The problem with trying to compete with Google in search is that search isn’t broken: Most users find what they’re looking for quickly and have no idea whether one search engine is any more “relevant” than another.

Also, search is seriously habit-based.  If you hear about some cool new whizzy search engine, you might try it once or twice (Ask, Wolfram Alpha, Bing).  But once you discover that the results are pretty much the same as you would get using Google, you’ll quickly go back to your old habit of using Google again.

Thus, to actually persuade you to switch search engines, a new entrant doesn’t just have to be better than Google.  It has to be much better–so much better that it is immediately obvious to you that you’re getting more from the new search engine than you would be getting from Google.

Microsoft’s first iteration of Bing wasn’t “much better” than Google.  It was just another search engine, albeit with some nice layout and a $100 million ad campaign attached.

But now Microsoft has gone and included the Twitter streams of a few digerati in the search engine, including Kara Swisher, Danny Sullivan, and John Battelle.  And it has announced plans to include a lot more.

Now, first, you have to hand it to Microsoft for choosing these folks to include, because they have big bullhorns and they’ll chatter about it all day long.

Second, you finally have an opportunity to say, WELL DONE, MICROSOFT!

Twitter/real-time search isn’t something that the average Internet user wants right now, but it will be someday.  And when the average Internet user wants it, search engines that don’t have it will feel as fresh and relevant as, well, newspapers.

So as soon as you get through mentally patting Microsoft on the back for this move, you think NOW WHY ON EARTH ISN’T GOOGLE DOING THAT?  And then you wonder whether Google has just gotten big, fat, and lazy and whether Microsoft really might have a chance in this search business after all.

The other reason we have been arguing that Bing will bomb is that we think Google will be able to rapidly copy any true innovations that Microsoft comes up with and add them to Google before the vast majority of users even know that Microsoft has launched them.  We still think that.  And now we’ll have an opportunity to test this theory in the real world.

So when will Google Search include relevant Twitter and Facebook updates?  The clock is officially ticking…

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If you want to compare results from Google, Yahoo and Bing in the ideal way head straight to BlindSearch. It is an online “which search engine is better” test based on a simple concept, when you search for something on BlindSearch it shows search results from 3 search engines, each in its own column, with their logos hidden. Then you can analyze search results and vote on the best set by clicking on the “vote for this search engine” button. Clicking the button also reveals the logos exposing the engines behind each column.

BlindSearch offers a fool proof test to check which search engine is the best one, at least for certain post querries. It works well because your decision is purely based on the search results and not on your earlier search experiences with one or the other search engine.

Popularity: 5% [?]

       

We reported over the weekend that the Google vs. Bing battle was heating up, as we learned that Google has been researching and exploring what threat its new Microsoft competitor poses to its market dominance. Now, Google seems to have made a rather thinly veiled counter-attack in the renewed search engine wars.

If you visit the Google homepage today, you will find, beyond the nifty Firebird ballet logo, a link

that says “Discovering the web: Explore the world of Google search.” The resulting page, “Explore Google Search,” explains an array of Google’s blended search capabilities. It’s almost certainly a reminder by Google that it is also a “decision engine” with features to match.

The “Explore Google Search” page itself is useful for novices and experts alike. It succinctly explains, with accompanying video, 16 different Google search features. See the image below for the full list:

Most Google searchers know of some of these features, but probably didn’t know about all of them.It’s a smart reminder by Google of what is possible within its search engine. On top of this, it also has a section for meeting Google’s engineers (who tell you about even more features) and one for reading some fairly hokey success stories of using Google search to get things done. Heck, there’s even easy-to-use buttons for sharing the page via Digg, Facebook, and Twitter.

To be honest, we think Search Engine Land hit the nail on the head with its analysis: that this is a direct attempt to remind potential Bing switchers that Google search has “decision engine” features as well. And you know what? Using the Google homepage to broadcast that reminder definitely works.

Is this search battle escalating? Well, if Bing keeps growing, it almost certainly will. What are your thoughts? Did you learn about any new features from Google’s reminder?

Popularity: 4% [?]