The day Bing was launched, Matt Cutts had this, among other tweets, to say of Bing:
"Matt Cutts: Congrats to @bing on the launch! Sad to see this not-so-relevant result at #4 for [matt cutts] though: http://bit.ly/
Matt Cutts: Ouch. The #5 Bing result for [matt cutts] is spammy too: http://bit.ly/
Even though Matt Cutts may seem to have been somewhat catty in his tweet, he did point out that when searching his own name (and who wouldn't?), entry 5 was said to be a bit "spammy".
Looking at my own keywords (Web Design Bangkok), I see what he means. #1/2 are fine and the same as Google's, although flipped. But #3 is Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, presumably because it has "This web design for resolution screen 1024 x 768 pixel web design" at the foot of its home page - everything else is in Thai. Worse, at #10, is Luxor Bangkok the Egyptian Design Hotel, which has "Discovery the Egypt Grand Architecture only one of Thailand" as its main text.
WebPro News said of it: "To me, this just looks like Cutts stepping up to market Google in the wake of Bing's launch. Bing's getting a lot of attention right now, and it only makes sense that Google would want to make sure they don't go thinking its better than their own search engine. It's about protecting the brand."
The first comment on this article commented: "Its funny how scared the googlers like Matt are when they see a better product. They've been sitting on their [backsides] for the last 4 years on search and wasting too much time on Android and Gmail trying to make more money. In terms of relevance in basic text searches both Bing and Google do better on some searches but for the most part the results are the same. However Bing blows Google out of the water with its interface (preview), travel, shopping, image and video searches. So I am switching over to Bing. Also [I] like their cool front page design that shows interesting stuff to learn about all the time from across the world."
To me though, the search results are either too similar to Live.com or, as Matt Cutts points out, "spammy", but according to Bloomberg News: "Microsoft's effort to gain ground on Google with its new Bing search engine got a boost Tuesday from data showing an increase in its share of US search results, according to comScore.
"Microsoft's share rose to 11.1 percent in the June 2-6 period, Bing's first week in operation, from 9.1 percent a week prior, comScore said on its website. Average daily penetration among searchers, a measure of how many people are being reached by the product, rose to 15.5 percent from 13.8 percent.
"Even though Bing has only been out for a week, it's already performing better than past Microsoft efforts to improve and market its search engine," said Greg Sterling, principal at consulting and research firm Sterling Market Intelligence in San Francisco.
It's too early to tell as Bing was only launched in early June, but it doesn't look like its fanfare matches its search integrity, even after extensive television and Internet advertising campaigns to boost its profile. And at this stage it's the hardline Microsoft enthusiasts that seem the most sanguine about the product.
