It appears most other people have as well.

The first couple of days when Internet Exploder 8 was available, there was a spike and then, people went back to Firefox and Chrome, so why should Bing and Google be any different?

I tried to like Bing and continue to use it along with Google, Yahoo and anything else when digging deep while searching. But the truth is Google much more often than not gives better results for what I'm searching for than Bing. Wish I could say otherwise, but can't.

This should not suprise anyone really. Bing is an average search engine at best. Google has better results for pretty much any search you do. Bing saw an initial spike due to the $100 million advertising campaign. people tried it and found it to be worse than Google and now they are leaving to go back to Google

Not only that, but Chrome is making significant inroads with regards to marketshare, which may be further eroding the default browser option of bing on windows systems.