Buzz
Google has long been the go-to name for search, while Bing—poor Bing—has often been the subject of ridicule for its lack of popularity. However, despite the banter, these two search engines are not as dissimilar as some may think.
We’ve previously highlighted Bing’s key strengths, but many overlook that it matches Google in many areas. Is it superior? Probably not, but I decided to dive into a detailed comparison to see how they really compare.
The Contenders
Chances are you’re already familiar with these two search giants, but let’s quickly refresh your memory on what we’re comparing here:
Google: The most widely used search engine worldwide, Google Search has been evolving since 1997 with innovative features like smarter results, new tools, and integration with various Google services. As of February, Google holds 64.5% of the US search market share.
Bing: Bing is the latest version of Microsoft’s search engine, formerly known as Windows Live Search and MSN Search. Bing markets itself as a 'decision engine,' aiming to provide results with greater real-world relevance than simply text on a page. It also powers Yahoo’s search, collectively serving 32.6% of the US search traffic.
Basic Layout and Search Features
The overall look and feel of both search engines are strikingly similar when it comes to basic results. Apart from the differences in font and the top logo, it’s easy to confuse one for the other. Here are the key differences I’ve spotted after exploring each one:
Bing’s video search beats Google’s by a significant margin. This is the most notable difference between the two (and why Bing has earned the nickname 'the porn search engine'). Instead of displaying a vertical list of videos with small thumbnails, Bing presents a grid of large thumbnails that you can click to play directly within Bing. Some videos even offer a preview when you hover over them.
Bing provides more autocomplete suggestions compared to Google. Google offers four suggestions, while Bing offers eight, which is especially helpful when searching for alternative products or wildcard suggestions.
Google’s shopping suggestions appear more frequently than Bing’s and tend to be more accurate. If you’re looking for where to buy a product or comparing prices online, Google will likely be your better option.
Google’s Image Search is a smoother experience, although Bing offers a few advanced features like 'Layout' (to search for portrait or landscape images). Bing’s image search also lets you eliminate certain search terms with a single click, which is a nice feature (I wish this were available for all types of searches).
Bing places related searches and related image searches to the right of your results, whereas Google positions them at the bottom. This is neither particularly good nor bad—just a difference.
Bing has adopted many of Google’s 'smart search' features, like movie showtimes, unit conversions, local weather, celebrity information, and more. Although these features are quite similar, Google still offers a few extras that Bing doesn’t, such as health info and release dates for movies and video games. If you depend on smart searches, Google is your best bet. (One exception: when searching for flights, Bing offers a unique feature that predicts whether ticket prices will rise or fall.)
Exploring advanced search features reveals a treasure trove of possibilities, especially when comparing the engines. While their syntax may differ slightly, both Google and Bing offer similar advanced operators, with Google having a slight edge due to its wider range. However, Bing offers exclusive functionalities, which Google can’t replicate, making it a valuable tool in some cases.
Despite some differences, Google and Bing share many advanced search features. While Google's operators might seem more extensive, Bing shines in certain areas. For example, Google and Bing handle advanced searches like ‘contains:’, which helps users find pages with specific file types (such as PDF), but only Bing links to pages containing those files, not just the files themselves. Bing also offers the ‘linkfromdomain:’ operator to search for the most linked-to pages from a particular site. Additionally, Bing allows searching for RSS feeds with the ‘feed:’ operator.
- Bing provides certain powerful search features that Google can't match. Among these is the ‘contains:’ operator, which finds pages containing specific file types (like PDFs). Unlike Google, which links only to the files, Bing leads to pages with links to those files. Another useful feature is the ‘linkfromdomain:’ operator, revealing top-ranked pages linked from a certain domain, and the ‘feed:’ operator, which allows for searching RSS feeds related to a particular topic.
Google's search engine comes with a few exclusive advantages, such as reverse image search, which is particularly impressive. Instant search offers results as you type, while voice search lets you search by speaking. Google’s integration with its suite of services—like Gmail, Google Now, and Contacts—makes it hard to consider switching to another search engine.
Bing Rewards is an intriguing program worth mentioning. By signing up, you can earn points for each search you make on Bing. These points can be redeemed for gift cards to popular brands like Amazon, Starbucks, or GameStop, or even donated to your favorite charity. It’s a nice way to make use of your searches beyond just finding information.
Here’s a small detail worth mentioning: when conducting a site-specific search on Google, you won’t see any Knowledge Graph information. Bing, however, does include it.
The quality of the search results is where the real comparison begins.
Now, let’s focus on what truly matters: the actual search results. All the features above don’t matter if the search engine can’t provide the information you're looking for.
When performing basic searches, I noticed that both engines generally gave me the information I needed, even if the results differed slightly. For example, Bing was slightly better for a search like ‘raspberry pi’, while Google excelled with searches like ‘avengers age of ultron’. Despite some minor differences, neither search engine provided poor or drastically different results, which was a pleasant surprise.
The true distinctions emerged when searching for more niche topics, such as technical problems (‘project64 mario kart too fast’). When the answer is buried in extensive forums or blogs, Google tends to do a better job of not only locating the solution but also organizing the results. The more specific the search, the more Google stands out.
The Winner: Google (but Not by Much)
It's no shock that, objectively, Google remains the superior search engine. It has been around longer, enjoys massive popularity, and is consistently evolving. What did surprise me was how comparable the two search engines are in terms of features. Bing even has its strengths, like its video search. While I sometimes preferred Bing’s results for general queries, Google’s unmatched ability to uncover information from even the most obscure corners of the web is simply invaluable. It’s a tighter competition than I expected, but Google still takes the crown.
