Bing: Search Overload Syndrome

I've been spending a lot of time thinking (and blogging) about Bing, the new Microsoft "decision engine." Unlike the first commercial I saw for Bing, which seemed to point the finger at Google for causing the recession, this one really resonates. Whereas the brashness of the other spot left me cold and confused, the humor here drives home the point about how absurd it is to go on a scavenger hunt from keyword to link to keyword to link before getting the information you're was looking for.

Perhaps most importantly, this ad passed the "mom test." My mother-in-law "got" the ad, found it funny, and wanted to try Bing. Sure enough, after I proceeded to show her Bing in action, she asked why the commercial didn't just show a simple demo. Good question. Methinks its because it would be too hard to differentiate from Google by showing a series of searches and results. The viewer's first instinct would be to say, "Yeah, but isn't that just what Google does?" Instead, Microsoft is trying to evoke some emotion about a pretty cut-and-dry product and category. This is a pretty good effort but only time will tell if these spots bing home the bacon.