A Letter To Bing

Dear Bing,

First off, thanks so much for agreeing to meet me in this public place with plenty of witnesses, er, people around. You’re a super search engine, really, you are. Some of your applications have enormous potential for improvement over MSN Live Search.

I want to be very honest with you, though. Other apps don’t work at all, plain and simple. I really want to believe we have a future together, I do, but I’ve got to say, things aren’t off to a great start so far.

Do you remember just the other day, when I was trying to figure out how to remove information from one of your listings? Even though I patiently worked with you for some time, you simply couldn’t produce an answer for me.

I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but your seeming nonchalance toward my needs forced me back into the arms of my ex-search engine. That’s right; I met back up with Google to find answers about you, Bing. And you know what? Google had the relevant results right there at the top of the page.

If we’re going to make this thing work, maybe you need to spend a little less time worrying about advertising and a bit more on improving your usability and functionality.

At the end of the day, you’re supposed to be a decision engine, but you’re not making it any easier for me to make up my mind using you versus Google. I hate to say it, but as far as I can tell, your search algorithm simply isn’t there yet.

When you launched two months ago, Bing, you were the talk of the town, and you’ve done well capturing market share since then. I said it before, and I’ll say it again—I still believe people can use you to gain new exposure amongst travelers.

Yet, how can I continue to recommend you when you keep giving me these sub-par results when compared to the competition? I’m only saying this because I care, but your tools are not fully functional, and your search results leave too much to be desired.

And it’s not just me. While it’s apparent that your market share is steadily improving each month, most folks still are using Google or Yahoo as their search engine of choice. Sure, the huge way you’ve focused on TV and Internet advertising has garnered you a name for yourself, but how long do you think that can last? The 5% traffic spike you had last month is not going to go on indefinitely.

Honestly, I would love to see it work out between us, Bing. For that to happen, though, you’re going to have to keep your original promise and become a true “decision engine.” If you can do that, maybe "happily ever after" isn’t that far off for us after all.