

Get Bing results side-by-side with Google with WebMynd (YC W08) - amirnathoo
http://www.webmynd.com/html/bing.html

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thorax
As I mentioned on an earlier thread, if you just want bing to look a little
more like Google, I posted a Greasemonkey script here:

<http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/50649>

Interestingly, I can really, really tell that Google has iterated pixel-by-
pixel on their interface to get the optimum look because there's an "uncanny
valley" I sense when I see results UI that is close but-not-quite-like theirs.

It's really hard to get the search results to look exactly like Google (the
script doesn't quite do it) and when it's not quite right it feels as if it is
a fake/squatter/parked page rather than the nice clean Google search results.
This script attempts to get partially there, but Bing, by default, reminds me
a lot of the sort of "parked" search results you see out there.

I haven't quite put my finger on exactly what triggers that feeling, but it
seems to be a mixture of line-height, coloring, font size, and the length of
the excerpt.

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kalid
Great analysis. I can't put my finger on it either, but there is something
about the colors and spacing that makes me implicitly look away / be unable to
read the bing results. I've been conditioned to ignore any text that has a
certain format.

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axod
Is it just me that hates the idea of this covering the google adverts? I don't
think that's a good idea personally. I installed it, and then when it was
covering google ads, I just thought "eugh no that's just wrong". It'd be far
better to have it in a separate sidebar. Leave the browser window as it is.

If you're adblock, then sure - be like that. But if you're trying to be a
legitimate company, covering someone elses adverts with your own content seems
like a bad strategy.

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amirnathoo
We intentionally picked the right hand side of the page where the ads are
since we think that is the part of the page that can be most improved. There
are several companies experimenting with improving the Google results page:
Surfcanyon, Foxmarks and Infoaxe spring to mind, the latter two also affecting
the right side of the page.

Do you object to us pushing down the ads because you find them useful? Or you
think it is wrong for us to potentially interfere with Google's revenue
stream? Or another reason...?

~~~
axod
Both - I find them useful, and I think it's the "wrong" thing to do morally.
I'd much rather it was in a separate sidebar, leaving the google page as it
was intended.

~~~
amirnathoo
WebMynd is definitely targeted at the people who don't find the ads on the
right particularly useful.

We think it is right that users should be able to opt-in to have more control
over how their online tools appear and function. Provided there is attribution
i.e. we're not taking a tool or content and claiming we created it.

~~~
axod
Sure, bear in mind though "people who don't find ads useful" is a very small
niche market. Also by definition, they're not the type of people you can
monetize.

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mattmaroon
Neat. I've always kept using Google, while having a sneaking suspicion that in
some areas the other search engines had surpassed them. However Google was
good enough, and the only way to really tell is to do large amounts of side by
side comparisons, and who has the time for that?

Now thanks to this plugin, I do.

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philwelch
Putting search results side by side is old news:

<http://www.graball.com/r.php?s=cuckoo+bananas>

To get to Bing you have to use the "MSN" link, but you can get a side to side
comparison of any two search engines. Plus, you don't have to install
anything, since it just uses frames. (Most people implementing this today
would use javascript, because as we all know frames are evil, and hence, we
have to use other tools to re-implement frames.)

~~~
amirnathoo
You don't have to install anything, but you do have to keep remembering to go
to a different site, outside your usual workflow, if you want to see the
results side-by-side.

~~~
ntoshev
I doubt anyone wants to compare search results as part of their usual
workflow: it's a distraction by definition.

You can always bookmark the site, although it should remember your preferences
in the url or in cookies.

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kbrower
Nice job getting this up quickly!

~~~
amirnathoo
Thanks. A lot of the work we've done is building a platform which makes it
really easy to add new sources, and improve search in general. So we like to
show that off when appropriate :-)

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AndrewWarner
I don't see where to add it. What section of links is it under? (And nice work
getting it online so fast.)

~~~
amirnathoo
If you already have WebMynd installed at the latest level (0.8.1), restart
your browser, do a search on Google then activate the Bing results by looking
in the 'Knowledge' section in the Sites menu.

~~~
AndrewWarner
Restarting FF did it. By the way, this really shows how bing is often better
than google.

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chaosmachine
Nice work.

I was thinking about this earlier, but sadly Bingle.com was already taken.

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zouhair
As a side note one with a big screen can use the command "split" of YubNub.

