Google and Bing are the two most popular search engines in the world. While Google is still dominant, Bing has been gaining traction as a de facto number two. Here is an overview of the differences between them.

Search Results

Probably the most important difference is in the algorithm being used to determine how a search engine displays and ranks its search results. Since the actual algorithm is a necessarily well guarded secret, each algorithm’s exact specifics cannot be determined, but one can get some idea of the differences by comparing each search engine’s search results.
Bing vs. Google
With regards to the quality and usefulness of results you can expect both Google and Bing to be pretty good, but if you would like to test which might serve you best you can do multiple searches on both and see which you like most. A tool called BlindSearch is quite helpful in determining which might be most suitable as it allows you to vote for the best results before you actually see which search engine delivered them.

According to some observations Bing tends to do better with popular searches and image search, and aims to be more task driven than Google. It also has a somewhat lower percentage of spam results, probably because it is less popular and therefore less targeted by spammers (search engine optimizers who try to game better rankings).

Google probably has an upper hand in more specific long tail searches. It has to be noted that Google has been around far longer which gave them more time to perfect their algorithm, and index greater swaths of the web, including the more obscure, older or harder to find web pages.

Both search engines and their algorithms continue to evolve, however, so whatever may hold true about their differences today may not remain in the future.

Social Search

In the age of social networking both search engines vie to incorporate social signals into their results. Since Microsoft is a partner of Facebook Bing search results may be influenced by what you and your friends “like” on Facebook. Bing will also show Twitter posts in its search results for certain searches.

Google, on the other hand, is building its own social network called Google+ which it is increasingly integrating into its search results. What you and your Google+ friends give a “+1” vote to may influence your Google search results, and you will see “+1” votes by your friends in your search results.

It might also be worth noting that Facebook uses Bing to complement its internal search.

Search Features

Both Google and Bing have additional “vertical search” features such as video search, blog search, news, shopping, finance, and so on. Bing seems to have a few more like recipes, travel, events, online games, and Wolfram Alfa access each with a special interface, although Google is still capable of providing good results in these areas within its main search interface.

Bing is also embracing curated search with Editors’ Picks, a curated selection of best web sites on a variety of topics edited by human experts.

Just like Google Maps Bing also has pretty good Maps with comparable features including StreetSide, its equivalent of StreetView, which also offers a slide view of the street side in addition to the standard 360 view.

One thing Google has that Bing does not is Instant Search, that is, the real time display of search results as you type the search query.

Travel

In addition to homepage backgrounds, Google and Bing differ in how they display information about travel. For example, while Google automatically displays information about flight hours, dates, and locations based on the user’s initial search terms, Bing displays all of this information, as well as predicted changes in fare rates for the next several days, based on flight statistics.

Cuisine

Like travel, Bing and Google also provide similar information about restaurants and recipes, but differ slightly in how they display that information. For example, Google will display a restaurant’s name, address, phone number, hours, average rating, and the restaurant’s location on a map, as well as provide links for the restaurant’s menu and websites that provide more information about it. Contrastingly, Bing provides the restaurant’s name, address, phone number, rating, a full menu, an expected meal price, and links to the restaurant’s hours and directions.

Look & Feel

Since Google and Bing are fairly comparable in terms of search results and features look and feel may often play a deciding role in the choice of a favorite search engine, and this is where the two are probably most different. Google still has a clean white homepage whereas Bing offers a homepage with an image overlaid by a search box. Google supports a background image as well, but it is not enabled by default.

The current Bing image is also visible as a gradient on top of the search results pages. In comparison, Google’s search results look a bit cleaner with a somewhat more generous use of white space.

Bing displays its vertical search options (image search, video search, etc.) as tabs on top of search results whereas Google makes them into a sidebar menu. Google displays related searches below all search results whereas Bing displays them in the sidebar. Bing also displays search history just below related searches whereas Google doesn’t.

Both Google and Bing use what appears to be the same color scheme for its text and links, green for the URL, blue for an unvisited link, and purple for a visited link.

Overall Google definitely provides a cleaner user experience, but Bing might still attract with utility. For those who prefer a more Google-like look & feel, but still wish to use Bing there is Binngle which dresses Bing search results in a Google-like theme.

Conclusion

Both Google and Bing are respectable and powerful search engines, and both will likely do a good job of finding stuff on the web. Neither can be defined as definitively superior so the ultimate choice will probably come down to habit or personal preference over various details. The best advice for those re-evaluating their search engine of choice is to try the other one, and see how it goes.