Bing TM—the evolution of Microsoft Live Search has finally launched. Yahoo and MSN have been working really hard to develop a search tool that could give Google a run for their money and Bing is here to do that.

Bing is a decision engine that offers consumers a way to make faster, more informed decisions. From shopping and travel to health, local and more, Bing delivers great results in a rich, well-organized experience to help consumers easily accomplish key tasks. It offers more information at the hands of users without being too cluttered and adds different iterations of keyword phrases to make searching easier. I like that a lot as the way we search is becoming relatively specific. Bing also allows you to preview some of the website content before you actually click-through.

So what exactly does Bing do you ask?
Plain and simple, it provides consumers with easy access to relevant information. With new features and more organized results, consumers can spend less time searching and more time finding what’s most relevant to them—like travel, health, cars, and shopping.

What can that mean to you as an advertiser?
Quality leads – Bing helps provide the relevant search results and ads your consumers are interested in. This means you can engage with consumers when they’re ready to research, influence or make a purchase decision.

Bings look and feel is very similar to Google’s the sponsored results resemble Google’s, they also offer definition and new results on the topic that you are searching with a similar look and feel as Google. I am skeptical about how decision based Bing searches are at this time, even Google takes note of your user behavior and provides search results tailored to the consumers interest.

I definitely think that this new and easy way to search will be very appealing to MSN’s current user base and they will be very pleased with the results that they are receiving. As for advertisers the one advantage that you have is that with the new technology Bing can determine whether the user is looking for informational purposes or intent to purchase and shows results based off of that thus resulting in less irrelevant clicks for retailers. In the same breath this may also take away from retailers who consumers research on their site and usually return out of familiarity.

I hope that Bing will be the answer that MSN has been looking for but Google seems to have the right formula just a simple search tool nothing more nothing less. There are going to be mixed reviews from users on Bing but I definitely think Bing is the right direction for MSN to begin to be a force in the marketplace.

Popularity: 80% [?]