I accidentally found myself on Bing recently. It’s the Microsoft search engine which is basically like Google, but not. Initially Microsoft made big noises about how fresh and different their search engine was, but after using it today I’m pretty amazed at how much Microsoft have copied the Google interface.
Here’s a shot of me doing a search for “Gears” in Google (check here for the full-size image)
You’ll probably be aware of the familiar “sign in” button on the top right and the “cog” that’ll open your settings. The search bar is pretty familiar and you get to choose whether to have Web, Images, Videos or Maps included in the results.
Now, here’s Bing (again, try here for the full-sized image)
Again, up the top right is the “sign in” button and, yes the “cog” is back. These are pretty much identical to Google. The results can be filtered into Web, Images, Videos and Maps. There’s also a very familiar layout. Ads on the right, a few images tossed into the results. If that Bing logo was swapped for a Google logo I’d challenge anyone to tell the difference. It’s nothing but a copy, but sadly the Bing results are no-where near as good as Google, with Microsoft picking up some very random and strange results.