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03 Nov 2011 23:42

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Tech: Playing favorites with search: Who’s more biased, Bing or Google?

  • pro-Google So, let’s say you wanted to find out if there was any bias from what search engines spit out at you. For example, a recent study not done by Google, said that Bing searches would promote Microsoft-related results twice as many times that Google would promote Google.
  • pro-Bing Don’t get too comfortable with those facts, though. A different study, performed by a paid Microsoft consultant, showed claims that Google put itself first most of the time. Do you already know who to trust? Or are you feeling lucky? source

30 Dec 2010 21:44

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Tech: Web users like Facebook, Google, and…Bing?

  • facebook was the most-visited website this year. That is, of course, if you consider each Google offshoot site (Maps, Gmail) a separate website. If you count all Google properties, though, the search engine giant shoots up to #1, comprising 9.85% of all US visits. Some more weird bits: eBay was pushed out of the top ten by Bing (people actually use Bing?), and “facebook login” was the 2nd most-searched term of the year, which is odd, because it’s not like the login box on Facebook.com is terribly hard to find. source

28 Mar 2010 10:35

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Tech: Microsoft admits it screwed up search, focused on the wrong thing

  • Google owns the “long tail” results. MS is just trying to accept its niche. Why did Microsoft reboot its entire search engine last year? Simple. They realized it was focusing on the wrong thing, good results for obvious searches, when the real money was to be made in more obscure results. “On any given a month,” said Microsoft Bing manager Yusuf Mehdi, “one-third of queries that show up on Bing, it’s the first time we’ve ever seen that query. A huge chunk of those, we’ll never see again.” As a result, Bing has a different focus, one that involves partnerships with startups and depth on intelligent queries. source

20 Jan 2010 07:45

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Tech: Did Apple just tell Microsoft they wanna make Bing? WTF?

  • Apparently, they did, according to sources. The desktop rivals may be ready to share the same phone after Google overstayed its welcome on the iPhone last year. Apple’s considering making Bing the default search engine, as well as making it an option on Safari. This would show exactly how far the business relationship has fallen in the wake of the Google Voice app fiasco, the Nexus One, Android, etc. Can you imagine using Bing on the iPhone? The more interesting note, though? Apparently Apple’s thinking of creating its own search to compete with Google. Whoa. source

21 Dec 2009 09:36

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Tech: Small Bing! sues big Bing, creates sucking effect on Internet

  • Microsoft apparently doesn’t check trademarks before they go with names. Bing! Information Design, a St. Louis-based infographics/design firm, has sued Microsoft for trademark infringement. Something about a search engine. Anyway, the company has been in business over a decade, which is a bit longer than Bing’s been operating. Do they have a case? We’ll find out. (In other news, a small St. Louis-based design/infographics firm is getting great PR this week after they were covered in The Guardian.) source

11 Nov 2009 22:29

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Tech: Dear Wolfram Alpha: Working with Bing is actually smart

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  • Wolfram Alpha is a smart idea that has been neutered by bad decision-making – charging an embarrassingly-high price for their iPhone app, treating copyright like something they can control. Well, now they have something to grasp onto: Bing. While their searches aren’t all that useful by themselves (too insular), combined with a decent general-purpose search engine, it starts to feel like a killer app. This specific execution is why people got excited about the product at launch. Not the $50 iPhone app. source

15 Sep 2009 11:11

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29 Aug 2009 12:06

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Biz: These Bing ads for “The Philanthropist” drew a patent troll

  • Can you patent an advertising concept? That’s the question worth debating in this case, where small ad agency Denizen claims that the agency that made this “Bing” ad, JWT, stole its idea – a commercial for a product that advances the plot of the show on which it airs. Sounds patent trollish to us. source

24 Aug 2009 22:51

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Tech: Yahoo: Screw it, might as well make our search super-simple

See a trend? Just like the competition, Yahoo’s search page now has almost nothing on it. They revamped lots of other stuff, too. source

29 Jul 2009 09:07

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Biz, Tech: Microsoft and Yahoo, looking take on Google, find each other

  • It’s official. Yahoo has thrown in the towel. Microsoft and Yahoo have been talking about a search partnership for a while – talks that intensified after merger talks fell through, and now they see eye to eye on a 10-year partnership. MS will bring the Bing-Bing in the form of search, and Yahoo will bring the ching-ching in the form of advertising. The partnership makes them a formidable search competitor to Google’s 800-pound gorilla. source