What can Microsoft Bing to the market?

Let's ask Google

Here's a question, if you had to choose between buying a product from a website ranked either 1st on Google search results or positioned somewhere in the obscurities of the second page, which one would you pick? I ask this (assuming that most people would choose number 1) to prove just how much trust we place in Google's opinion.

This was outlined to me earlier this week when someone told me they had used Microsoft's Bing search engine, only to later check their results on Google to make sure they matched up. I'll stick my neck on the line here and say the majority feel the same way when using rival search engines, like they have for some unknown reason, avoided the most obvious and reliable of all sources.

But at the end of the day, Google's rankings are based on a variety of parameters that don't necessarily match up with your own. It is the opinion of one company... How often do you base a decision on the opinion of one? Just type 'Tiananmen square' into Google images UK and China to see how much control the search engine has on your findings. The comparison is staggering.

So while Bing may struggle to climb Google's perch in the short term, their use of semantic technologies bodes well. It is the semantic web that offers genuine search progress. With ranking prejudice aside, the web can be scoured for information that is important to you, tailored to match your exact criteria. This is a genuine opportunity to take the wheel and drive wherever you like, rather than be dropped off right outside the chauffeur's favourite building.

Search Party

The More the Merrier

The future of Internet search has come into debate this week after both Google and Professor Wolfram announced semantic driven developments that seek to understand queries and respond to them more precisely. Despite Google's commendable dominance in the search engine world to this point, let's be honest, customer loyalty and search engines do not go hand in hand because at the end of the day, it's about finding an answer, not the route you took to get it. If someone asks round the office for the time they'll listen to whoever answers the quickest.

Monday saw 'Wolfram Alpha' step into the ring and strap up their gloves with the intention of changing 'the search'. It claims to cut out the middle man. Rather than direct you to answers, it attempts to provide them, using a variety of related subjects. The example they give is a search for 'Manchester weather' returning a graph of average temperatures, rainfall and other data for the area.

Put simply, if you pulled over the car looking for directions, Google would point you in the path of a local information centre whilst Wolfram Alpha, like a helpful villager, would offer their best stab at the right route ('oh, I know where you mean, that's up by Bill's house I think.').

Will it change the search? Absolutely, but it will take time. Companies such as Artesian are already proving it is possible to *find without search* and semantic technologies are fast becoming more and more intelligent. Though it may be a while before Wolfram Alpha are serious contenders for the world title, they’re certainly in the right training for the fight.

To see how the semantic web can be your online business Sat Nav visit www.artesiansolutions.com