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'Microsoft Should Scrap Bing and Call it Microsoft Search' (cnet.com)
Chris Matyszczyk, writing for CNET: Does anyone really have a deep, abiding respect for the Bing brand? Somehow, if ever I've heard the brand name being used, it seems to be in the context of a joke. That doesn't mean the service itself is to be derided. It does suggest, though, that the brand name doesn't incite passion or excesses of reverence. The Microsoft brand, on the other hand, has become much stronger under Satya Nadella's stewardship. It's gained respect. Especially when the company showed off its Surface Studio in 2016 and made Apple's offerings look decidedly bland. Where once Microsoft was a joke in an Apple ad, now it's a symbol of a resurgent company that's trying new things and sometimes even succeeding. The funny thing about Bing is that it's not an unsuccessful product -- at least not as unsuccessful as some might imagine. Last year, Redmond said it has a 9 percent worldwide search market share, enjoying a 25 percent share in the UK, 18 percent in France and 17 percent in Canada. And look at the US. Microsoft says it has a 33 percent share here. Wouldn't it be reasonable to think that going all the way with Microsoft branding and letting Bing drift into the retirement home for funny names might be a positive move?
I don't find the name to be bad. Bing as a search engine has evolved and has been steadily improving to the point that it suffices for 95% of my searches. It clearly has become a viable alternative to those who want to de-google their lives.
Those who deride the name probably have another agenda.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
Have you ever noticed this? B - I - N - G - Bing Is Not Google.
Circumcision is child abuse.
And on the other hand, here's a real conversation that I was privileged to observe:
Alice: "How did people navigate before Google Maps?"
Bob: "Uh... maps?"
Alice: "No, I mean before Google Maps."
There's something to be said for successfully claiming a generic word. Like "Windows".
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
The whole reason not Cortana and why Microsoft chose Bing is that they envisioned the name of their search being verbed and used by the masses. "Hey how many carbon atoms in a buckyball? One sec, let me Bing it". They did some product placement a few years ago in several shows to prominently display Bing and for characters to actually say "bing it". An episode of Big Bang Theory, and one of Criminal Minds I think. It was actually kind of funny.
The article is actually rather funny. The whole article is obviously product placement. Microsoft has not approached anything like respect since, well, since they strong armed IBM out of the way and IBM DOS actually became MS DOS.
I actually do use Bing occasionally, though not directly. I use it because it is the major provider of results for duckduckgo, which I use for the privacy. Duckduckgo does some value added stuff with the results, which I like, but the main search results are unfortunately Bing. It's useful for everyday stuff, but if I ever need to get serious, if it's something marginal or I need it to understand my query as something more than just keywords, then I have to turn to Google. Luckily Duckduckgo knows its search partner is shite and makes it easy to turn to Google by just adding a "!g" to the search terms.
You know, my experience with Bing is kind of Microsoft in a nutshell nowadays. A necessary evil, maybe even somewhat useful for some things, but something quickly sidelined when possible, definitely sidelined if serious work needs doing.
They spend more time arranging criminal charges for its customers than innovating. They can call their search whatever they want, no one will use it. Just as the internet moves to heal censorship, it also moves to contain Microsoft.
Besides the fact that I greatly prefer Bing to Google for the results it returns, I'll add another:
3. People that use bing because it pays them. With the Bing rewards points for simply using it, I rack up enough to get at least $5 gift card a month and sometimes 2. Yes, I'm a penny pinching cheap S.O.B. and one of these days I'm gonna win one of their sweepstakes as well.
I'm gonna Bing your mom.
Idk if it works for a search verb though...
I do think it has better porn search than Google. Can I get an amen?
Bing is a recursive acronym: Bing Is Not Google. BING!