Bing is an excellent search engine, but it has always been in the shadow of Google. Indeed, aside from some in-road in the US market, Bing is a distant second to Google's market-leading search engine. A new report suggests that Microsoft may be moving the aesthetic of Bing closer towards Google.
Of course, there are only certain ways to create a search engine that is properly functional. With that in mind, there are already glaring similarities between Google and Bing. However, Microsoft's service has always carried its own aesthetic charm.
While I find it hard to clearly say Bing is better than Google, I do think Microsoft's search engine is better looking. Subjective, sure, but it is sad if the company is moving towards Google's design.
MSPoweruser has discovered a new design for Bing that will see it change the look for the search results page. It is clear from the image above that many elements of this design were inspired by Google Search.
As mentioned, there are only so many ways to design the results page and keep it functional. This means across Bing and Google, this page is not full of obvious design elements. Even so, there are now even more similarities between the two.
Changing the Header
For example, the header sections of the two services are now very similar, showing the same filters and an almost exact search icon. Bing's search bar now gets touch of shadow and the background for the header is greyed.
Subtle changes for sure, but enough to make Bing look almost exactly like Google Search. MSPU reports that Microsoft is only testing the new design at the moment. There is no guarantee it will ever be launched as the company tends to often run these kinds of tests.
I know I am in the minority, but I actually prefer Bing for search, though I think Google Maps just beats Bing Maps (only just). Though I still use many of Google’s awesome products such as Analytics, Drive, Photos.
I’m with you too Carl, I prefer Bing! I like the way it’s laid out (especially video searches – Google’s looks awful to me) and I always find the results are what I’m looking for.
Google changed the way their searches work a couple of years back and I don’t like it (or really agree with it). Instead of providing you with the most accurate search results (based on what you type), they provide you with the most popular/visited sites and any one who pays to appear in the top rankings.
Sure, popular sites are popular for a reason – but Google’s policy means that it’s now much harder for new websites to even become popular through traditional searches.
As for Bing Maps vs Google – I agree that Google does tend to be better, if not for the Street View aspect (Bing has this, but it only really seems to cover major cities at the moment). However, I do tend use Bing Maps now, as the results are really good and there was one time I was looking for the address of a restaurant and I put the postcode into Google maps and it placed the restaurant about 5 miles out of the town it was supposed to be in(!). Luckily, I knew vaguely where it was supposed to be, so I tried Bing and it got it spot on.
So I use Bing Maps pretty regularly now. But often go to back Google maps for Street View (because Street View is awesome).