How relevant are the search results for Bing, Google, and Yahoo?

[djbaxter]

I found this on another web site.

Bing Develop - Bing SEO, Bing News, Bing Articles, Bing Statistics, Bing Everything, Bing Tools

You search for a keyword or phrase. You are then presented with the results from Bing, Google, and Yahoo (blind in randomized order) and asked to select the one that you think delivers the best results for that search term.

I tried 10 searches, some for terms I'm very familiar with and some for less familiar terms (nothing organized here - just what came to mind).

My results:

• Bing 6
• Yahoo 3
• Google 1

What's your opinion?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Oops, I didn't do the test, I just voted Google because I'm a die-hard Google user and won't use anything else. I think I used Bing once. I'm a creature of habit and am just used to Google I guess.

I think it will be hard to get people to change because we are used to Googling for everything. But who knows maybe some day Google will go the way of Altavista and everyone will say "Bing it" instead of "Google it".

 

[djbaxter]

You should give the test a try. I was surprised at how well Bing did - and remember it's a blind test: You don't know who you're voting for after each search until you click on the button.

The fact that Google was in 3rd place for me was a bit of a surprise, although it probably depends on what you are searching for.

But overall this confirms my sense that Google, having abandoned the business model that got it to the top, viz. fast no frills search, in favor of added features and buying up other companies, is becoming increasingly fat and complacent, and along the way their search results are becoming less relevant.

I was a big Google fan for a long time, but increasingly I find myself going to Bing first and only to Google if Bing doesn't deliver the goods. There's no question that Google still has more web pages indexed than anyone else. But if they can't find better ways of sorting through them they are going to crash. They can't count on brand loyalty forever.

For those of you old enough to remember Alta Vista, I am reminded of their rapid and total fall from grace when Google launched. Nothing is forever on the net.

 

[Linda Buquet]

So true!

I remember thinking I'd never switch from Alta Vista either. I was doing SEO at the time and loved Alta Vista because I always lucked out and got such good rankings. Those were the days, but like you said nothing is forever on the net.

 

[v9designbuild]

I understand both loyalty and the fact that fat cats do get complacent. IBM is a classic example of that.

The order of the listings on the first couple of sites was familiar because I know them well. So, I tried again, this time with search phrases I have no idea about:

- seo consultant (Google but very close was Bing and Yahoo I didn't like)
- manchester city t-shirt (Google because it returned MCFC official site)
- polar ice caps melting (I chose Google and Bing as almost identical)
- udd thailand (Bing wins this one as high placement of edu)
- bank bonuses uk (Google, as it had reports from BBC, Guardian, etc. Bing very close)
- bilderberg conspiracy (Google as it had reports from BBC, Wiki and bilderberg.org. Bing again very close)
- sarah palin (Google, followed closely by Yahoo)
- afghan troops (Google, definitely. Has all the top news agencies listed)
- h1n1 (I really couldn't decide on this one as all close - chose Bing at random)
- lunar landing (again, very difficult to choose but Google won by blind choice)

To my mind at least, Bing can still be a bit spammy but far better than when it was first launched. Back on familiar territory, and I have mentioned it on here before, "web design bangkok" still shows Luxor Bangkok the Egyptian Design Hotel in the top ten of Bing.

I'm not ready to change just yet but the results look very useful and Bing is a search engine Google can't be complacent about now, whatever barbs Matt Cutts throws at them.