bada bing… der Bingle — not just a mellifluous 20th century popular baritone, but now also a Microsoft search engine for the 21st century. Or something. It seems to work, and it gives Microsoft a fingertip grip on the ledge of internetworking, arresting their fall into the chasm of irrelevance. I searched “Cap and Trade” on Bing and two prominent related searches were “Glenn Beck” and “Rush Limbaugh.” Slim evidence but enough to suggest that Bing brings us politicized search. (Is that what Microsoft intended when they built their focus group from the usual suspects?)
A search via Bing for “der Bingle” turns up but one related search: “der Wienerschnitzel.” One fails to see the connection. Bing searches don’t reveal Wikipedia on the first page of results for either “der Bingle” or “Cap and Trade.” Blogger entries also seem low in the results ranking. By way of contrast, The Google places Wikipedia entries and blogger written references high in its search results. Zo, vat ve haff hier ist der Bingle mit der Limbaugher und also der Wienerschnitzel (eine zuchen-zeuge written by dem Katzenjammer Kidz) versus The Google with its Wikipediatrics and amateur sourcing. I’m guessing der Bingle will give das Yahoo! a run for its money, but The Google will leave them in its dust.
They’re making judicious use of spite, hatred for their customers and corporate infantilization protocols in all their products. Never let it be said that they’ve stinted. I believe the search results reflect that, in an incidental way, and perfectly reflect the needs of their target demographics, which have an insatiable desire for the exposure to spite, hatred for their customers and corporate infantilization protocols. It’s a good business model, in some ways.
But I also give the edge to The Google.