We've all seen the recent "Bing It On" commercials spearheaded by Microsoft in a bid to become the most popular search engine. The latest commercial is shot in Topeka, Kansas--the same town that changed its name to Google for a month back in 2010--where the host surveys what appears to be regular folks on a side-by-side comparison of popular search engines Google and Bing. As no shock to anyone, Bing beats out Google with a unanimous vote.
I must admit, although both sites are practically carbon copies of each other, Bing does look more attractive than Google, primarily due to the large images. But, will that give Bing the upper-hand over Google?
Mark Jackson of searchenginewatch.com thinks so. In his article, "Could Bing Ever Overtake Google In Search?" Jackson argues the possibility of Bing being a viable threat to Google. For one, Bing holds various partnerships with major social media websites that collect useful data from its users. With this gathered data, Bing knows what users are looking for rather than making predictions like Google.
Acquiring Nokia for $7.2 billion in the first quarter of 2014 will be a strategic move by Microsoft. Jackson notes that the population is moving towards handheld devices rather than desktops, a fact evident in Bing's innovative design where its pages scroll from left to right rather than up and down. If Microsoft can embed Bing onto Nokia phones along with Windows, Skype and Xbox which totals over 1 billion users, Microsoft could very well threaten Google as the top search engine.
I think Jackson is getting a little ahead of himself. Yes, Bing is growing in popularity despite their low-ball tactics. But, while I appreciate Jackson's optimism, Google's grip on users wont let up any time soon.
The chart below created by Statista.com shows google in comparison to its rivals.
And further, comscore.com released search engine rankings for July 2013 that put Google at the forefront with 60.7% of all searches compared to Microsoft's 17.9%
I do, however, see a sliver of hope. Just recently, both search engines had Halloween-themed homepages. Google's was a depiction of a witch and a cauldron in which users can throw in ingredients to play a series of games.
But Bing took it up 10 notches by dedicating the homepage to classic horror films such as Psycho, The Shining, Poltergeist, Friday the 13th, The Amityville Horror, and Halloween. Clips of these movies hide in the dark, and it's up to the user to find them. Clicking on a dark corner, or behind the door will pull up one of these iconic movies--equipped with sound effects--and direct you to the movie trailer or scene. Bing's interactive page has seen praise from Mashable, WebProNews, and GeekWire.
Bing may have not won the war against Google just yet, but it won the Halloween battle.