Difference between Google, Bing and Yahoo
While the search engine wars have traditionally revolved around two major players- Yahoo and Google-the recent entry of Bing has caused the two giants to reconsider their respective approaches. It appears that the scene is ripe for another combatant into the scene and Bing is proving to be a worthy adversary. Let's take a look at how the three measure up against each other.
Home Page
Bing definitely takes top honors in this category, with a stunningly designed front page that features some pretty impressive photographs. In spite of the high graphics content however, Bing remains easy to navigate with the most commonly used features conveniently laid out for easy access.
The Yahoo home page on the other hand takes on a decidedly busier approach, with plenty of links that lead to various points of interest on the Internet. This clearly shows that Yahoo positions itself as a portal for anything and everything on the Internet, rather than just a search engine. The various links lead to search features, news, communications and other areas of interest.
Google is quite a bit different from the two and its plain white background and the lone Google Search text field stands in stark contrast to the "maximalist" approach of Bing and Yahoo. Nevertheless, this simplicity serves Google rather well, and various links along the top of the page make it easy to get to the more commonly used sites such as the e-mail service.
Search Results
Bing offers users two main tools for performing searches: a selection of quick tabs intended for quick 'n' easy searching, and a row of search results grouped into categories. Both options provide instant answers as well as more in depth results.
Yahoo takes on a decidedly no nonsense approach to searching, with results coming up as blue links ranked in order of relevance. Results typically include instant answers, deep links and multimedia.
Google is pretty much like Yahoo in this regard, although it seems to unearth a lot more relevant results. The results also cover instant searches, multimedia and deep links.
Refining Search Results
This category has to do with added functionality of the search results. Bing again takes top honors with search-refining that accompany each search. This is a lot more accessible than the Yahoo and Google features, which require users to click on a link to get more results. Google does offer a 'Show Options' link, which allows you to sort results according to content. Yahoo offers similar functionality with a tab beside the query field.
Similarities and Differences
Google
- Still the leader in search engine results
- Simple and basic home page
Bing
- Attractively designed home page
- A host of innovative features
- Decent number of hits
Yahoo
- Offers a more comprehensive selection of links in the home page
- Numerous links and special features
- Serves as an Internet portal as well as a search engine
