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Think You Prefer Google? Microsoft Says 'Bing It On' in New Challenge
(Image: BingItOn.com)

Think You Prefer Google? Microsoft Says 'Bing It On' in New Challenge

Google has long been ranked as the most popular search engine and others like Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo have been struggling to keep up.

Earlier this year, a study showed Bing had surpassed Yahoo -- the search for which is actually powered by Bing -- for the No. 2 slot. But still unsatisfied, Bing is now challenging Google users to see which search engine they really prefer. In essence, "Bing It On."

"With Bing It On, we’re encouraging you to try Bing – whether you’re a first time customer or an occasional visitor. You may be surprised at what Bing offers and how it can help you spend less time searching and more time doing," The Bing Team wrote on its community blog.

A study conducted by an independent research agency commissioned by Microsoft found people preferred Bing's search results over Google 2 to 1:

In the test, participants were shown the main web search results pane of both Bing and Google for 10 search queries of their choice. Bing and Google search results were shown side-by-side on one page for easy comparison – with all branding removed from both search engines. The test did not include ads or content in other parts of the page such as Bing’s Snapshot and Social Search panes and Google’s Knowledge Graph. For each search, the participant was asked which search engine provided the best results – “Left side search engine”, “Right side search engine”, or “Draw.” After each participant performed 10 searches, their votes were totaled to determine the winner (Bing, Google or Draw, in the case of a tie).

When the results were tallied, the outcome was clear – people chose Bing web search results over Google nearly 2:1 in the blind comparison tests. Specifically, of the nearly 1000 participants: 57.4% chose Bing more often, 30.2% chose Google more often; 12.4 % resulted in a draw

In an effort to prove these results to other uses, Bing has released an interactive tool you can use to test yourself. See which site you really prefer by taking the challenge here.

CNET reports Microsoft is also launching an ad campaign to go along with the Bing It On challenge:

Microsoft is promoting the new campaign via nationwide TV and online ads starting tonight during MTV's Video Music Awards. It also plans to feature the campaign in its Microsoft retail stores and pop-up Bing It On Challenge "stations" across the U.S. Microsoft is using the hashtag #bingiton on Twitter to push the campaign, as well.

Redmond also is launching the Bing It On sweepstakes, with prizes including a Microsoft Surface, Windows 8, an Xbox 360with Kinect for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE, a Windows Phone. To enter, users are required to tweet a designated Bing It On Challenge tweet. The sweepstakes will run until October 18, with more details available at https://www.bingsweeps.com.

According to recent analytics from comScore, Google held 66.8 percent of the search market while Bing -- at second -- had 15.6 percent.

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