Bing removes beta tag

 

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Posted on 13 Nov 2009 at 10:47

Microsoft has removed the beta tag from the UK version of its Bing search engine, with the promise of better local searches. We tested Bing after it initially launched and weren??t impressed with the results.

This time around, Bing has got a lot better. In the beta version, misspelling a search term didn't have a consistent response. With the full version, you always get the option "Were you looking for:", with the correct spelling of your search term. This more consistent approach is exactly the same as Google's and makes finding what you're looking for easier.

Local searches have been improved, so typing in something like "restaurants in Wanstead" will bring up a list of places to eat there. Where restaurants are also listed on Toptable, you can even reserve a table using the dedicated reservation link.

A deal with Sky Sports is good news for football fans. Just type your team name into the search engine and you'll see details of the latest fixtures, plus team-related news. Typing in the name of a footballer brings up stats for the current season. In both cases, side-bar links provide shortcuts to common related searches, such as videos, news and images.

When we first tried Bing, we found that its Maps weren't as good as Google's. In particular, searching for a restaurant near our home only brought up three results. The full version of Bing does much better, although it was unable to correctly position the restaurants' locations on the map, and overlaid them all in exactly the same spot.

Bing's still not quite there yet, though. While the US gets integrated flight booking and prices, that feature is still not available from the UK site. One of Google's main strengths is its iGoogle customisable home page; Bing doesn't have the same options.

Google shouldn't be scared quite yet and we still prefer its service, but if Microsoft can keep improving Bing in this way it could be a real competitor.

Author: David Ludlow