Well, I’ll give Microsoft and Bing this. They’re clearly not going down without a fight. In fact, thanks to their latest marketing ploy, that is exactly what they are seeking.

If you go to the website Bing It On, you can take part in a challenge that pits the search engines Google and Bing against each other in a side by side comparison. You enter a search term, and the results generated by both pages are given to you, along with the option to choose which results were better, or to declare it a draw. At the end of five searches, your score is tallied to reveal which search engine was your overall preference. Of course, to make sure that you have an open mind about the subject, this is a blind test and doesn’t make an indication as to which search engine is which when the results are displayed, Pepsi Challenge style.

Although, my guess is the average internet user is probably aware when they are looking at Google search results.

And that’s what makes this competition so bizarre. Even though the end of the test shows that overall results favor Bing at a 2-1 ratio, after taking the test three times, 15 total searches, my personal results came up with a draw once and Google coming ahead twice. While I freely admit that some of this may have been me subliminally recognizing Google and choosing it, even my Bing preferences were little more than the result of a mental “coin flip” of sorts that resulted from me not wanting to choose the draw option and cop out.

In fact the biggest conclusion I drew from this contest is that Bing is on par with Google. Congrats to them for that, but I don’t think that was ever really the question was it? Proving you’re as good as Google doesn’t make you Google, and if Bing really wants to close the gap in the search engine market share, it should probably spend more time working on what makes it different from the search giant, and not proving that if you type donuts into Bing, you get equal or slightly more appealing results for donuts than Google.

In a bit of irony about this challenge that kind of highlights that predicament, using Bing as one of the search subjects produced better results through Google, and I heard about the challenge initially using…Google.

But hey, it’s a fun little use of five minutes if you can spare it.

According to an article at BusinessWeek, Apple and Microsoft may be in talks to bring Bing to the iPhone to replace Google. If that’s not a case of strange bedfellows, I don’t know what is.

The article is based on information from “two people familiar with the matter,” so it could be nothing. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple move away from Google, though, being that the search giant is becoming the iPhone’s real competitor for cellular market share. Sure, there’s Windows Mobile 7, but that’s on Duke Nukem status right now.

Of course, changing the search engine doesn’t exactly sever ties between Google and the iPhone. There’s still Google Maps, YouTube, and integrated Gmail support, so this wouldn’t really be the blow to Google that Apple might be hoping for.

Microsoft’s Bing continues to show market growth, and not steadily. It’s actually accelerating with each new month, as the latest statistics show.

For December, query totals at Bing were up 49.4%, up from June’s opening totals of 11.6%, with every month increasing in between. Barclay’s Capital attributes the growth to Bing’s ad push, along with the draw of Bing cashback. A fresh ad market is always going to bring a lot of help from affiliates, something Microsoft has used to its advantage.

Bing hasn’t really slowed Google, though. It’s searches were up more than 20%, which was also above average. Yahoo, on the other hand, continues to lose market share, though more slowly than in previous months.

Source: TechCrunch

In case you missed it, here’s what’s Bouncing Around the Web:

Bing has more market share than Yahoo? You have to be freaking kidding me. Yahoo has been around for ages, has name recognition, and what I thought was a strong base of users. Apparently none of that matters when Microsoft starts advertising its new search engine. Do you think the execs at yahoo are kicking themselves for not accepting the $44.6 billion dollar bid back in 2008? You bet your ass they are.

Via: The Gadget Blog

VW lovers and mini-van enthusiasts rejoice! The VW Routan is going to come with built in Wi-Fi. With a starting price of $29 per month, I imagine it will be an easy sell. Of course, this is just the start of things to come. Everything is going to be its own Wi-Fi hot spot in the future. But for now, having kids just to buy a Routan will not only keep Brooke Shields happy, but also the gadgeteers in the family.

Via: ubergizmo

I don’t even know what to say about the new Reebok Vector O Bat. First, is this thing street legal? Because if you ask any young pitcher what’s missing in baseball, I’m sure his first reaction would be to have the baseball coming even faster at his head when it comes off the bat. My prediction? Pain.

Via: OhGizmo