by John Finken

Created on: June 24, 2009   Last Updated: June 30, 2009

It's easy. It's intelligent. It's Microsoft's [MSFT] new search engine, Bing. Bing is the best search engine I've come across. Google [GOOG], Yahoo [YHOO], two extremely popular search engines, all take the backseat when I'm searching for anything on the web, from locations to products to simple information. Don't get me wrong, I have used Google and Yahoo for years. But now I've found something much, much better.

Bing is more than your average search engine. It's as if it knows exactly what you're looking for, and allows you to constantly narrow down and refine your search with a click of a button. I'm sure I sound just like a commercial you might see on TV, but it's true! Bing has many great features, many automatic, that gives it the edge over all other popular search engines.

For example, let's say I'm looking to buy a new iPod Touch. If I search that into Bing, I get millions of results as I would with any other search engine. The top results include numerous different auction sites, product sites, and information and review sites. Further, I need to click their links to see their prices. But then, just to the left of the search bar, I see a column of seven buttons reading things like Software, Repair, and Accessories. But one button in particular stands out to me. The button reads Shopping. I click on it, and all of a sudden, the jumbled page full of reviews and auctions and anything involving the iPod Touch turns into a little mini-market for me to choose from. It shows different websites and prices for the iPod Touch. It even has pictures next to each result! This makes shopping a whole lot easier, and trumps anything I've ever seen from Google or Yahoo.

But I wasn't stopping there. To further test Bing, I searched for Italian Restaurants Minneapolis, to see where I should go to eat tonight. Once again, I get the usual millions of jumbled results. Then I look over to the same column I had used when looking for my iPod Touch, and I saw a Local button. I clicked, and again was amazed! Bing had gathered 10 Italian restaurants in Minneapolis alone, and numbered them 1 through 10. At the right hand of the my screen was a map, with the numbers 1 through 10 on it. Bing had marked the locations of all the restaurants on a map for me, and the results themselves were great! Instead of putting in random text from the restaurant's websites, it just displayed their phone number, address, cuisine styles, and gave 1-click directions (which are very useful, might I add).

These are only a couple of the convenient, easy features Bing offers. There is just too much to talk about. I highly suggest switching over to Bing as your regular search engine, as it has a great function to help you find absolutely anything easier than you would on the current top search engines. Bing has all the standard and common features, with dozens of great new ones. I'm willing to bet that Google is just wondering why they didn't think of it sooner.

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