Tech Blog

[#1]

I will admit, I'm a fan of Bing.

The site from Microsoft has got me Binging more and Googling less - especially for specific things.  The marketing machine is trying to position Bing as a decision engine instead of a search engine.  Instead of giving you endless unrelated infomation, Bing claims to be more relevant to help decide. 

One place the decision making hits home is in the Bing Travel site.

Bing Travel
Search for a vacation and Bing will predict whether now is the time to buy, or if you should wait.  If the time isn't right to grab the best deal, you can set up an alert for the trip you're wanting to take and Bing will email you each morning with the latest information.

The site isn't new on the radar it's actually Farecast, a site Microsoft purchased in 2008 when it won the 2008 Webby in the travel category and is recognized as one of Web 2.0's "Best Travel Sites", one of Travel & Leisure's "Top 25 websites" and one of PC World's "20 Most Innovative Products".

Bing travel also great for hotel rates as the site compares the current quote with recent rates at the hotel to see if you're really getting a deal.

Bing Video
The great thing about the Bing video search are the scrubbable thumbnails.  Mac fans will be familiar with scrubbing, it's what iPhoto and iMovie use to help you quickly scan contents of a folder buried beneath a thumbnail.  Search for a video in Bing and an entire page of screenshots pops up that play excerpts when you mouse over the clip.  Looking for a music video or comedy sketch?  Bing video will get you to the right clip quicker.

Is Bing the thing for you? Check out BingAndGoogle.com to see side by side results and you'll realize there's no need for a monopoly on search.

One search query serves up a split screen result with Google on the right and Bing on the left.

Go ahead, test it out and you might discover Bing is your thing too.

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