was also encouraged, even if we stopped way short of calling Bing an all-out Google killer.
Earlier in the week, we looked at some of the X-factors that could make Bing a contender, and one of those—that Bing could become a go-to search engine alternative for shopaholics and those seeking medical advice, for example—is certainly ripe for the type of targeted Internet advertising many companies crave.
A number of observers have championed Bing's ability to organize things like video and images, and advertisers have to be excited about the idea of getting their ads to come up as part of that organization. Whether Microsoft can deliver higher click-to-conversion rates than Google when it comes to Internet search ads will be a key barometer of Bing's success against Google's search platform.
"There's an opportunity for any search company to help consumers find media," said Tim Hanlon, digital advertising specialist at Denuo, to The Wall Street Journal. "Microsoft's search engine does go a step beyond Google in integrating different types of search and media."
As for Bing itself, it's barely three days out to the public, but Microsoft has already begun expanding its reach. A mobile version of the search engine is now available, either by accessing the Bing mobile page on a mobile device to enter your phone number or typing m.bing.com onto your mobile search browser. A number of the Bing features are available for the Bing mobile platform, it appears, including the map function.
