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Bing search
The Microsoft search engine explained from A to Z
In our ultimate Bing search tutorial, we explain how search works in Microsoft’s search engine. We give you an insight into which things work better than with the competitor Google, how the SERPs are structured, which advantages the new integrated Bing chatbot brings with it and how you can place ads on Bing as an entrepreneur. At the end we draw a conclusion whether Bing is worthwhile and whether you should rely on it. So it’s best to watch until the end.
The Bing Search - Everything you need to know about it
Since for many Google is the first association that pops into their head when they hear the term “search engine”, we provide a bit of contrast with this episode and explain the Bing search from A to Z. However, if you want to know everything about Google Search, our already produced episode is linked here. So you can expect an explanation of what Bing is, how Bing search results pages are structured, what the Bing AI is all about and how you can gain visibility in the shortest possible time, and finally see how Bing differs from Google. All this in this article. To make sure you don’t miss anything, it’s best to read to the end. First of all about us – we are eBakery a holistic eCommerce agency, which supports you very gladly with all your challenges in the online trade and marketing. So if you are still missing an expert on your side, click on the link and arrange a free initial consultation with us.
What is Bing?
But let’s provide a little clarity on what Bing Search is all about. To let visual impressions take effect first, let’s enter a random term into the search on Bing.de. One could believe we would be in the Google search or?
Because both systems are search engines that are very very similar in structure. We also have our Bing Shopping Snippet here first, below that we have our Classic Snippets, which are basically the same structure as Google, we even get a Maps Snippet. But we will come back to that in detail in a moment. At least it has now become clear that Bing is a search engine that appears visually very similar to Google. But how long have they been around?
To be exact since June 2009, but in beta stage. This then ultimately left the search engine only in 2012. And who is behind it?
Who is behind Bing?
None other than Microsoft. That is, the company that is responsible, among other things, for the most widely used operating system in the world, Windows. Over the course of its history, there have been a number of collaborations between Bing and other companies such as Yahoo, Facebook, Ecosia and the Chinese search engine Baidu, among others, which were intended to bring the company closer to its major competitor Google. If you look at the market share by page views between 2016 and 2023, you can see that Google has consistently remained well above 80% and at peak times even had values above 90%, whereas Bing’s share has so far always been below 10%. So it must be said that Google has been the undisputed market leader so far, but maybe that could change soon due to the AI revolution. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
4 Advantages of Bing Search
First of all, let’s make Bing search a little more palatable and show you 4 advantages. We told you in the last episode that videos are more and more preferred by search engines. Therefore, they automatically play a greater role for users. Related to this, the advantage of Bing search is that here you also get an audio preview of the video, which is not possible with Google. Both offer a visual preview, but it doesn’t do much for you to get an overview of the content, so Bing comes out on top here.
The new integrated AI chatbot
You can connect Bing with ChatGPT, which is not possible with Google. The whole thing can then look like this.
ChatBot is integrated directly into the browser version of Bing and can be used from here in the same way as ChatGPT itself. If you want to get more information about this topic, you can find our ChatGPT playlist linked here. Benefit number 3 is the Microsoft Reward Program. This is where Microsoft’s product diversity pays off. Because Microsoft also includes the Xbox, among other things. Players are rewarded with points for achievements there, which they can then exchange for MS products. The same goes for searches on Bing or setting up Microsoft Edge as the default browser. To be fair, however, it has to be said that Google does not have this system in this form, but it does have the Local Guide program, with which you can collect points through Google Maps reviews. However, the effort is significantly greater compared to Bing search.
Google SERPs vs. Bing SERPs
And probably the strongest advantage – Both SEO technically and Ads technically, the competition is lower here. This means you will have to invest less to rank high organically and also pay significantly lower per click rates for Bing Ads.
This means that even if Google is the market leader, it might be worthwhile to rely on Bing. So let’s take a closer look at Bing’s search results pages and enter a location-specific search phrase. If we compare the two results, it becomes clear that they differ slightly.
On Google, we have a Google Maps snippet, but on Bing, it’s a mix of Bing Maps and Bing Places. Bing Places is more or less the equivalent of Google my Business. This means we can access a map view and look at nearby restaurants for a specific location, or we can click directly on the Bing Places entry for the restaurants in question. This gives us all the important information at a glance. The address, opening hours, occupancy, reviews, menu, pictures, etc. What becomes clear here is the link with Facebook. For most restaurants, logically, Facebook reviews are displayed rather than Google reviews.
The AI chat in Bing search
What is also interesting and we do not find at Google is the integrated AI chat. However, this can currently only be used when we use Microsoft Edge as our browser. Otherwise I had already mentioned that the search results page incl. snippets is structured in the same way. We have the meta title and the meta description, the URL and if applicable a display image. What is also the same is the fact that the arrangement of the special searches changes, depending on their relevance. For location-specific searches, the map search is the most relevant, so it also comes first. For visual searches, image search ranks first. Again, we have filter functions, which then change depending on the special search. So for images the image size, color, valid license etc.. For the text search you can then use e.g. be filtered according to the date of publication. Otherwise, almost all special searches that exist on Google also exist on Bing.
We have Bing Shopping, Bing Maps, Bing News, Bing Flights, as an extension even Bing Travel, Bing Hotels, which is included with Google directly in Maps. So in terms of features, looks and performance, both search engines are about on par.
The image and video display
However, what most users clearly prefer with Bing is the images and video display, so let’s compare these two points again in detail. Once again, we enter “The Scream” into both search engines and see how they differ. On Google, you will only get a small representation of the image in the right corner. If you want to view the image in the original resolution, then you must necessarily go to the respective website. This is not the case with Bing. Here the image is already displayed in full size in the Bing search. You can also quickly and easily swipe through the results. This is much more user-friendly, but a horror for every site operator, which is why it has already been criticized. This is because the author or the person on whose website the image is stored loses interaction. Thus, the click would be evaluated by Google and favor the SEO performance. However, this would not be the case with Bing.
Video display - Google vs. Bing
For further comparison, let’s enter one more video-heavy keyword into both search engines, namely Mr Beast.
On Google, the search results page looks more like a jumble of text snippets and video snippets. So at least it doesn’t remind you of a video search engine, like it does for example. YouTube is what belongs to Google in turn. However, it’s a different story with Bing. We are only shown videos that are clearly arranged in a tile view. We agree that this is more effective for the user. Also, Bing has the more aesthetically pleasing search page in comparison. With Bing it’s an ever-changing background image, whereas with Google it’s always just a white background. If we scroll down on Bing, we get the latest news directly. Overall, therefore, visually better in our perception.
Putting the AI chatbot under the microscope
Two functions that are among the newer features, but cover both search engines, are image reverse search and voice search. We won’t go into detail about these in this video, it’s just important to mention that they not only exist on Google, but are also integrated into Bing Search.
But one innovation that may be more groundbreaking than it seems yet is Bing AI. Therefore, let’s install the Edge browser and try them out. The big advantage of the Bing chatbot compared to ChatGPT is the use of current online sources. That is, if we ask, “Who is currently the German chancellor?” Then we first get the answer displayed in the classic search results page, but we can also have it processed by the chatbot. This would not have been possible with ChatGPT. In addition, we get sources for the statement made, as we already know from Google Bard. By the way, if you want to read up on what Google AI has to offer, our detailed Google Bard episode is linked here.
Facts about Bing AI Search
What is special about the Bing AI is the restriction to 5 word exchanges per chat. This is due to the fact that after too long conversations can come very very strange answers, which in turn could be related to the relatively short training period of the AI. Thus, the chatbot may sometimes even become insulting or refuse further answers. What also stands out is the entertainment style. So we can choose between a more creative and open response style and a more fact-based response style. We would regulate that with ChatGPT by prompt, here we can simply determine it by mouse click, as one or the other already knows it from our Free AI Tools.
AI chatbot practical example
But let’s take the test and ask: “Who is currently the German Chancellor”.
As a note, we are currently logged in with a Microsoft account, which is required for this. We are now shown the normal search results as we know them, but additionally in the right area exactly what the Bing chatbot would show us. This means that the AI search is now directly integrated into the conventional search. If we now click on the Chat Special Search, the same result will be displayed. And as a small complementary positive aspect, which in any case Bing Chat Search has to offer in contrast to Google Bard, is the communication in German. This also works flawlessly with ChatGPT, Google Bard was unfortunately not yet able to do this at the time of our test.
This advantage has the Bing search
What we also noticed as a positive enhancement with the Bing AI is the help-asking questions.
For our Chancellor question, these were: Who is the Federal President? / How long has Olaf Scholz been Chancellor? And which party does Olaf Scholz belong to?
In that case, they are rather broadening questions. But let’s take a look at a recipe for a Cesar Salad.
But we’d rather have one with chicken, so let’s click on the expanding question. Now you see that the prompt is quasi adjusted. Thus, we get a recipe for a Cesar Salad with chicken.
ChatGPT vs. Bing Chatbot vs. Google Bard
That means in this point each of the 3 chatbots acts differently. ChatGPT only gives you the option to refresh the prompt, so the AI forms a new response. With Google Bard, you are directly given 3 variants.
Here in Bing search, one is given a variant, but for that 3 assisting questions that concretize or expand the prompt. However, what is somewhat limiting with Bing is the number of possible prompts per day. When we are signed up, this is 30 per day for us. However, this figure seems to change every now and then. At times it was 50, at times it was 20. To get around this, you could create a new account after reaching the limit. But whether the effort is worth it, you have to know yourself.
Interim summary on Bing AI
So, as a brief AI summary, we can say that the Bing chatbot is quite competitive. After all, it is also based on the ChatGPT architecture. There are some things that are even better, like the question wizard, the German language support, the integration of the chatbot into the traditional search. But Google Bard is still the fastest of the three. The history, i.e. the saving of the histories, is again best with ChatGPT and, in addition, unlimited by the number of word exchanges per chat.
It therefore remains exciting to see how the situation will develop in this field in the coming months. Drop us a line in the comments to let us know what your opinion is on whether or not Bing will secure a significant chunk of market share through integrated AI. We are interested in your opinion.
Bing Search - The Ads
Now we have the SEO and the AI area covered. So the only thing missing is the Bing Ads section. Because you can also use Bing to place ads for your business. We’ll demonstrate this by typing “cruise” into the Bing search. And already see that the first three results are marked as “Display”. But how can you switch them? We’ll go through this roughly so that you can get a feel for it.
The basic requirements
The basic requirement is the Microsoft Ads account. You can create it at “ads.microsoft.com”.
Once you are logged in with this you have to choose a campaign goal. So what do you want your ad to accomplish? Do you want e.g. Run video ads and target video views, then “video views” would be your campaign goal. However, if you rather want to achieve visitors to your website, then “Visits to my website” would be your preferred target. Once this has been set, the campaign settings can be made. You will need to assign a name and set your daily budget. After that you can choose where exactly you want your ad to be displayed. So for example. only in Germany. And the language of the websites on which your ad will be placed. If you are not traveling internationally, only German would be suitable here. Before we create the actual ad, the exact target group is then defined as the Ad Group.
Place Bing advertising
This works with Bing Ads through the use of “keywords”. So you specify which keywords seem to be the most important for your ad. By the way, you can also analyze and monitor them with Microsoft’s own keyword planner. The next step is to create the display itself. So which URL should the ad link lead to, what is headline 1, what is headline 2? In this editor you will see directly how the ad would look like in the end. Sounds very simple at first, but if you want to achieve efficient results, it is worthwhile to bring an expert on board. This can you then namely bspw. save a lot of money by identifying and excluding negative keywords. That is, you can also exclude keywords.
This is because, like Google, Bing Ads is also a PPC system. So Pay Per Click. Every click costs. So if your ad is played for keywords that are not promising, it can be unnecessarily expensive. And this is just one case that a Bing Ads expert can save you from. So if you are interested in Bing Ads support, we at eBakery will be happy to help.
Bing Search - Our Conclusion
But now we come to our final conclusion.
I think it became clear at the beginning that Bing is not on a par with its big competitor Google in terms of user technology. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that, firstly, there is a billion-dollar corporation behind Bing and, secondly, you increasingly get the feeling that a new age is being ushered in. Because the progress of artificial intelligence has been enormous in recent months. And Microsoft has helped by being one of the big investors in Open AI. This means that whoever dominates this area in the future will also get the larger market share. Because it’s clear that the way we search the Internet is going to change. Therefore, Bing should by no means be written off. I also think that we have shown at some points with this video that Bing is definitely ahead as well. Cheaper ads, less competition, more aesthetic layout, integrated AI, better image and video display. From there, if you can afford it, you should take place on both platforms.
Bing Ads support
However, if there are any questions about this, leave them for us in the comments. We will do our best to answer you there. However, should you wish to be advised otherwise, we are at your disposal as an eCommerce, but explicitly also as a Bing agency.
Do you have questions or need an individual offer? Do not hesitate to contact us.
Haben Sie Fragen oder brauchen ein individuelles Angebot? Zögern Sie nicht, uns zu kontaktieren.
