MS Bing 'Decision Engine' Official Launch Next Week

Microsoft has officially unveiled the replacement for its Live Search tool. However, the new instrument will be known as "Bing" rather than "Kumo," and is billed as a 'decision engine' rather than a search engine.

The working name for the new service had been Kumo, but Microsoft eventually settled on Bing despite some problems trade marking the name. The firm appeared to be looking for an active name which could be used as both a verb and a noun, in the same way as 'to Google' has become another way of saying 'to search online'.

As we've noted before, the main difference with Bing is that it organizes results into different categories. Whereas Google does this by the format of information (such as news, blogs, images and so on), Bing customizes the categories to fit the topic.

Multiple Information Tools

Microsoft today launched a video showing off the service and it's clear the aim is to bring together multiple tools rather than just offer a straight search for web pages.

For example, a search for a product brings together reviews from a variety of sources which can be tweaked depending on the factors most important to the user. There's also a comprehensive travel search which not only finds the best price, but predicts whether it is worth waiting until later in case fares drop. (Source: decisionengine.com)

Bing and Ad Revenue

There's already some suspicion that these tools aren't just designed to help users, but to deter them from feeling the need to leave the site to get further details. Of course, the longer users spend on the Bing site, the better it is for Microsoft ad revenues. Company chief Steve Ballmer has already acknowledged the firm may be pressured to give cuts of that revenue to sites which Bing relies on for information.

Will Users Cling to Bing?

The site launches officially next Wednesday, though some users of Live Search will get Bing results from Monday.

One writer given an advance preview says he was surprised by how well it performs and concludes that in many areas it is competitive with Google. The problem is that with Google already so firmly established as the default for many users, a rival search tool will need to not only be substantially better to succeed, but must clearly demonstrate that advantage to would-be users. (Source: cnet.com)