Bing or Google or Yahoo or something else?

[Rich Engelhardt]

What's the search engine du jour?
I've been using Google for years ever since switching over to it from Alta Vista (shows you how long that's been!)
Is Bing any better?
I hate to support Microsoft any more now that my professional ties to them have been severed, so, I've been avoiding using Bing.
If it's more robust than Google though, I'll make the shift.

[Ralph Boumenot]

IMO Google is still the top rung of the ladder with Bing down in bottom rungs somewhere.

[Curt Harms]

Nothing says you are required to use only one. I don't use Bing for similar reasons but Google seems to have search mastered. There are privacy concerns re Google but nothing says I have to disclose my identity and nothing says I can't delete their cookies periodically. I don't use Gmail or other google services though some do seem to be best-of-breed. I believe (not certain) that Microsoft/Bing powers Yahoo search. I've gotten pretty good results from ask.com though they're reputed to be privacy intrusive as well. I don't install anyone's toolbar.

[Matt Meiser]

I've been trying Bing a little to see what the hype is about. Can't say its better, can't say its bad. I'm in no rush to switch other than that I'd like to find something decent to replace my iGoogle page since iGoogle is going away.

I'm with you--used Alta Vista until someone showed me Google which was still in its infancy at the time and I haven't looked back.

[Paul McGaha]

I use Google. I'm happy with it.

PHM

[Howard Garner]

Try Dogpile

Howard G

[Mike Circo]

Google gets me what I need quick, and that's it's purpose. I've tried Bing and like the pretty pictures on their main page, but the results are no better, and maybe worse. However I do prefer Bing's maps. More accurate routes, easier to see graphics, and the "Birds Eye" view is sweet when trying to find a place. (Yes, Google has similar things, but Bing's seems more functional to me.)

[Charles Wiggins]

I've been using Google for years ever since switching over to it from Alta Vista (shows you how long that's been!)

I used to teach this stuff to college students back when a lot of people didn't even know what a search engine was. Before Google came around Altavista was among the best. Did you ever try Altavista's Raging Search? It was designed specifically to compete with Google and the first to be touted as a "Google killer." It died along with Altavista.

Is Bing any better?

I have a colleague you loves Bing, but for my purposes, no. Other than the cool background that changes every day I don't get much out of Bing. Part of that is that I am already so steeped in the Googleverse that trying to adapt to another SE is like going from a PC to a Mac (Another more pressing challenge in my immediate future). I just don't know how to make Bing do all that Google does and I don't care to learn at this point.

Even on simple searches Bing does not deliver for me. I've seen the Bing-it-on challenge commercials and I have done my own test of each SE and Google stomps Bing every time. Example: I searched for "steak" and Bing brought up only 2 local restaurants and completely missed the Ryan's steak house less than a mile away. So I tried "pizza". Bing's results were better than on the "steak" search, but it still missed the Pizza Hut. Both of theose restaurants have been in their current locations for years.

If you compare the two search results for "myocardial infarction" attached, you see that Google did slightly better. Both had Wikipedia as the top results (shutter!), but the number two for Google is the very authoritative Mayo Clinic, it's number 4 on Bing. Also if you look at the sidebar result the definition on Google is from the National Library of Medicine, whereas Bing uses Wikipedia (again, shutter!).

Bing.jpgGoogle.jpg

But as Curt points out, there is no law saying you cannot use more than one SE.

Happy searching!
Charles

[John Coloccia]

I use DuckDuckGo because I'm tired of getting tracked everywhere I go and I'm tired of the skewed searches. Odds are good that if you and I type in the very same search terms into google, we will get completely different results. It's a little social engineering game that they're playing, and it also makes finding what you want very difficult. Google has become useless as a search engine, just an an encyclopedia with skewed information depending on the reader is also useless.

[Caspar Hauser]

+1 for DuckDuckGo.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I use Google...and Mamma

[David Weaver]

I use DuckDuckGo because I'm tired of getting tracked everywhere I go and I'm tired of the skewed searches. Odds are good that if you and I type in the very same search terms into google, we will get completely different results. It's a little social engineering game that they're playing, and it also makes finding what you want very difficult. Google has become useless as a search engine, just an an encyclopedia with skewed information depending on the reader is also useless.

Is it safe to assume google is tracking you regardless of what search engine you're using? At least once you've logged in once to google and they have a tracking cookie?

You're right about the tailored results, though. I don't know how many times I've seen the goofy ad from sharpening supplies where the guy is hawking strops. He's probably a nice guy (and I've bought from them before), but I'm getting tired of seeing ads. Oh, and the hair loss ads. I don't even have hair loss, are they guessing by my age?

[Chuck Wintle]

Is it safe to assume google is tracking you regardless of what search engine you're using? At least once you've logged in once to google and they have a tracking cookie?

You're right about the tailored results, though. I don't know how many times I've seen the goofy ad from sharpening supplies where the guy is hawking strops. He's probably a nice guy (and I've bought from them before), but I'm getting tired of seeing ads. Oh, and the hair loss ads. I don't even have hair loss, are they guessing by my age?

google logs every search made using the google search engine and i assume the same is done with other search engines...there is no real anonymity on the internet

[Steve Schlumpf]

Never heard of DuckDuckGo but decided to give it a try. Chuck - do a search on DuckDuckGo, it is supposed to be private.

[David Weaver]

Right, but what I was getting at was that there are definitely sites that track what you're doing even when you're not using their services. Facebook "accidentally" had a tracking cookie that was installed for users who had opted out of such things a while ago. They "fixed" it. I'm sure they'll have another accident when they want data badly enough.

Whether google does that to, I don't know, but with data about your behavior and my behavior comes revenue and the ability to market more precise services to advertisers (which means more money per ad). I doubt that they can resist.