Tuesday, February 12, 2013

"The Bing Challenge?" Yes, It's Rigged... Or at the Very Least, Something is Very Wrong

Posted by Aurelius at 10:37 AM
I'm not sure if you've heard of "The Bing Challenge," but if you haven't, it's pretty straight forward: Bing wants you to use their search engine instead of Google's, and is willing to take it on one-on-one. You put in a search term, and Bing shows you two separate results: one from Google, one from Bing. You are then asked to choose which one you liked more. The catch is that you don't know which is which until the end.

Microsoft is trumpeting it as a success, gleefully saying that more users have chosen Bing over Google. That may be true, but there is a reason why that may be so: the Bing challenge does not actually show what shows up on the respective search engines. Put another way, if you search "bananas" on the Bing challenge, Microsoft changes the results for both Google and Bing. If you then go to bing.com or google.com and search the same term again, your results will be different.

In researching this, the results were often only slightly different, but they were always different for both search engines. Always. And at times, the first result (or more) were radically different. Whether this is intentional by Microsoft can only be speculated upon, and I will not do that here. What I will do, however, is show you what happened when I took the Bing challenge.

The Bing challenge is short: you search five terms, then it shows you which engine you prefered. Mine were: phil ochs, albert pujols stats, gravy, opera, valentine's day, in that order. I had never searched any of those terms before on either Google or Bing, so neither search engine would have been able to tailor their results to my preferences. The most blatantly different results were under "opera," so that is the one I will be showing first.

Here was the result for "opera" with the Bing challenge (tough to see? Click on the image for better quality):

The left side (which turned out to be Bing):
The right side (which turned out to be Google):
Pretty straight forward, right? Actually, both searches were surprisingly similar... Until you actually search for them yourself. Here's what it looked liked when you Binged "opera" from bing.com:
Quick, which one defined "opus" when taking the "Bing challenge?" If your answer was "neither," you would be correct. That's certainly odd, no? Well, guess what: Google "opera" and you get a different page from what was shown to you during the Bing challenge:
Feel free to use all the search terms that I used above. Go crazy and use your own. What you will find is that the Bing Challenge is not quite on the up and up, either because of outright deception or mistakes by Microsoft.

So yes, the Bing Challenge is fixed. Or, at the very least, something is quite amiss with their so called "challenge."

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102 comments:

  1. I took the BingItOn challenge and suspected something fishy as well...I searched for a term in another language, and one side said no results (in a format that looked very much like Google's "no results" page) and the other listed several suggestions of similar pages (but no accurate result). After the challenge is complete, it will tell you which search engine you chose for each match. It said that I chose Bing for the match with no results on one side (I picked the side with relevant suggestions).
    However, when I searched Google itself, I got several relevant results. When I tried the search on Bing, I got some relevant results, but also some irrelevant results. Additionally, Google recognized my spelling errors and searched for the correct spelling (in another language) as well. Bing did not.

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  2. bing sucks google is better

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    1. i do highly agree

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    2. Lately they both suck. Although google in it self is better, they are adding so much adds to your result that they both suck.

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    3. I got google so ya

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    4. I agree that Bing SUCKS and Google ROCKS!!!


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    5. Bing, Because it's not google.

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    6. yeah, um, if you go on google, there are so many ads that you DROWN in them, but it has good search results. also, bing had opus on it right at the top

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    7. Google Chrome as an extension called "Ad Block" and what it does is stops any form of advertisement from being shown on the page your on. So Ads do not exist for me.

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    9. Yeah, install that ad blocker that will then collect ass loads of statistics on you and watch your every move. Read the terms of use... the ad blocker is free for a reason;

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    10. I tried to take the challenge right now and guess what...Bing couldn't even allow me to do it. It kept saying, "Need to jiggle some wires? Try Again or Go to Homepage" So yeah, I'll say Google is better.

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    11. "Yeah, install that ad blocker that will then collect ass loads of statistics on you and watch your every move. Read the terms of use... the ad blocker is free for a reason;"?
      Care to share some proof? ABP is released under version 3.0 of the GNU General Public License, and their Privacy Policy says that your browser version, extension version, operating system and IP address are collected. None of that information is very important, in my opinion.

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    12. Bing is the best Google Sucks. All of you know nothing about sh$@

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    13. I also agree, Google is best, SO JUST F*** OFF, BING, GOOGLE IS BOSS AND THAT'S A FACT! STOP TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE INTERNET SYSTEM!!!!

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    14. I did the bing it on thing and GOOGLE won by all five! Thats right! Im a GOOGLER

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    15. I have a nook and so i cant even do it but i have NEVER used bing son gooooooooooo GOOGLE ======

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    16. I agree! Google is always the one I have used! Plus it comes with mail and other stuff!

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    17. Google wins by a long slide bing sorry but... YOU SUCK!

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    18. google all the way

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  3. I took the bingiton challenge and google won hands down XD

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    1. So did I, Google had won 5 to nothing and that proves bing is stupid IN MY OPINION (I am the same person who said in reply to "bing sucks google is better" and my reply was, "I agree, SO JUST F*** OFF BING, GOOGLE IS BOSS AND THATS A FACT...")

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  4. I just took the challenge. Bing won 4:1. I then searched the actual sites for results and got the same thing I did in the challenge. It was the first time I used Bing. So idk...

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  5. i am not sure aout bing, but google will remember what results you click the most after a while so the bing it on challenge might show what the results are before you would click something you search often.

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    1. That's what I was thinking.

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    2. I used a browser I don't usually use and was not logged in to any google accounts. Not sure if they can still track me across different browsers, but I still got much better results from Google than bing. This was also how I was able to check in real time (rather than waiting for my "results") against what the bing it on website was pulling up. It seems rigged to me!

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  6. I actually tried it and Google won 5/5... There's a reason why Google is on top

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    1. Google is like the only search engine that exists to me. I don't like to use anything else. That is why Google exists. I totally agree that Google is on top, I also won 5-0! GO GOOGLE!!!

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    2. its rigged i choose google 4-5 and it said bing won

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    3. google won 3/2 for me. YEAH GOOGLE!!

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    4. I also had Google win, 5-0,but I kinda cheated...I searched on the actual Google, and on the Bing It On challenge and chose the one that looked most alike. The test is most defiantly rigged, and both sides are mostly stripped down of their features, making it difficult to choose which is which without actuality looking at the search engine. Not too surprising that Bing rigged it, they have always been less used that Google. Google is now sporting more ads, but it works with previous results and other things to find what is most accurate.

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  7. Google tailors your results to your past searches, so it makes sense the one from you browser is different. I'm not saying bing is better, I'm just saying that this is not a valid reason to say that it is rigged.

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    1. Then why were the Bing results so radically different?

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    2. No, it says in the article that the author "had never searched any of those terms before on either Google or Bing."

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    3. But on google if you had searched "josh Hamilton stats" prior it'd take what results you chose into account when searching "Albert pujols stats". Or if you choose a Wikipedia result a lot when searching, it'll likely show Wikipedia results more favorably when you search something I'm the future from my understanding.

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    4. Then why were the Bing results so radically different?

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  8. I just did the Bing It On challenge, Google won 5-0!!

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    1. Same thing happened to me! Bing has got to be one of the most irritating search engines I've ever used. Glad to see I'm not the only one that can tell the difference. :)

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  9. Google won all of the rounds for me

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  10. the only reason i use bing is to type in google

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    1. SAME HERE!! hahah GOOGLE FTW!!!!!!!

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    2. I end up having that happen too. My url bar automatically goes to Bing, and switches when I open a new tab from my Google search bar. Which I think it hilarious.

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  11. I get mixed results - one time Bing onces, the other Google. It just goes back and forth.

    Although I did notice that if I entered a long search question (more than 2 or 3 words) that Google seemed to come out on top. I also found it entertaining when I asked "Why is Google better than Bing?" On one side I got an objective result while on the other the results seemed to be defensive. :-)

    That said, I'm too use to using google. But that doesn't mean I don't use other search engines when I'm trying to find something and not getting the results from google.

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  12. Took the test twice. Both times I must have chosen Google because both times it froze and wouldn't give me the results. So, my opinion? It is rigged and didn't like that I preferred Google.

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  13. Or you has the spywarez and need to run a scan quick like a bunny! Google won in my Challenge, and Chrome is a million times better than IE will ever hope to be.

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  14. Now on my computer it isn't rigged and search engines produced the same results from the test. I got all google.

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  15. When I took the bingiton challenge google won the results for searching "bing"
    Burn Bing!!!

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  16. google won all of mine

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  17. Aside from result personalization, another reason the listings are different is that they are organic-only and deoid of the usual sponsor entries at the top.

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  18. I took it twice and Bing won both times. I then repeated the searches at the actual sites and chose Google as the winner in almost every search.

    There's more to search than just the links returned. Google's auto complete gave me the information I was looking for before I'd even finished typing (convert 193 feet to meters) and then gave me a conversion tool as the top result. Bing only gave me the answer and only after I executed the search. Google was also better at recognizing misspellings and was able to accurately auto complete "what is bufulo chiken" where Bing started offering information about a USB camera and "bufalo new york".

    When I searched for "how tall is the eiffel tower?", Bing won on their challenge site. In real life, I thought the Bing results page was too busy and too crowded with Facebook crap, although the results and information provided were similarly useful. Then later, when I searched Bing again, it eliminated all the "extra" information like photos, a map, and other links that might have been relevant, including the height of the tower. So, the second search didn't even give me what I was looking for.

    The final thought I came away with is that Bing's results are formatted almost exactly like Google's. Is that on purpose?





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  19. if google wins it will say "how about a rematch?" if bing wins it says "ready to make the switch?" also, it is called "bing it on" so obviously bing made this site all in all bing is just a cheaty cheater who cheats and loves cheating

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  20. Oh, I made the switch. I used to like Google, but now I prefer Bing. Bing is now my fave search engine because of it's home page. It is filled with valuable information, free screen savers and it lets you access your history much faster. So, I use Bing. You should try it, just once to see if you like it.

    Overall, bing is quirky and different. BTW I am totally not biased, because my uncle works at Google!

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    1. trololololololol

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    2. Hi I work for Bing! (valley girl laugh) I love how pretty it is and how it makes my eyes look wonderful while walking down the beach with a kitten purring in my hands.

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  21. I took the challenge and Google won 3 of my 5 serches and it still said that Bing won. I guess Bing consideres it a win if they even get 1 of the 5.

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  22. If you try the challenge now the Google side says Google so it's really easy to tell . What a lie. I feel used :( somebody really should do something by Google won 5 to 0 take that. Bing . Still thing brings better take the real challenge and go search Google first . I ONLY USE GOOGLE NOTHING ELSE SO STOP TRYING TO CHANGE ME . FINALLY GOT THAT OFF MY CHEST . LOVE GOOOGLE ((: sincerely hashbrowns. (;

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    1. I feel you HASHBROWNS . I took the challenge(which is more like a screw up)and I got 5/5 and it still said welcome to the bing side. I don't WANT BING AND THE CAN TAKE THAT TO THE BANK BTW I HEARD THAT THE USE THIS TO TELL OTHER COMPANY'S TH AS T GOOGLE CAUSES PROBLEMS FOR YOU .IT REALLY PISSED ME OFF T HEN BINGS AN JOKE WANNA SEE SOME REAL WORK TRY GOOGLE. BUT DON'T HATE ME FOR MY COMMENTS HATE BING FOR THE LIES AND FOR TRYING TO CHANGE YOUR VIEW ON A REAL CHALLENGE TRYING TO SEE WHICH SIDES THE BETTER SIDE WHICH IS GOOGLE

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  23. one way to tell the diffeerence is the letter size and pictures.
    bing-more pics
    bing-smaller letters
    i used this method 5-0 google so you can trust this

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  24. I noticed that if you search for a movie that Bing will list them side by side in a set of 4 with no descriptions, where as Google separates them out and has a brief video description listed with the video screen shot.

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  25. Its really easy to tell which is Google. If you type in calculator the one with an actual calculator is Google. If you type in Spring Pictures the one with pictures spaced out is Google. If you search Obama one will show a small picture and a lot of news next to it while bing will show pictures. Bing usually has its news differently than google.

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  26. i just did it even with it rigged i still choose google every single time

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  27. I have done the Bing it on Challenge 4 different times and Google won 5/5 times every test...

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  28. Bing stands for: because its not google. Isn't that mean?

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  29. Sure, if you search for "gravy" the results are going to be si,ilar, but who is searching for that?

    How about things people actually search for?

    Thank you very much in Russian
    Phoenix Arizona to Reno Nevada
    How many cups in a liter?
    Portland Maine Weather
    PI

    Any of these results will clearly show why Google beats out Bing. It's not about just the search engine results. It's about the bells and whistles, and all the little extras.

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  30. The bing search is really not the search engine that is on bingiton site challenge.
    Microsoft and Yahoo had a search alliance deal (try to take on google) and as of today is not doing so well. Over all the bingiton search engine is really taking combination search from bing and yahoo search engine. So if you have yahoo,bing,and google search page open and do your search you can see the different results and confirm on the bringiton challenge site. Depending on the keyword you will see that bingitonchallenge display yahoo or bing results and at times both. One thing is for sure Google reminds accurate on the search and results didnt' change. So I have to agree that bingiton search challenge is a fixed search engine of the combination of both yahoo/bing search. But the main site search engine is not the same. Feel free to try it out.

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  31. I just did the challenge, but opened up bing and google to compare and so far the 2 things i've searched have been identical on the challenge as their pages.

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  32. I did it and Bing won zero rounds lolz

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  33. when I did it, it said, "You chose Google, Bing won 0 rounds.." 8D In yo face, Bing!

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  34. I make a lot of technical searches. For this stuff in particular Google is much stronger. Bing seems much more tailored to "popular" searches which I tend not to do very often.

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  35. The first time I took it, bing won, even though I only had ONE answer for bing! I did it again, but I always check to see which one is closest to the google results! :)

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  36. It's easy to tell which is which. Google is the side with the pictures.

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  37. What a buzz kill! I tried to take the challenge today but it seems to have been taken down! :(

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  38. The Challenge is no longer available :(

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  39. From my experience, the people who prefer bing or MS products in general are just stupid, stubborn and fear change in general. Not people I like to be around.

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  40. It was very fishy. They shouldn't use different results as what they really are. It makes it unfair and overall a stupid challenge. In the first challenge the result was bing. Then I retried and in the end it showed up google.

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  41. Bing stands for Because It's Not Google. Google is BOSS.

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  42. If you type in a math problem, for example 2+2, on Google's side it will have a huge calculator, and Bing's side, it just has a short solution. I took the test just to show that Bing SUCKS.

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  43. The only reason to use bing is to find google. :D

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  45. I find Google better, I mean come on, when you need to look something up you don't say "I'm going to search that up" or "i'm going to Bing that", no, you, or at least I and most people I know, say "I'm going to Google that"

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  46. Google is so bosser than bing

    Because
    It's
    Not
    Google!

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  47. Google's way better because before Bing It On started, I had barely heard of Bing. There was only Google as a search engine in my life. I never thought there were other search engines that are better than Google. I still think that Google is better than Bing because
    1) They're obviously richer(they're making computers now!)
    2) More famous (personal experience)
    3) Better results
    4) Bing rips you off by giving you different results
    5) Google just sounds better
    6) Google corrects my spelling errors but Bing doesn't

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  49. all of these posts just proved that the statistic of people choosing bing over google is not true. besides, if that is true. this is only because bing always pops up and we have to use it to et to everyone's preferred engine...

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    Replies

    1. In super agreement;)

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  50. Has anyone noticed that google isn't being competetive, like bing, or going around saying, "Oh yeah, were so much cooler than bing cause we gotta rigged chanllenge and stuff."? yes,im fascinated arent you? but im half happy aout it. im mean who doesnt love blaming things on the internet.

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    1. Ever since they started the commercials I've thought the same thing !!!! Geniuses! !! ;) F*** Bing B****!!!!!! Oh and goggle, keep "bing" the S***..lol punny

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  51. doughnuts... doughnuts... doughnuts... are you hungry yet???

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    1. NO..just because they say cat foods mad3 with 100% tuna...does that mean your gonna put it on a sandwich? NAH!

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  52. I selected Google for all five of my searches and it still said that Bing won.

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    1. If it was like mine, what it said was "Bing won 0 searches."

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  53. Well of course it's rigged to win for Bing.. The website is called Bingiton..

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  54. I accidentally spelled something wrong on Bingiton and they took out Google's did you mean thing.

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  55. I tried the Bingiton challenge, and I got Bing, but only because it didn't show the full results of Google, google has the pictures on the side, and Bing has them on top, I prefer Google.

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  57. It was so funny because I took the challenge and it said that I chose only 1/5 in Bing's favor, but it said that I still chose Bing as my search engine..... which I did not.

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  58. Google wins all the time for me.

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  59. If you look closely at the results of the challenge the bing results are slightly bigger than the Google results

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  60. I will always choose Google, because Google never behaved like a virus. I'm not sure how Bing got on the computers at the retail store I worked part-time at, but once it was there, it TOOK OVER Google searches and diverted me to places I didn't want to go to. I had to search with indirect terms to find information I needed, and nothing I did could stop it.

    Bing, you tried to bully your way into the search engine business...and I never forget being bullied.

    ReplyDelete

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