I was excited to see the new Microsoft Bing search platform ("Decision Engine" in MSFT vernacular). I envisioned an army of geniuses in Redmond toiling away in their secret labs to create something that would turn the search world on its head. As a company responsible for pioneering so many technologies I didn't think it was too much to expect something groundbreaking from the Microsoft search platform.
When I arrived at Bing.com I was hopeful, seeing the new Google-esque interface and the nice little rollovers on the home page image. This is the kind of thing I was hoping to see, something a little different but still simple and focused. I plugged in my first search and sat ready to be dazzled. When the results came back I felt my excitement drain immediately. I did a few more searches, just to be sure the results would look the same, of course they did. Wow, Google with a Bing header! To be fair, the results I received on Bing from a variety of searches were solid, usually relevant, contextually appropriate and easy to find. If Google hadn't already been delivering this same quality of experience I would probably be a lot more impressed.
Bing just seems like a Google imitation. I'm sure the technology under the hood is probably very impressive and if I were an engineer I might marvel more about what MIcrosoft has developed. I fully understand the primary focus of search must be utility. But this is Microsoft, a company known for some amazing, industry-changing technologies, staffed by some of the best and brightest in the technology world. How on earth could they make a big deal about a search experience that for the most part looks and behaves like Google?
What would I have done differently? For starters, I would include a more interesting data visualization strategy. Look at what they're doing at the New York Times Visualization Lab or at how applications like Grokker can organize and display information. Data visualization is a hot area right now for a reason, Microsoft could have spiced up their results with something more visually engaging.
How much work would it have taken to use different text or highlight colors on results pages? Something as simple as that could have at least made it appear there was some effort to not just duplicate Google. I do like the little rollover feature on Bing at the right of each search result, but it's hardly a marvel of modern technology or likely to skew my search behavior. So if anyone from Microsoft is reading this, Bing is OK, but I know you can do better.
