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For many people – about 9 out of 10 people, according to Statista – searching for anything on the Web is synonymous with searching on Google, to the point that an “informal” neologism has been created with the name of the tool: “give it a gugada (or googada?)…”.
But among those on the other extreme of this seemingly unequal search battle, one promises not to passively accept its condition, Bing!
Announced a few days ago, Microsoft’s search tool quickly appears as the “new Bing” for some users who use the Edge browser.
Find out what to expect, the prospects and what we’ve discovered about…
What is the new Bing?
The “new Bing”, is the site search tool, which, in addition to the already known resources, has integrated the feature of direct, more objective and/or more detailed answers, from questions in natural language, which is the one we use in everyday conversation and that for that, it makes use of the artificial intelligence of the controversial and curious, but also impressive ChatGPT, from the company OpenAI.
The speed with which the announcements are being made and the scarcity of official details, raises more questions than answers, however paradoxical it may seem, after all, the main novelty of the “new Bing”, as Microsoft itself has been calling it, is to give good answers to common issues.
A day after the announcement of the use of Google’s AI technology – called Bard – in its search engine, on Tuesday (07/02), Satya Nadella, director of Microsoft, said that “AI (artificial intelligence) will fundamentally change all types of software, starting with the greatest of all, search” is that “the race starts today”, in clear reference to Google, which has dominated the segment for approximately two decades.
What changes with the “new Bing”?
At least for now and from a few images and videos available, the results page that was already being changed and displaying much more than a list of links, will display in a column on the right, the result produced by ChatGPT.
From the announcement that the formerly called Microsoft Bing would use the AI model developed by OpenAI and which had been receiving massive investments from the company created by Bill Gates, until the actual appearance, just a few months passed.
Little time, because changes of the type that promise to significantly impact a segment usually require a reasonable period of implementation, with tests, adjustments and improvements, some suspense and preparation.
The idea, as we commented in the article about ChatGPT, in addition to obviously taking the lead from the rival, is that for many questions the user no longer has to navigate between the numerous links provided in the traditional results pages of search engines (SERP), whatever search engine you use.
He will still have this option of the different links, if he prefers the “old” way, even to confront the response produced by the artificial intelligence. However, with the consolidation and, above all, as the reliability of the resource is established, the internet user may have answered common questions, in a faster, more practical and complete way.
For those who defend the model, there are other benefits, such as productivity gains, the expansion of knowledge and the production of new ones, and the allocation of time and efforts to issues that AI is not yet a solution, at least at this moment.
From a practical point of view and since, at least for the time being, there are no official technical details, it is not possible to know whether the results resulting from the “old” algorithm are also influenced by the new technology and, as a consequence, how it affects issues such as SEO for the Microsoft Bing.
On the first page, at least visually, the result is at least interesting and different from what most people are used to using Google.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said that Bing is using the latest version and therefore is assumed to be GPT-4, which was trained with an even greater number of parameters (about 1 trillion!) compared to to ChatGPT which is testable and which is based on GPT-3.
On that assumption, the new Bing should be capable of even better answers.
How to use/access the new Bing?
If you’re like most, more than just reading about it, chances are you want to try it out and you’re wondering, how to do it, right?
In fact, as the CEO of Microsoft announced, the thing is looking like a race, because only two days have passed after its announcement and some users are already able to access the “new Bing”.
It appears on the Edge browser homepage for users using English versions of the company’s operating system. It was expected to be like this and according to Nadella, gradually over the next few weeks, more users should have access to it.
However, also due to the lack of details in the announcement, it seems that the resource is overloaded, since even for those who the new Bing appears “available”, in fact it is not yet.
As you can see on the respective page, whoever clicks to “try it” enters a queue.
To do so, you must sign in with a Microsoft account and, if it is the same one used in Windows, you must guarantee direct access.
Once this is done, a message will now appear in the same area stating that “You are on the waiting list” and just below a button that says: “Access the new Bing faster”.
As no one likes to wait, clicking on the button takes you to another page, where you have to follow two procedures:
- Set Microsoft Presets on your PC;
- Scan the QR code to install the Microsoft Bing App.
The first step is nothing more than downloading a patch that updates Edge to its latest version, sets it as the default browser, and also sets Bing as the default search engine.
In other words, every link you click that refers to a website will open by default in Edge, as well as every time you use the URL field for a search, it will be done using Bing and not Google.
The second consists of installing the Bing app on your smartphone, so that a search field will appear, similar to what usually exists on Android devices, but for searches using Bing, instead of Google.
Still, it’s not possible to get immediate access and presumably you’ll just wait less.
Those who waited their turn will see the answer being written in the third of the screen to the right of the default results, noting that for now, it will only be available to desktop and notebook users.
What is the future of Bing searches?
Answering questions as proposed by the new “search engines” is much more than having a bunch of links to search. By the paradigm that is still in effect in the minds of most of us, the responsibility for giving an accurate answer lies with the websites that appear in the SERPs.
Due to the new paradigm that is intended to be established, a search engine is no longer just for searching sites, even if it sounds contradictory. The new Bing will dispense with clicks and the need to have multiple tabs to find certain answers.
The proposal is that, depending on what you want to know, the solution to the user’s “problem” is complete, clear and meets your needs and expectations.
If it will be like that, despite the evidence pointing to it, only time will tell.
Who wins the Google vs Bing dispute?
Or who will win the race that started a few days ago?
As much as we try to base ourselves on parameters that are little or not at all subjective, it is still premature and cannot be more than an exercise in guesswork.
There is an old principle considered in many areas, that whoever takes the first steps has an important competitive advantage. It seems that both Microsoft and Google people believe this, as both companies have been rushing to communicate and launch their projects and even apparently, have missed steps.
It counts in favor of the company from Redmond, the fact that its partnership has called the spotlight to itself and with results that impressed even the critics, the skeptics and the most conservative ones. The truth is, ChatGPT was – and still is – the center of news in the technology space.
Another Microsoft asset is its Windows user base, the most widely used desktop/notebook operating system in the world.
The “trick” used and whose steps we described earlier, for those curious to try the novelty, practically forces the user to adopt their browser and which has also been losing the dispute with Chrome. A similar practice has already been seen in the past, when Internet Explorer was the leading browser in the segment.
On the side of Google, the hegemonic leadership of nearly two decades, consolidated the brand in the minds of users as a synonym for search and which is reinforced by the also calm leadership of Chrome and its operating system for smartphones, Android.
Both one and the other have the search engine configured by default and for that reason, you can’t blame Microsoft for doing the same in Windows.
In the succession of movements observed on each side, two days after Bard’s first announcement, a video to present the launch by Google, revealed an inaccuracy in a response from its AI system, causing Alphabet’s actions to – the parent company of the group – plummeted 8% and caused its market value to decrease by more than US$ 100 billion.
It is a clear demonstration of the importance of what is at stake and how the market pays close attention to what everyone is doing.
After all, this is an area where things can change quickly and examples abound to confirm this. Microsoft itself was a victim of this type of phenomenon, having frequented the other side and certainly wants to turn the situation in its favor.
Who wins? The end user is the one responsible for the billionaire figures that both want to grab!
Conclusion
The “new Bing” incorporated the technology that promises to revolutionize the world and starts a race that promises to be fierce and uncertain.
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