by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2015/06/25 07:46 +00:00, original URI: http://www.siao2.com/2015/06/25/8770668856267196551.aspx
To put this in context, remember when they proved that Google searches were overwhelmingly more popular than Bing searches in the pacific northwest and Seattle and Redmond....
It was kinda embarrassing....
Just recently, friend and colleague Steve Andrews asked a simple question on Facebook:
when did Bing stop recognizing quoted phrases?
He followed up with an example, pointing out that if he's searching for, say, "Joe Almond", he's clearly not looking for Joe's Almonds.
Which is true.
Now I kinda jokingly suggested that he should ask the question to both Bing and Google and decide who he thinks is more credible .
I had specific reasons for responding the way that I did:
• because no one ever really uses Bing, and
• because I knew the answer already, because
• I had done the search in both search engines long ago, and
• I already knew that it would give me the answer in Bing but not Google, and
• I also knew that nobody would search for it with Bing even though I specifically and knowingly and intentionally listed the two search engines with Bing first
• because NO ONE EVER REALLY USES BING!
Now if you do both searches just like I suggested, ignoring any potential bias that this blog post in particular might cause, then:
• in Google you will see references to Chandler Bing from Friends and Bing Crosby and so on including quotes from both, and
• in Bing you'll see the same, but before either you will see the link to the following article:
Quotation marks do not work in Bing? on webapps.stackexchange.com that contains a thread first started three years ago, including screen shots, with the phrase "moscow is a beautiful city".
Now my short answer, to anyone who didn't know me, might imply that I was thinking that Bing was actually better than Google, but who on earth would think THAT?
I assume that some kind of high level meeting took place over at Google HQ, pointing out that there was no upside to finding that answer sooner than Bing. It's undignified, it's petty, it's making fun of the loser in a fight, and to quote CJ Cregg from The West Wing, it's the punch that Ali never gave Forman.
"And it's not like anyone is using Bing anyway...."
The StackExchange page, all kidding aside, is a 2.5 year unmoderated ramble of multiple semi-unrelated problems with Bing.