Bing!, we now know the name of the super secret search project that Microsoft has been working on for sometime. I know it's exciting but everytime I hear the name, I think of this scene from Groundhog Day (skip to 0:13). Using a word uttered by the insurance salesman, Ned Ryerson doesn't bode well for my personal use.

Putting Groundhog Day references aside, there were some interesting features announced concerning Bing! There definitely wasn't a shortage of tweets, and live blog announcements at the D7 Conference where Bing was first made known.

After all my research about what went down at D7, there were a couple of key references that really drove home the idea of what Bing! is all about.

The first distinction I received was Microsoft's description of Bing! as a 'decision engine' instead of a search engine. If you watch the YouTube video, and read about the demo it seems that Microsoft might be onto something with making the service about decision making more than search. So, what does that mean exactly? Without actually getting my hands on the service, it seems to me that Bing is more about keeping everything 'inclusive'.

If you watch that YouTube video, the section they show when trying to find different airfares; the user never navigates away from Bing. This of course leads to the inevitable question about how content owners will view Bing. Apparently, Walt Mossberg had the same question when he asked about how content owners will view Bing. Here was Ballmer's response...

"We’re not trying to get in the way of copyright holders...If value should be redivided somehow between content providers, advertisers and search engines, let’s have that conversation…We’re not trying to profit off of anyone else’s work."

That's a pretty general statement concerning something that will be put under heavy scrutiny. Of course, it's hard to say how any of this will pan out considering the service isn't live yet. I'll be putting Bing on refresh for awhile, and sacrifice the annoyance of hearing Ned Ryerson binging Bill Murray in my head. Watch Groundhog Day if you haven't seen it by the way; great movie.

The ideas presented in the WebProWorld newsletter editor's note do not reflect the thoughts, and ideas of the WebProWorld community.

| JohnnyV |