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* I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.
I’ve all but stopped using Google News. The company broke its news search several months ago and despite my requests for action and promises from friends at the company that something would be done, nothing happened. It’s still broken.
* Let me give you just one example. As you might imagine, I spend a good chunk of my blogging days checking for breaking news. I use searches specifically designed to produce the latest results.
Google gives you two basic sorting options on its news search: relevance and by date. I need “by date” so I can find the latest stuff.
Here’s a Google News search of “Christine Radogno” sorted by relevance…
* And here are the same Google News search results by date…
Um, what?
This is just the most extreme example, but the site’s problems drove me nuts, which is why I reached out to the company for help. Yet, as you can clearly see above, it’s still broken.
* So, I’ve switched to Bing. I’m a dedicated Mac guy and Google’s Chicago office paid big bucks to co-host my election night party last year, so using a Microsoft [shudder] product throughout my day was not an easy pill to swallow.
I still occasionally use Google as a backup because I’ve seen a couple of holes in Bing’s results every now and then. But I’m very nearly a one hundred percent Bing News user now. It works and Google doesn’t - at least for my purposes.
* The Question: Have you used Bing’s web and/or news searches? If so, how would you rate your experience? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Any suggestions you’d have for improvements to Bing would also be a good thing because I’m meeting with a company representative tomorrow to discuss a few tweaks I’d like them to make.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 10:49 am
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Is this a paid advertisement for Bing?
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 10:53 am
===Is this a paid advertisement for Bing? ===
Don’t be silly.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 10:56 am
I’ve never used Bing to search for news, but general web searches are frustrating. I’ll stick with Google.
Comment by Springfield Wesite Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 10:56 am
I’ve found that google search works best if you don’t go through Google News but instead do a regular search and use the “search tools” to further refine the search. You can sort that by date, and you can also limit results to those published in the last hour or 24 hours. This catches nearly everything imho.
Comment by Google Fan Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 10:57 am
use google alerts
Comment by lost in the weeds Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:07 am
I voted never / rarely because when Bing first started I tried and hated it. But based on your comments here, I am going to give it another chance. Thanks Rich ! I also use Google News to search for stuff and there is a problem there.
Comment by Siriusly Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:12 am
I use Bing now for most things and find out at least as good as Google for most things with the glaring exception of maps. Nothing beats Google for maps.
Comment by FoxValleyPride1 Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:14 am
I’ve noticed this problem lately too, but my advice is to use Twitter. News outlets and reporters are diligent about posting their coverage there and it’s usually easy to find what you’re looking for, in addition to Google Alerts.
Comment by Cycling In The Dark Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:17 am
I’ve done the Bing/Google Challenge twice in 2 years and both times Google has won.
Comment by Mr. Jim Lahey Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:18 am
I’ve used bing but it’s because google shops my searches for advertising so my pages all have those Ad Choice targeted ads on them. Ad “Choice”…yeah right.
Comment by publicservant Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:19 am
===in addition to Google Alerts. ===
My in-box is already too jam packed. No way.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:21 am
I am same as Siriusly. I will try again, especially since my work computer has a Bing toolbar. It would make it easier.
Comment by 32nd Ward Roscoe Village Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:27 am
Actually, I’ve been using you.
Comment by A guy... Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:28 am
It has been going on longer than 2 months, but if you just type my search and it bounces in …little more work, but works
we will never sell out a Capt Fax sponsor
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:28 am
Reply to Rich re: Google alerts: The key is to keep your searches narrowly targeted and/or only sign up for the “Once a day” setting if it’s not an urgent news topic. It picks up the occasional important news item I’d have otherwise missed.
Comment by Cycling In The Dark Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:31 am
I have never tried Bing, but, based on your post, I’ll give it a try.
Comment by Joan P. Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:32 am
I’m a computer junkie and constantly use it for recreation and work.
Maybe I’m just stuck in my ways but I’ve avoided Bing like the plague. Have never gone there, and have furiously changed it anytime it’s the default for a new app or program.
I don’t like change…
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:37 am
My source is the morning newspaper (just kidding). Like “A guy” I mostly use Capital Fax for State/local news.
Comment by Waldi Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:40 am
Google is good. Tried Bing every so often and it’s fine too.
Comment by Belle Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:40 am
I rely mostly on Google alerts and manual searches of certain news sites, and will occasionally use the Google web/news interface for backup searches.
I’ve found the Google alerts to be mostly reliable, but can’t make sense of why it will often re-flag certain news items a month of two after publication.
Twitter is a great tool for following and researching news content (the search function is actually useful and reliable, unlike FB’s search function, which is garbage).
I’ll give Bing a shot.
Comment by Raymond Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:41 am
I use Yahoo mostly. I like it better than Google or Bing.
Comment by 3rd Generation Chicago Native Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:46 am
I left your Christmas party with about 20 pairs of Google sunglasses in my jacket pocket. For that reason alone, I think you should give them another chance.
Comment by quicknote Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 11:46 am
I use Bing search nearly exclusively and am happy with the search results I get.
Comment by le geek Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 12:21 pm
I have not had much luck with Bing. It seems I get less relevant results than when I use Google. I’d rather use Bing, but it takes more time to find what I am looking for while google always seems to have what I want right at the top.
I still haven’t forgiven google for dropping igoogle.
Comment by The KQ Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 12:31 pm
Google many times was giving me recycled news from last October/November 2012 on politics. Drove me crazy.
I started using Bing recently. Seems more accurate than Google News, but I haven’t eliminated Google News. I just pretty much routinely delete Google unless I see news being reported today or yesterday.
Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 12:35 pm
Google news had the option to customize a news search by state. That function doesn’t work anymore. It would be nice if Bing would add that.
Comment by news Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 12:36 pm
I confuse Bing because I don’t have Facebook.
Comment by Chavez-respecting Obamist Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 12:47 pm
Rich,
Have you tried just sorting under the “Any time” column rather than the sorted by date under the “sorted by relevance” tab? You can limit it to the last 24 hours, past hour, etc. (I am sure you know this but, just in case, I thought I would mention it.)
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 2:41 pm
Rich,
Totally agree on your comments on how Google News has messed up the Latest News search the last few months.
I still don’t get why they changed it, since it worked fine before.
Comment by BobInPeoria Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 6:43 pm
Bing is alright, but I must say that Google still Usually gets me what I’m looking for, but if you decide to stick with just Bing, you’ll be ok…
Comment by Just The Way It Is One Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 6:54 pm
never used Bing but will give it a shot
Comment by ejhickey Tuesday, Nov 5, 13 @ 7:49 pm
I gave up on Google News sometime last year as even that long ago there were large differences in “date” and “relevance” searches. There are similar differences in regular Google searches. If I haven’t switched to Bing, it’s mostly because Google still seems to have better tools for defining searches.
Comment by Bob Roman Wednesday, Nov 6, 13 @ 8:36 am