14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s latest attempt at cracking the search market, Bing, has proven quite a success, given the tempered expectations, and Google is taking notice. It may not be threatening Google’s dominance any time soon, but it’s gotten Google engineers looking over the fence and borrowing some good ideas, something that almost never happens at the engineering-centric Mountain View company.
Search defines the internet of the last decade. For almost as long as anyone can remember, search engines have been our gatekeepers and guides, we would not imagine the web without them. The paradigm may be shifting, thanks to Facebook, but, for many years to come, search engines will be the main way we interact with the web. And, again, for as long as anyone can remember, search engine has been synonymous with Google.
With a huge market share worldwide and overwhelmingly dominating in some countries, for most people, Google is search. Countless companies, big and small, have tried to steal back some market share and all have failed. The only one to finally see some positive signs is Microsoft.
Bing is now one year old and it’s been performing rather well, helping Microsoft grab some market share back from Google, at least in the US. It’s nothing spectacular, but perhaps the biggest sign that Microsoft has gotten at least some things right is the fact that Google seems to be borrowing some of Bing’s best features, the first time Google has had to do this in many, many years.
Bing has emphasized the verticals, niche searches that it can cater directly to. One of the most successful and appreciated has been its travel search engine. Google’s recent acquisition of ITA Software, a company specializing in airfare data services, is no coincidence; the company is clearly looking to beef up its offering in this space.
While Google’s minimalistic design has inspired a generation of search engines, including Yahoo and Bing, the wheel is turning and Google is now borrowing a few visual cues from Bing. A major revamp of the site saw the introduction of a permanent sidebar, very similar to Bing’s. Google says it had been working on the feature for longer than Microsoft’s latest offering, but Bing must have been an influence in the decision.
An even clearer sign was the recent introduction of background images for the homepage, a distinctive feature introduced by Bing. Google now allows users to customize their homepages with images from their computers or from an online gallery. Finally, Google recently introduced a revamped Image Search, the first upgrade since the feature was launched, and it once again opted for a look very similar to Bing’s.
While Google won’t admit to how much of an influence Bing has had, it does acknowledge that there has been increased competition in the field. The company says that it welcomes this as it makes everyone work harder. And the evidence is there to back it up, Google has made some uncharacteristic moves in the past year and it’s hard not to link them to Bing.
However, that doesn’t mean that Google is now playing catch-up, Bing borrows from Google at least as much as the other way around. And that’s the way it should be, the best features should come to the surface, no matter who came up with them in the first place. The take-away from all of this is that there may finally be some competition in the search space and that can only be a good thing for the users.