bing is solid

On a whim I decided to try out Bing today to see how it compared to Google on a few queries. The results are in Bing's favor:

Test 1
I like to use runningmap.com to plan out my runs. Unfortunately, I can never remember the name of the site (bookmarks are so '97) and the search query I use to find it is "map run". Google brings up runningmap.com as result #7, Bing has it as #3. The top hit on both is mapmyrun.com, though Google dedicates the second spot to a specific page on that site.

Since mapmyrun.com is the top hit for "map run" I often find myself looking for "map my run" even though I'm looking for RunningMap. What's interesting is that for this query runningmap.com doesn't come up in the first 5 pages on Google (or possibly ever; who looks that far before adjusting the query?), but is at the top of page 2 on Bing.

Test 2
Wanting to go see The Hangover at The Big Picture I searched for "big picture seattle". Both search engines serve up the obvious relevant results, but Bing has a leg up here as it displays show times at the top. This would have potentially been a huge win for me since I originally used Google to get to The Big Picture website, which makes it as difficult as possible to find show times.

So far so good, Bing. To make sure the second test wasn't unfairly favoring Bing (Microsoft is Seattle based) I tried it out on "Century 16 Mountain View"; neither search engines gives movie times at the top.

I'm not sold yet, but I'll keep these side-by-sides going for the next few days.