We all knew that Bing would have a tough time taking on the titan that is Google, but having now served a full five years on this planet just how much progress has it made?
There were rumblings that Microsoft might be planning to spin off Bing, but at the recent Code Conference, Nadella was quite insistent that the search engine will stay exactly where it is. He also added that Microsoft was working to build a smarter search that would predict users' intentions, similar to Google Now.
"Instead of you having to find information, information finds you," he said.
To mark the fifth birthday of Microsoft's search engine, we tracked down some Bing fans to ask them why they've been turned to the Microsoft side, what it offers that Google doesn't, and what they'd like to see improved.
Oh, and if any of them have actually ever said "Let me Bing that for you" to anyone before.
Nic Davies. Age: 17. Occupation: Student
So why do you use Bing?
"First of all, it provides me with much more accurate results than Google. Sometimes I can find what I'm looking for on the first page of Bing, whereas it might be on the second or third page of Google.
"The advertisements are also not as obtrusive in the search results, such as with Google. It's also great for my Windows phone, I like seeing those great photographs as my lockscreen every day"
"I probably wouldn't have given it a chance if it weren't on my phone. Google is much greater in a lot of aspects compared to Bing. Although I feel Bing is catching up fast in terms of features."
What would you do to improve Bing right now?
"The sign-in option only allows a Microsoft account to be connected, I would like to see a Google account or a Yahoo account to be connected. Or even to sign in with social media accounts."
Ever said "Let me Bing that"?
"Not at all, but I've never said 'Google it' either."
Kevin Joyce. Age: 31. Occupation: Editor of VR Focus
So why do you use Bing?
"I only started using it because it was default on my phone. But following that I did manually make it default on my PCs, laptops and tablet.
"Its international maps service is much better than Google. On site and image search, the difference is negligible. On maps and local search Bing is far quicker and more accurate.
"I only use Google for image search, and even then not all the time. I was part of the 'Meh. Bing.' trend until I actually used it"
What feature of Bing would you improve?
"I'm not a fan of the way images are displayed in image search. It uses this silly semi-page pop-out thing. I would prefer it just to open a new tab. You can't right-click like in Google."
Ever said "Let me Bing that"?
"Yes, but only as an ironic statement when with iPhone users."
Bajram Hoxha. Age 22. Occupation: Programmer
So why do you use Bing?
"The User Interface and some of the unique features that Bing provides really attracted me, and I decided to try something different from what I was used to.
"Bing has some useful tools for web developers. In addition, Bing Maps seem a lot clearer to me, which is important because I'm a cyclist. Besides that, Bing is efficient.
"My favourite feature is the User interface. Video search preview is another feature that lets me [hold the[ mouse over video results and get a 30-second preview directly in the results, which is a better solution compared to my previous go-to search engine."
What feature of Bing would you improve?
"The name recognition is something that definitely Bing needs to improve in future."
Ever said "Let me Bing that"?
"I am the type of person that loves to try different things. Bing came out as an unique search engine, and I remember saying to my friends, 'I will Bing that code.' I truly believe we will hear that phrase from people more and more in the future."
So there you have it, folks. It turns out that there are Bing users out there. For some people it's just a way of sticking it to Google. Babur Yaqub, another person who we spoke to, said: "I don't think its about Bing being better than say Google. It's just that Google being 'advertising' company first is something which makes it less trustable."
But there's clearly some love for the design and features that Bing offers too. So Happy Birthday, Bing. You might not be number one but you're steadily winning people over.
And who knows? As Windows 8 grows stronger and Google grows scarier to some people, you might be a titan of your own come the big 10.
- LG busts out the big guns and Apple buys its groove back - it's the Week in Tech
