Bing: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Until recent years, some people hadn’t even heard of Bing. This was especially the case in the UK – it seems people ‘Google’ by default nowadays. So, does this mean that Bing doesn’t stand any chance what so ever of being up there with the likes of the almighty Google?
Facebook Says Goodbye to Bing in 2014
December 2014 saw the long lasting relationship between Facebook and Bing break down – Facebook has, in fact, dropped Bing from its search results.
Since 2010, Facebook was using Bing as its in-house search engine. This produced search results which allowed Facebook users to look for more information about their friends, as well as using it as a way to keep its rival Google at bay, and away from the social networking market. It was reported that the break up came after Facebook updated their site and strengthened their own search tools.
At the time, a spokesperson for Facebook reported the following:
“We’re not currently showing web search results in Facebook Search because we’re focused on helping people find what’s been shared with them on Facebook.”
“We continue to have a great partnership with Microsoft in lots of different areas.”
Bing Introduces their ‘Best-sellers’ Carousel to Search Results
After the disappointment of Bing and Facebook no longer working together in 2014, the New Year has seen the Microsoft Search Engine introduce the new ‘Best-Sellers’ carousel that will help readers find the right book for them.
The Bing carousel works by generating a display of the New York Times best-selling books when searching for a specific genre, and, as the feature is updated regularly as best-seller titles change, Bing has said its new feature will work for its visitors with the following search terms:
– “Best-selling fiction”
– “nonfiction best-sellers”
– “best-selling kids’ books”
– “Current times best business books”
As well as displaying the best-selling books based on The New York Times’ monthly or weekly sales, when visitors click on their chosen title, Bing will display information of where you can purchase the book from, the ratings they have received, and a short synopsis for each book.
Bing are Catching Up
In April 2013, Google prevented advertisers from being able to include phone numbers in the text of their AdWords ads. Soon, Bing will be following suit.
Similarly to Google, advertisers on Bing will no longer be able to put a phone number in the text, headline or URL of their ad – they will now need to use ad extensions for phone numbers.
Although this move is currently only affecting a small number of locations such as the UK and the US, it is predicted that Bing will roll out this current update to other locations very soon.
Bing vs. Google
Although Bing had a disappointing end to 2014, the organisation is growing from strength to strength and they have made a promising start to the New Year – research has shown that they are slowly winning over their visitors both here and in the US. However, (and even Bing admits this fact themselves) for the foreseeable future it is very unlikely that Bing will take over Google’s current status as the most widely used search engine.