Microsoft is spending almost $80 million to $100 million on its ad campaigning to promote Bing. In a series of its ads, Microsoft is trying to show Google as a cluttered, irrelevant and confusing search engine. Even though the campaign doesn’t directly mention the name Google, but the target is pretty clear to all. 🙂
Bing’s ad campaign strategy
Microsoft is trying to center its campaign for the coming months on four major categories:
Travel
Shopping
Health
Local
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Commercial spots are to be followed by online ad campaigns. Radio advertising will also be a part of the traditional advertising mix.
Bing TV commercials are showcasing more dramatized versions of what it’s like when people interact with their friends, family and partners the way they do to a search engine. The ads would show how they get back responses that have the same words as their question, but nothing at all to do with what they asked.
The campaign develops a theme similar to the one Microsoft used in its earlier commercials directed at Apple.
Take a look at Bing’s recent TV spots. The ad calls today’s confusing and cluttered online search as “Search Overload Syndrome” and says Bing is the cure.
A few recent Bing commercials:
Commercial #1
Commercial #2
Commercial #3
Commercial #4
Share your comments on what you think about these ads.
Bing seems to be going slow but steady and showing continuous growth in its search activity. According to the recent study on the performance of Bing from comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, Microsoft has continued to increase its position in the search market following the initial week of Bing’s debut.
comScore Stats on Bing
According to the report:
Bing’s average daily penetration among the US searchers reached 16.7 % during the work week of June 8-12 up to 3 % points from the May 25-29 work week prior to Bing’s introduction.
Microsoft’s share of search result pages in the US increased to 12.1 % during the period of June 8-12, also climbing 3 % points from the pre-introduction work week of May 25-29.
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StatCounter on Top 5 search engines
According to StatCounter, an Internet research firm that tracks page loads, Bing too has shown steady improvement, although it has dropped down from the number 2 to the number 3 position since its launch.
StatCounter reports
In the US
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(Last 30 days: May 19-June 17, 2009)
Google (78.46%)
Yahoo (10.92%)
Bing (4.72%)
Windows Live (2.36%)
AOL (1.31%)
Worldwide
(Last 30 days: May 19-June 17, 2009)
Google (89.83%)
Yahoo (5.13%)
Bing (1.89%)
Windows Live (0.86%)
MSN (0.57%)
As per the reports, Microsoft Bing has continued to generate interest from the market so far and reflects a continued positive market reaction since its launch. Let’s see if it can continue to do so and leap past Yahoo again.
Google and Microsoft are locking horns over Google’s App Sync software that disables Outlook Search. When the user installs Google Apps Sync plugin, it disables Outlook’s ability to search any and all of your Outlook data. I am not sure how many Outlook users are unhappy with this, but Microsoft for sure is not impressed.
Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook is a plug-in for Outlook 2003 or 2007 that allows users keep using their familiar Outlook interface after switching from Microsoft Exchange Server to Google Apps.
Outlook Product Manager – Dev Balasubramanian says,
“The plugin modifies a registry key which disables Windows Desktop Search from indexing and providing search functionality for all Outlook data, not just the Outlook data being synchronized from GMail. Because Outlook search relies upon the indexing performed by Windows Desktop Search, Outlook search functions are broken as a result.”
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Google apparently admits to this flaw. Google says that because of a compatibility issue, Google Apps Sync disables Windows Desktop Search for all Microsoft Outlook files. If someone needs to use Windows Desktop Search to search your Outlook data, Google recommends them to uninstall Google Apps Sync through the Add or Remove Programs panel in the Control Panel in Windows.
However, Miscrosoft says that uninstalling the plugin may not fix the issue.
In a blog post, Balasubramanian suggests a few steps to address the issue:
Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard, and type “REGEDIT”. This will open the Windows Registry Editor.
Browse to the following: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindows Search”
You will manually have to reset the value of “PreventIndexingOutlook” to “0” (without the quotes). To do this, right click on the “PreventIndexingOutlook” key, select “Modify…”, then change the value data to “0”.
Close the registry editor.
It has also been observed that App Sync disrupts Hotmail, Adobe Acrobat PDF Maker, and Outlook Change Notifier.
Sometimes Windows XP may encounter a problem such that it will crash immediately due to Cache or other windows files problems and will restart automatically. The main cause for this problem is due to Windows File, which keeps running your system, gets a sudden critical error and Windows XP crashes and restarts.
Some may think formatting their HardDrive and reinstalling Windows XP will help, but this may be time consuming, so I better recommend you to do the following steps:
Fix 1:
During every proper shut down of Windows XP it will generally take a proper backup of all the files that are related to Windows XP and other important files.So if your PC fails in rebooting Windows XP next time you can restore those files.
This can be done by Pressing the F8 key during Windows ReBoot and then Choose “Restore last known good settings that previously worked”
If the above step does not work try this one.
Fix 2:
This problem can also be fixed by this step by using Windows XP system restore Utility.
Now do the same step ad done before during ReBoot of your PC that is pressing the F8 Key during Windows ReBoot but now choose the “Safe Mode” and press Enter
Safe Mode of windows helps in Disabling all the Windows XP Startup programs which will automatically run during normal startup.
So now after Logging into Windows XP using Safe Mode then now
Goto “Start” the click “RUN”
Type “msconfig” [without quotes]
Click on “Lanuch System restore” and click “Next”
Click “Restore my system to an earlier time”
Now Click “Next” and on the window chooses a Restore Point and Click Next
Now your Windows will reboot and launch the system restores and all the windows file will be now restored which as it is before.
Fix 3:
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The third Fix for this error is using an another OS which will help in finding the suspicious files.
Install a Live Linux like Ubuntu
Now Find the suspicious files which are not allowing the Windows to boot files to load.
Fix 4:
This is the final fix i know that is My inserting the Windows XP installation Disk and then Choose “Perform Additional tasks” and from that choose “Repair” to Fix the Windows Errors.
If you still get the same problem just try Formatting and Reinstalling, if there is any Corrupt or Missing Windows Files it can be still repaired using Windows MS-DOS facility.
If you have any other methods other than the above drop a comment let us know.
[Editor’s Note: This post is submitted by our guest blogger Balaji J H. Balaji is a student and a freelancer. He usually blog at GuideToTech.com which is all about Technology related stuffs and other stuffs which deal with this Digital World.
Microsoft has made some readjustments to its newly-launched Bing search engine so that it would filter out all adult images and videos from Bing search results. Now, adult content will be served from a separate domain – explicit.bing.net. This is Microsoft’s attempt to allow better filtering of content by domain making it easier for organizations to filter explicit images out of search results.
Bing’s Smart MotionPreviews lately created a lot of noise and controversy. By simply mouse hovering over the video thumbnails, anyone gets easy access to adult content without actually having to go to a pornographic site.
Mike Nichols, General Manager, Bing writes in a blog post:
“Potentially explicit images and video content will now be coming from a separate single domain, explicit.bing.net. This is invisible to the end customer, but allows for filtering of that content by domain which makes it much easier for customers at all levels to block this content regardless of what the SafeSearch settings might be. This makes it much easier for filtering software to block unwanted content if SafeSearch has been turned off.”
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In addition to this, Nichols also mentioned that Bing will return source url information in the query string for image/ video content so that companies who already use this method of filtering can catch explicit content on Bing along with everything else they are already blocking for their customers.
Microsoft does not seem to be censoring anything, just categorizing it differently, giving customers the option to either view it, or not, by simple filtering. Share your comments on what you think about this.
Because of the EU antitrust concerns, Microsoft recently announced that it would not include its Internet Explorer browser (or any alternatives) in the Windows 7 software for the European market. However, the European Commission seems to be unhappy and wants to see consumers being offered a genuine choice of browsers.
The European Commission said:
“’Rather than more choice, Microsoft seems to have chosen to provide less”.
Avoiding the EU fines
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Microsoft will be selling Windows 7 in Europe starting October 22. Europe accounts for 5 % of consumers who buy Windows software in a stand-alone pack. Microsoft has been looking to avoid new EU fines. Earlier in January, EU charged Microsoft (euro1.7 billion) following a complaint from tiny rival Norway’s Opera Software ASA. It was believed that Microsoft was unfairly using its power as the dominant OS supplier to squeeze out browser competitors.
Microsoft did however say that it will give PC users who want the browser a way to obtain it.
Mozilla and Google have signed on as third parties against Microsoft in the case. Although Microsoft’s browser is the most widely used worldwide, but Firefox is gaining in popularity and Google, has released its own Web browser, Chrome.
By the end of this month, Microsoft Money – the highly regarded personal finance software would stop selling after 18 whole years. Microsoft says that the changing customer patterns and greater functionality of bank and brokerage Web sites drove the decision.
Apparently, some early Microsoft Money users have more than 15 years of financial data stored in the product. Microsoft is working on ways to help users transition to other desktop products if they choose.
Although Microsoft will stop selling the product at the end of June, it plans to support it through January 2011. According to Microsoft, an expired version of Money Plus could be used indefinitely on the computer and configuration currently in place, with the exception of some of the services and features. Microsoft does not guarantee the compatibility with future operating systems and hardware configurations.
Last year, Microsoft stopped selling Money at retail stores, offering it only by Internet download.
“With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed. After suspending annual updates of Money Plus in 2008, Microsoft is announcing today that we will no longer offer Microsoft Money Plus for purchase after June 30, 2009.
We would like to thank the many dedicated users who have been enthusiastic supporters of Microsoft Money over the years, as well as our partner financial institutions who helped pioneer a digital vision of financial management.
Microsoft remains committed to helping customers chart a course to financial well-being. The MSN Money Web site will continue to provide personal finance information and advice plus comprehensive market news and quotes. We will continue to evolve and enhance the online MSN offering in the coming months.”
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Products affected include:
Microsoft Money Essentials
Microsoft Money Plus Deluxe
Microsoft Money Plus Premium
Microsoft Money Plus Home & Business
Some of Microsoft’s discontinued products in last one year:
Largely discontinued the Encarta encyclopedia
To discontinue Windows OneCare Antivirus (with the arrival of Morro)
Discontinued the sale of Digital Image Suite product (after the release of Windows Vista)
If you have more questions in mind, then please visit the FAQ section on Microsoft Money end of sales.
More good news for Microsoft lovers… Competing with products sold by Symantec and McAfee, the world’s biggest software maker – Microsoft will soon be launching its FREE Antivirus service for personal computers! After Brazil’s Morro de Sao Paolo beach, the free service is code-named as Morro!
Currently, Microsoft is testing the product within the organization with their employees. Once the testing completes, Microsoft plans to make a trial version or maybe a product beta which will be available for the general public from its website.
Morro to take over Microsoft’s Live OneCare?
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Morro is being introduced into the market after Microsoft’s commercial flop – Live OneCare 3 years ago. Microsoft had announced in November that it plans to burry that product suite and is gearing up to make a come back with the free Morro service by the end of 2009. We are still unsure about its exact launch date.
Windows Live OneCare will continue to be sold for Windows XP and Windows Vista at retail through June 30, 2009. Direct sales of OneCare will be gradually phased out when “Morro” becomes available.
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Features
According to Microsoft, Morro will offer basic features like fighting wide range malicious software including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans, making it comparable to low-end consumer products already existing in the market.
It is being said that the launch of the free Antivirus from Microsoft could overthrow sales of Symantec and McAfee products that cost about $40 per year, currently generating billions of dollars a year.
Supported Operating Systems
“Morro” will be available as a stand-alone download and offer malware protection for
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Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7 operating systems.
Microsoft says that when used in conjunction with the ongoing security and privacy enhancements of Windows and Internet Explorer, this new solution will offer consumers a robust, no-cost security solution to help protect against the majority of online threats.
It sure will be very interesting to see how the features of Morro would compare against products from its competitors. Let’s wait and watch!
Bing vs. Google! The battle continues… A research firm – User Centric has come up with some interesting findings using the eye-tracking technology and has reveled that Bing users were much more likely to look at the search ads on the right side of the page as compared to Google.
The research indicated not much difference between Google and Bing in terms of the amount of attention on the organic search results, with people spending an average of 7 seconds in that area in both the cases.
For both Bing and Google, the sponsored links (located above the organic results) caught more attention, with over 90% of people looked in that area during each search.
Bing vs Google:
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Some highlights from the research
Bing attracted more user attention for sponsored links on the right with about 42% of users per search as compared to Google with only about 25% of users per search. On both the search engines, users spent approximately 2.5 seconds looking at the area during transactional searches and 2 seconds during informational searches.
Bing attracted much higher visibility and user attention on its related searches with about 31% of users per search as compared to Google’s related searches that managed to attract the attention of only 5% of users per search.
On Bing, related searches are shown on the left, which is right below the categories. On Google, related searches are below the organic search results, towards the bottom of the page.
This shows that Bing has an upper hand in terms of grabbing user attention, and this might just make the search advertisers think again about their advertising strategy, in the end perhaps even favoring Bing… you never know!
User Centric plans to dig deeper into the users’ search behaviors, as well as other sections of Bing, like Images, Videos, and News. It will be interesting to see what the report uncovers.
If you are among those who have been depending mainly on Google Image Search for the pictures to be inserted in your slide shows, blogs, etc., things won’t be the same after you have completed reading this article.
Since Bing was launched on 1st of this month, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding it and its threat to Google. Well, let’s see where Bing’s Image Search stands in comparison to Google Image Search.
Let’s see the differences under the following criteria:
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1. Search Accuracy
Basis: The relevance to the searched term and the quality of the first 15 images returned by both the search engines.
While Google was good as ever, Bing was right on target almost every time, as in to exclaim: BINGo!! That’s what I was looking for. (In fact, I gave Bing Image search a try only when simple search terms like – ‘follow on facebook’ and ‘hello’ forced me to go to the 3rd page of Google Images.)
Google’s additional image sorting options on the top bar aren’t that obvious. On the other hand, Bing has dedicated a full left column to it, leave apart its elegant look and “show similar images” option below every image on hovering.
Moreover, when it comes to pagination, Bing Image Search has none !! Surprised? 🙂 You just need to keep scrolling down till you find what you want. That reduces search time drastically.
3. Image sorting options
This is one field where Bing has clearly surpassed Google. The “Show similar Images” option below every image on hovering works like a charm. Its other options like: sort by Size, Layout, Color, Style, People appears to be more efficient and useful than the fewer: sort by size, content and color options provided by Google.
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Moreover, Bing offers 4 Image viewing options: ” Zoom Small, Medium, Large and Show Image details” (top right corner).
Even while viewing a particular image in Bing, you can see the related images displayed in the left column giving a Youtube like feel for Images.
Conclusion
Though in some aspects, like searching for clip arts and line drawings, Google image search is still unique, its very evident that Bing has done its homework really well. As far as Image search is concerned, Bing deserves a pat on the back for raising the bar.
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With Google known for its simplicity and obsession for statistics rather than looks, its interesting to see how Microsoft has made a thorough analysis of all the possible weaknesses of Google Image Search and tried to overcome them in style. Lets see what changes Bing forces onto Google. 🙂
As I submit this query of mine: “Whether Bing is the Google Killer?” to: Time and Statistical data and leave you with a small screencast (prepared only for you), I would love to hear your views.
[Editor’s Note: This post is submitted by our guest bloggerDevajyoti Guin.He is a 24 year old doctor by profession who is trying his best to live up to his passions: the 2nd being Computers. This is his first post on Devils Workshop.
