Microsoft’s Bing to take on Google

Microsoft has launched its new search engine platform Bing which is set to take on arch rival Google. The Redmond headquartered company that is said to be investing close to $100 million on a new ad campaign, to be created by JWT, to promote the new offering has stated that the new campaign will not be taking on rivals like Yahoo! and Google, but will instead look at convincing users to rethink the way they search for things online. Code named Kumo during its development phase internally, Bing claims to offer better search results from generic search terms.

The homepage for the new search platform offers help under sections like Images, Video, Shopping, News, Maps and Travel. Campaign India decided to take the Bing test by trying out the various features available. We began by typing Australia into the search box. The results showed up maps of the country, scenic photos of the continent, images from the movie of the same name. A seprate tab showing related searches shows up on one’s left. Within this search item, on the top left corner, one is presented with options like Facts, Map, Weather, Hotels etc. In short, all practical information related to the term Australia.

A search for The Beatles in the Video section reveals a long list of videos related to the band. On the left of the screen, options presented that will help users refine their search further includes videos based on length, screen size, resolution and source.   What we were most impressed by was the Travel section. Considering most of our travel decisions these days are made online, Bing offers users the opportunity to predict the best time to conclude travel deals online. It also helps narrow down the search through factors like number of stops, time bands, airlines, price range and duration among others. It offers the chance to users to decide when they can crack the best deal, based on the two cities that they are travelling between.

Watch a product tour of Bing.com, here: