Google Vs Bing: Which is Better?

Crowning any of the search engines between Google Vs. Bing can prove to be quite tricky. Google is hands down the most popular search engine out there, but in terms of quality, Bing isn’t far behind! 

However, the numbers do add up, as Google has 1 billion active users daily, whereas Bing only has 100 million users so far! Google was the undisputed winner in the battle of search engines, but it’s losing ground at a faster pace than you might expect. 

Innovation is the only constant! That’s what Bing has prioritized, and that’s why they’ve strategized their moves like a pro chess player to eat a significant portion of Google’s user base. However, not all is lost for Google, as it’s not the first time that Google’s user base has dropped below 90%! 

So, as a user or a website owner, which one is better: Google Vs. Bing. We’ll find that out in this insightful blog post. So, let’s get going by understanding the differences between the two!

Major Differences Between Google & Bing

Both of these search engines provide paid advertising options. In fact, the foundational principles of these search engines are more or less the same in terms of ranking the organic results, quality of content, etc. Even then, when you search for a similar kind of query in these search engines, you’ll find different types of organic results. Let’s say that you find the same types of results, but their order will be quite different. 

Distinctions Between The Ranking Factors of Google Vs. Bing

There aren’t any confirmed ranking factors available that you can analyze on your own, but there are more than 200 ranking factors that Google uses. In fact, the official documentation that Google and Bing provide will contain plenty of useful information. It will give you an opportunity to find out the similarities along with the differences between their ranking algorithms. 

Both these search engines look at different factors, like the quality of the content, along with the backlinks. They are part of the ranking algorithms, so it will be a good investment to double down on these aspects. However, there are some differences in what the search engines consider crucial when it comes to the rankings. 

1. The Mobile-First Indexing Approach of Google

It’s a known fact that Google uses a mobile-first indexing policy along with its implications. So, that’s what makes it important for every type of mobile content and metadata that needs to be optimized to its full extent, and even match it with the desktop version. 

Any website that’s using a mobile version of the website needs to optimize it in the right manner and better the mobile user experience(wherever it’s required). 

Bing has quite a different policy from Google when it comes to indexing web pages. In fact, it doesn’t seem that Bing has any plans to carry out a mobile-first indexing policy. Rather than that, they’re opting for a device-agnostic approach. 

Despite all these factors, you must allow Google’s mobile-first indexing policy to follow the right type of SEO practices and improve your website’s UX. Following this strategic approach won’t have any impact on Bing’s performance. So, you can go ahead with this approach without having any second thoughts. 

2. Core Web Vitals

It was not long ago that in 2021, Google released a ranking factor, which is more commonly known as the Core Web Vitals. It is nothing but a set of metrics that is designed to know about the actual user experience for any web page’s loading performance, along with its visual stability. 

Since the time it was launched, the interactivity metric, more commonly known as the First Input Delay, has been replaced by another term. It’s known as the Interaction to Next Paint(INP). 

The page load times are mainly evaluated with the help of the Largest Contentful Paint(LCP), whereas the Cumulative Layout Shift(CLS) will measure the visual stability.  

On the other hand, Bing has also doubled down on providing a great experience to users by providing them with web pages that load quickly. Alongside this, these pages perform in the right fashion on mobile devices as well. However, it’s in no way equal to that of the Core Web Vitals. 

3. 302 Redirects & Other Indexing Issues

When you’re implementing the permanent redirects, while going ahead with a strategic SEO campaign, you have to give special attention to the redirects. It is a great thing if you can use the 301 redirects as opposed to the other option, which is to have temporary 302 redirects. 

By using the 302 redirects, you can come across indexing issues on Google. However, Bing’s system is somewhat different, which will automatically interpret the 302 redirect as a 301 once it has been crawled a certain number of times. That’s why 302 redirects are much less likely to cause any type of problems with Bing. 

To make sure that your website is optimized for both of these search engines, you need to understand that it’s not crucial to opt for 302 redirects when you need a permanent redirect. 

4. Google Understands JavaScript Much Better

You might not believe it, but Google’s crawlers have understood the JavaScript sections of your website for quite some time now. The best part about it is that it will get a lot better with time. 

Now, if you compare it with Bing’s Webmaster Guidelines, you will find out that the rich media might lead to Bing not being able to navigate properly. Furthermore, it might also happen that it will not be able to see the content that is embedded in a webpage. 

5. Bing Focuses A Lot More on Keywords

Did you know that Bing relies a lot more on the tried and tested methods of understanding and ranking the content? One common example of it is to use the keywords in the title tags along with the URLs. 

In fact, both of these search engines are still looking for the keywords in title tags, which are used as a way to match the queries with the right type of results. By having a look at the official search documentation, you’ll get to know it much more deeply. But, with the constantly evolving natural language processing capabilities, Google won’t be required to be dependent upon the metadata. It has become even more commonplace since the time Google introduced RankBrain and BERT updates. 

In the past, as well, Google has looked for keywords in URLs. In fact, they’ve used it as a standard practice to rank the results on their search engine results pages(SERP). You can even see for yourself how well the exact match domains perform for the queries that they’re much more aligned with. However, this phenomenon happens a lot more on Bing as compared to Google. 

If you think beyond SEO for a moment, opting for a descriptive and keyword-rich URL will prove to be the ideal option for you and the users. The clearer the URL, the more comprehensible the structure of your web pages will be. It will also highlight their place in your website’s structure. 

Bing Has a Clear Preference For Official Domain Types

You would be surprised to know that Bing prefers established content that has either been live for a considerable amount of time or has a great amount of traffic. This preference can also be seen by understanding that Bing prefers the top-level domains, usually from authorities such as .edu, .gov, etc. 

Google prefers commercial or top-notch websites that hold the same or even more value in different situations or are dependent a lot more on PageRank. Based on this information, it can be deciphered that link-building campaigns will hold a lot more importance in ranking your website on Google rather than Bing. 

Google Vs. Bing: Apart From The Ranking Factors

There are various areas where Bing’s ranking systems differ from those of Google. However, there are many other differences between these two search engines, which are distinct from their ranking algorithms. 

The major differences between Bing & Google are as follows:-

Financing OptionsGoogle Finance is a unique feature that provides information regarding trends and current prices feature is not available in Bing

Google Vs. Bing: Which Is The Better Option?

Despite all the factors that are going against Google, it’s still the biggest search engine, with more than 89% of the market share. In fact, Google is the first search engine to launch several innovative features. A recent example of this is AI Overviews. 

But Bing isn’t a lot behind Google, as they’ve brought several AI features to their search results. With the help of Microsoft Copilot and providing a better, visually immersive search experience, Bing is giving tough competition to Google. 

Final Verdict

Google Vs. Bing is a clash of titans on the online search battlefield. Each of these search engine options is armed with special features and breakthrough innovations. 

But, still, Google is far ahead of Bing when it comes to having the biggest share of the search market. Alongside this, Google is also slightly ahead of Bing when it comes to innovations. So, all in all, Google is better than Bing for the time being!

Are you looking to rank your website on both Google and Bing? If your answer is in the affirmative, Kinex Media will be of much help. Our SEO professionals have extensive experience ranking our clients’ websites on both of these search engines. Just get in touch with us, and we’ll ensure that your website ranks on both Google and Bing. Call us now!