3 ms·

What's wrong with name of Bing?

by rudiger 14y ago

huhtenberg 14y ago
Have you seen the logo?
billpatrianakos 14y ago
I thought the same thing then I really thought about it and I suppose you can say it seems like its trying real hard to be Google. I could be way off base but this is how I tried to understand the criticism of the name Bing and how it could be perceived as a Google ripoff: To most people, Google has no meaning. Only some math nerds and smart people realize its a number. To the rest it's just a funny sounding word. So then I imagine a meeting full of Microsoft marketing guys thinking of names that are similar to Google. I imagine them throwing out random suggestions of short combinations of meaningless syllables (think: names like Bitly but with no meaning in either syllable). So then they're all at this meeting shouting "Fetchrig!","Mocklet" at each other then someone says those are too long. Then the single syllable names come out: "Zing" Shoop", "Zune" (and then someone says "we already did Zune"). The meeting then gets real quiet and someone's Hot Pocket gets done cooking and just after the microwave makes its signature noise someone jumps up and declares "Let's call it Bing!" and Microsoft's new search engine was born. But in all seriousness it could've been an attempt to think of a meaningless word like Google that can be used in the same way people say "Google it". So with Bing you have a meaningless funny sounding word that lends itself just as easily to the "Just X it" phrase. It's actually so simple it might have to be wrong. Why don't you just Bing it?
idleloops 14y ago
I've never liked it. Probably as it was a blatant rebranding exercise. It just feels so pretentious. Just like 'Google' would if it were a new name (great in it's day.) All the web 2.0 names, seem so naff now. I pretty much cringe whenever I read one. (I think the only clever part was naming it after Bing Crosby - which you have positive associations with). Perhaps they wanted Ping. Or perhaps it's some play on Bill Gates' name!

What's wrong with name of Bing?

by rudiger 14y ago

What's wrong with name of Bing?

huhtenberg 14y ago

Have you seen the logo?

billpatrianakos 14y ago

I thought the same thing then I really thought about it and I suppose you can say it seems like its trying real hard to be Google. I could be way off base but this is how I tried to understand the criticism of the name Bing and how it could be perceived as a Google ripoff: To most people, Google has no meaning. Only some math nerds and smart people realize its a number. To the rest it's just a funny sounding word. So then I imagine a meeting full of Microsoft marketing guys thinking of names that are similar to Google. I imagine them throwing out random suggestions of short combinations of meaningless syllables (think: names like Bitly but with no meaning in either syllable). So then they're all at this meeting shouting "Fetchrig!","Mocklet" at each other then someone says those are too long. Then the single syllable names come out: "Zing" Shoop", "Zune" (and then someone says "we already did Zune"). The meeting then gets real quiet and someone's Hot Pocket gets done cooking and just after the microwave makes its signature noise someone jumps up and declares "Let's call it Bing!" and Microsoft's new search engine was born. But in all seriousness it could've been an attempt to think of a meaningless word like Google that can be used in the same way people say "Google it". So with Bing you have a meaningless funny sounding word that lends itself just as easily to the "Just X it" phrase. It's actually so simple it might have to be wrong. Why don't you just Bing it?

idleloops 14y ago

I've never liked it. Probably as it was a blatant rebranding exercise. It just feels so pretentious. Just like 'Google' would if it were a new name (great in it's day.) All the web 2.0 names, seem so naff now. I pretty much cringe whenever I read one. (I think the only clever part was naming it after Bing Crosby - which you have positive associations with). Perhaps they wanted Ping. Or perhaps it's some play on Bill Gates' name!