Go Bing Yourself

Farhad Manjoo test drives Microsoft's new search engine:

Bing has a few bells and whistles to make it stand out from Google, yet not so many that new users will find it hard to understand. Indeed, it's telling that Microsoft seems less focused on distinguishing its product from Google's than in thinking up strategies to get people to switch. For instance, the company integrated its rewards program into Bing; now you can get cash back when you buy products that you search for. Microsoft also picked the site's name specifically to encourage usage as a verb: In a letter to users, the Bing team offers, "We sincerely hope that the next time you need to make an important decision, you'll Bing and decide." I know that sounds lame. But so did "I Googled him" onceuntil everyone began Googling everyone else, at which point it seemed normal.