JUNE 4, 2009

Will You Bing?

When I hear the word “bing,” I think of the character “Chandler Bing” from the 90s sitcom “Friends,” played by actor Matthew Perry. (Am I dating myself? Yikes.) In actuality, Mr. Perry presented me with the opportunity to bing for the first time.

But Microsoft now wants you to bing. (It also rhymes with “ding!” so I actually hear that noise in my head when I say the word “bing.”) To bing, or not to bing, apparently that is Microsoft’s question – but only you can answer it. If you haven’t heard of it yet, Bing is the name of Microsoft’s new search engine and – just like Google – bing can be used as a verb (as in, “I binged Chandler.”). And it was given a very good review by the Wall Street Journal’s Katherine Boehret :

I’ve been using Bing for more than two weeks now, and this search engine really did retrieve on-target, useful information on the first try. But what I like best about it is that it does so in a user-friendly manner that looks and feels more inviting than Google. …I really enjoyed using it and found that searching with it was less of a chore and more of an interactive experience. Microsoft gives users a true service by bringing rich content directly to the search-results page.

For my maiden voyage, “Matthew Perry” was a simple answer and image, and Bing responded quickly and correctly. I am interested to see how it will respond to a more complex search. What I liked best about Bing – so far – is that the gorgeous imagery that appears on its homepage actually taught me something!

Bing.com evokes the cover of a glossy magazine with a stunning photo that takes over the page. …If you move your cursor across the photo, blurbs filled with interesting text and Web links materialize on-screen to teach you something related to the photo.

There were four blurbs located on this picture. One of them said, “This national park is home to the highest mountain on the North American continent.” There was then a link below that said, “Where is it?” Any guesses? (The answer is at the end of my post.)
This is just the latest and greatest mix of innovation – a new, fast, better search engine – with your wants and desires factored into it, personalizing your search. Let me know what you think – will you bing? (And, FYI, the picture is of Denali National Park and Preserve.)