Microsoft continues to behave like Microsoft – spending money to catch up and then win market share in important sectors. They've done it again with Bing, a "decision" engine that significantly improves on Microsoft Live Search. No matter how many billions Microsoft (or any company) has in the bank, the development of Bing shows that there's always talent to be found outside the big corporation tent. So when Microsoft realized that Live Search wasn't a competitive offering, they made a strategic acquisition and Bing! They've got a competitive search engine. Early assessments suggest that Microsoft has leveled the playing field; they'll probably pick up market share at the expense of weaker competitors such as AOL, Ask.com, and Yahoo (and rumors abound about a possible Microsoft-Yahoo Search deal); and now can focus on the competition for next-generation search tools.
For some useful tips about adding Bing as a search option in your browser, see Greg Keizer's useful article. To read about 5 new features that distinguish Bing from Google, check out Shane O'Neill's piece in Computerworld.
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