SEAN TINER

(Example of a Spezify.com search result ) Bing.com is the buzz of cyberspace with its 80-100 million dollar marketing campaign promoting its innovative "decision engine," but Spezify.com also provides internet surfers with an innovative search experience. The site provides users with graphical snapshots of a search query. Although it may be easier to find specific textual information with a Google, Yahoo, or Bing search query, Spezify is an unique resource for users browsing a topic or searching for images.

Yesterday, Microsoft launched Bing , a rebranded search engine. Bing allows users to preview a search engine query and offers unique user functionality. Microsoft hopes to take market share from online advertising competitors, including Google and Yahoo. To market Bing, Microsoft plans to spend approximately $100 million in a marketing launch campaign, which will include Television, radio and print advertisements . Although the integrated marketing campaign will generate short-term buzz, will viewers be motivated to jump ship from Google or Yahoo? In areas where Google has a strong position in the US with an approximately 70 percent market share, it will be difficult for Bing to compete due to loyal users and established positions. However in Asia and emerging technology regions, including China, where Google only has a 19% market share , Bing can secure its position if the early adapters embrace its functionality.

Today, former Google engineers released Cuil (pronounced "cool"), the world's biggest search engine. Attempting to rival Yahoo, Google and MSN, Cuil has indexed over 120 billion Web pages, three times more then what the company claims Google has indexed. Unlike competitors, Cuil promises not to store private information from search results, like IP addresses and cookies. Does the average person really care about this innovative privacy feature? Does this tell us something about Cuil's target audience? Will Cuil soon be the new synonym for search? Time will only tell.