Microsoft May Rename Live Search 'Bing'
Microsoft is reportedly dumping its search engine codename Kumo in favor of the brand name Bing, with a massive advertising campaign to follow.
Tue, May 26, 2009
PC World — Microsoft's new search engine is reportedly dumping its codename, Kumo, in favor of the brand name Bing.
To get the word out Microsoft is planning a massive advertising campaign to launch its new search brand. Bing's debut will feature a $80-$100 million online, TV, print and radio advertising campaign, according to AdvertisingAge.
To put that number in perspective, Google's entire advertising budget for all of 2008 was $25 million, AdAge says. Microsoft is hoping a major ad push will take a chunk out of Google--the number one online search brand--in favor of Bing, the same way Microsoft's laptop hunter ads helped in its fight against Apple.
But Microsoft's ads won't take on Google, Yahoo or even Ask.com directly by name. Instead, the Bing ads will try to convince you that by using "today's search engines" you're missing out on all that your search experience could be. To back this assertion up, Microsoft has some internal data indicating 42 percent of all searches need to be refined after the first query, AdAge reports.
Furthermore, Microsoft has found 25 percent of all post-search clicks hit the back button instead of a Website link when looking at a search results page. The inability to find what you want on the first try may be where Microsoft believes Bing has an edge.
In March, when screenshots of Microsoft's new search engine leaked online under the codename Kumo, the photos showed a "related categories" feature on the results page. If you were looking for a set of new stereo speakers, for example, you would see links to reviews, manuals, prices and so on related to the specific product you were looking for.
There were also examples of Kumo/Bing yielding different related categories in a search for entertainers with related categories like biographies, song lyrics and albums. The ability to refine your search with directly relevant categories could be a very helpful search tool, as opposed to starting all over from scratch with a new query if you don't find what you're looking for.
If Bing's "related categories" feature can offer results directly relevant to your query each and every time you hit the search button, then Microsoft may be able to peel off some, but definitely not all, of that Google mojo. However, Bing's competitors may already have features comparable to related categories in their arsenals. Google rolled out its own set of tools to help you refine your search at its recent Searchology event, and Yahoo will launch search refinement tools in the coming months.
