Bing outdoes Google with new Video Search

In what Microsoft is calling “a modern makeover” Bing Video Search has introduced new functionality to make it a better starting point for finding video content than either YouTube or Google.com.

What’s new? Bing Video Search needed improving, and some changes – such as providing more information about each video (upload date, uploader, channel and number of views) – are simply a match to what’s already shown in YouTube’s video search results. But, of course, Bing video results are not limited to just what’s on YouTube.

Where Bing has taken the lead is in improving its related search suggestions, and enabling videos to be previewed directly from search results.

Thumbnail images are larger, a change likely to be welcomed by smartphone and tablet users.

Better than Google and YouTube? Bing’s large thumbnails, related search suggestions and video previews now make it the best place to start a video search.

Why should you care?

Outside the US, Bing has a long way to go before it accumulates a significant user base and has a meagre four percent of this country’s search traffic. Bing has previously admitted it’s unlikely to seriously challenge Google in the pure search space, so a focus on verticals such as video search is no surprise.

If you’re creating video content, you’ll likely welcome this news because video search results are in need of improvement.

Google’s Video Search looks dated and, even though some of the results don’t actually include video content the company has said there are no immediate plans for enhancements.

Bing’s new Video Search may have Google reassessing its priorities.

Other search marketing news this week:

• Why Yahoo could become your default web browser
  Yahoo resorts to sneaky tactics to trick people into setting Yahoo as their default homepage and search engine.
• Google tackles accidental ad clicks with fixes for fat fingers
  Studies say that up to half of all mobile ad clicks are accidental. New fixes from Google should reduce the number of inadvertent ad clicks.

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