Bing is to Google what Pepsi is to Coke. Coke is far and away the larger company, but Pepsi is an unquestioned success in its own right. As of the writing of this piece, fully 66% of all search traffic routed through Google, while 15% routed through Bing (source: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/microsoft-bing.htm). Google refers to itself as a search engine, using an advanced algorithm and meta filtering to display pertinent results. Microsoft refers to Bing as a decision engine. Functionally similar, but structurally different, its goal is to use machine learning to make informed decisions about your search query to deliver the best results possible.
At that, when it succeeds, it succeeds masterfully. A search query that is specific and well crafted enough will deliver eerily accurate results, and virtually eliminate all the fluff content that isn't relevant to what you're looking for. The problem, however, is that the accuracy of the results is highly dependent on the specificity of the searcher. Contrast this with Google's algorithm, which is much more fault tolerant. You can type in a fairly vague search term into Google and get relevant results. Type that same fairly vague term into Bing and you'll confuse the decision engine.
To be fair, Bing is exquisite when used correctly, but in order to use it properly, you've got to have some understanding of the principles that guide the decision engine. Microsoft, like Google, is constantly tweaking and improving their search platform. Below are some of the ways Microsoft has engineered their system to deliver consistently excellent results.
Organization
Bing's decision engine begins by broadly categorizing searches into four primary areas: Shopping, travel, local, and health. If your searches fall neatly into one of those four categories, you are all but certain to get outstanding results. If not, you're going to have to be extremely specific in order to get stellar results.
Deep Links
When you finish typing in a search query and get your search results displayed, the meta descriptions that accompany the links may, or may not be sufficient to tell you with certainty whether or not you actually want to click on a given link. Deep links help with this. They allow you to simply hover over the link and see a pop up view of the page behind the link. This invariably provides more information, and you can make a much better determination about that page and its relevancy to your particular search.
Instant Answers
If you're looking for the answer to a very specific query, like “what time does flight 1515 depart from LAX,” a separate part of the decision engine is responsible for parsing that request and displaying the information in the search results. As of this writing, “Instant Answers” boasts a 75% accuracy rate.
Knowing these details about exactly how Bing is structured and what kinds of searches it excels at will help you get optimal results when you use it. For certain kinds of searches, and especially if you have an extremely specific query, Bing can deliver results that are slightly superior to Google. It is just a matter of knowing how to best use the technology.
