For the Mac result: On bing US, it's the first result. On bing UK, it's the third.
However, seeing as the Mac result mentions Windows in the text, it doesn't surprise me that it shows up in Google's first page. The difference is, Google shows you what you're actually looking for first (the first 4 results), rather than doing some shenanigans that basically say: "That's not what you really meant to search for....you're looking for this unrelated thing over here....."
With Bing, 3 of the top 5 results are about why Macs are expensive, and only 1 is related to Windows, and only tangentially at that, as it's dealing with Windows hosting providers, rather than Windows itself.
With Google, 4 of the top 5 are dealing with the expense of MS Windows, and the other (5th place) is about vinyl windows being expensive.
The vinyl windows listing is on both Google and Bing, so that's obviously an easy mistake to make, which I could perfectly understand even without checking the results.
So the top 5 results for this query (Why is windows so expensive):
Bing: Mac pricing X 3 Windows web hosting X 1 Vinyl windows X 1
Google: Windows pricing X 4 Vinyl windows X 1
Make a little more sense why people are bitching about it now?
This is all from US versions of both sites. The Canadian version of Google lists the exact same top 5 as the US version, but Bing Canada is on crack. The same search comes up with:
1. Vinyl Windows 2. Macs are expensive. 3. Why is healthcare expensive on Youtube. 4. Why is OSS commercial software expensive. 5. Is Windows getting more expensive?
Incidentally, if you read this last link, it's an article that states that Windows is selling for roughly the same price now as Windows 98 did, so accounting for inflation, it's actually cheaper. Go figure.
The vinyl windows listing is on both Google and Bing, so that's obviously an easy mistake to make
It's not a mistake, the word "windows" can mean more than software to those who do not spend all their lives in a dank basement below their mother's house, you know.
Why would the entire first page of results ignore the ambiguity of the search? [google.com]THAT would be a mistake.
Don't be Evil (Score:2, Funny)
Shocking.
It seems that Don't be Evil is not the corporate motto of Microsoft.
It makes you appreciate google, despite their mildly objectionable data collection/profiling.
Re: (Score:2)
oh no wait it returns the same 'Why are Macs so expensive.' That's right. You're not hallucinating." article as the 7th link instead of the top
incidently when i tried on bing it was the 3rd result
while there may be many reasons to hate bing, this story is really ;
man doesn't put search in quotes, doesn't get results he was expecting!
the failure is on the part of the user, not the search engine
Re:Don't be Evil (Score:3, Informative)
For the Mac result:
On bing US, it's the first result. On bing UK, it's the third.
However, seeing as the Mac result mentions Windows in the text, it doesn't surprise me that it shows up in Google's first page.
The difference is, Google shows you what you're actually looking for first (the first 4 results), rather than doing some shenanigans that basically say:
"That's not what you really meant to search for....you're looking for this unrelated thing over here....."
With Bing, 3 of the top 5 results are about why Macs are expensive, and only 1 is related to Windows, and only tangentially at that, as it's dealing with Windows hosting providers, rather than Windows itself.
With Google, 4 of the top 5 are dealing with the expense of MS Windows, and the other (5th place) is about vinyl windows being expensive.
The vinyl windows listing is on both Google and Bing, so that's obviously an easy mistake to make, which I could perfectly understand even without checking the results.
So the top 5 results for this query (Why is windows so expensive):
Bing:
Mac pricing X 3
Windows web hosting X 1
Vinyl windows X 1
Google:
Windows pricing X 4
Vinyl windows X 1
Make a little more sense why people are bitching about it now?
This is all from US versions of both sites. The Canadian version of Google lists the exact same top 5 as the US version, but Bing Canada is on crack. The same search comes up with:
1. Vinyl Windows
2. Macs are expensive.
3. Why is healthcare expensive on Youtube.
4. Why is OSS commercial software expensive.
5. Is Windows getting more expensive?
Incidentally, if you read this last link, it's an article that states that Windows is selling for roughly the same price now as Windows 98 did, so accounting for inflation, it's actually cheaper. Go figure.
Re: (Score:2)
The vinyl windows listing is on both Google and Bing, so that's obviously an easy mistake to make
It's not a mistake, the word "windows" can mean more than software to those who do not spend all their lives in a dank basement below their mother's house, you know.
Why would the entire first page of results ignore the ambiguity of the search? [google.com]THAT would be a mistake.
Re: (Score:2)
"Why is Windows expensive", you're usually talking about the software.
If you search Google for "Why are windows expensive" you get more results pertaining to pieces of glass.
Now _that's_ a good algorithm.
Re: (Score:2)
"Why is Windows expensive", you're usually talking about the software.
If you search Google for "Why are windows expensive" you get more results pertaining to pieces of glass.
Now _that's_ a good algorithm.
Good point. But assuming that your users have a solid grasp of grammar is pure folly :)