MS opens the gates on it's new Search Engine
About two days ago, Microsoft launched it's answer to Google, the new MSN Search. I like many other have given it a spin just to see if it's what MS has hyped it to be.
So far, I will say that I'm not swayed from Google. I've been a Google user since about a week after it showed up on the net and I've been very happy with it. Matter of fact, I can barely remember the search sites I would use before Goolge came about.
So, read on and I will show you some examples of searches I made on both engines and the reults I got back along with my final feel on the subject. Ok, well I'm not going to do a 45 page report on this so please don't think your in for a snooz fest. Basicly what I'm going to show is about 4 search results from both sites, or rather the ammount of links/pages found by each search engine. So, let's get started shall we?
My frist search was just the word Linux
Google Results : 1 - 10 of about 225,000,000 for linux [definition]. (0.22 seconds)
MSN Results: 1-9 of 98,052,259 containing linux (0.22 seconds)
Second search is for Techography (yup, I'm shameless)
Google Results: 1 - 10 of about 23,500 for techography. (0.20 seconds)
MSN Results: 1-10 of 7,022 containing techography (0.17 seconds)
Third search is a little different, I opted for a math problem of 64c = ?f
Google Results: 64 degrees Celsius = 147.2 degrees Fahrenheit
MSN Results: 1-10 of 36,787 containing 64c = ?f (1.63 seconds)
On this search you can see where Goolge is able to solve many math issues and give you the answer to where MSN returns a lot of pages where I might be able to find the answer. Major + for Goolge as far as I'm concerned.
The last search is a bit more of a question then a single thing or math problem. My questions is How much does Bill Gates Make?
Google Reults: 1 - 10 of about 2,930,000 for How much does Bill Gates Make. (0.24 seconds) -- With the Bill Gates Net worth site link right at the top.
MSN Results: 1-10 of 113,772 containing How much does Bill Gates Make (0.29 seconds) -- With the Bill Gates Net worth site link right at the top.
Now these searches don't show you everything there is about the two search engines. An while it looks as though all the searches seem to be very close in the ammount of time they take, I will say that the MSN site certainly appears to take longer to return the results then what it says it does.
Another thing I found is that the MSN engine also seems to return more irrelevant links almost always on the first page of results to where Goolgle usually doesn't have this issue till the 2nd or 3rd page. I think all in all it's going to boil down to personal preference in the end. As I've shown, the MSN site doesn't handle any math in the way that Google does, but I think it's only a matter of time before MS adds that feature to help tie up the score. The MSN site feels slower then Google and while it might just be me, I prefer the layout the Google uses to display the results, which MSN has basicly copied, but it's different enough that it feels out of place. I haven't been able to put my finger on just what it is yet, but something is definitly there that I don't care for.
So thats my quick and dirtly look and Google's new compitition. I think in time MSN is going to grab some of the search market share, but Google has well established itself and I don't see it withering away any time soon.
Feel differently, tell us about it. Comment to this article.