Let the competition begin. Following weeks of speculation, Microsoft (News - Alert) Corp. has officially unveiled its new search engine, “Bing,” but Web surfers have to wait a few more days before they can use the site.

 

Bing is Microsoft’s response to Google, the most recent bid to steal market share away from the search engine giant. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (News - Alert) announced the launch and new name at the All Things Digital Conference in Carlsbad, California.

 

Bing, which was formerly known as Kumo, will feature a variety of services, including Bing Travel, Bing Cashback and Bing Maps for Enterprise, Computer World reports. The name is designed to conjure “the sound of found” as Bing helps people with complex tasks, Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of Microsoft’s online audience business group, told the New York Times.

 

With Bing.com, Microsoft hopes to help users receive the information they're searching for faster, Computer World reports. For example, pop-up windows will open summarizing information on a Web site to save users from clicking, the report said. In addition, the site will organize search results with navigation and search tools and offer up different categories of results, it said.

 

Visitors to Bing.com will see a brief video explaining the site’s features. For example, a shopping feature lets users find small product photos and reviews. By clicking on a listing, users can view pricing and shipping information from various sellers. When it comes to flight searches, Bing will give users the best rates and even offer predictions on whether fares will go up in price. The entry page is shown below.

“It’s not just a search engine. It’s a decision,” the video says in describing Bing.

 

Microsoft is supporting Bing.com’s launch with a mega ad campaign. As TMC (News - Alert) reported, the company is reportedly spending $80 million to $100 million on the effort, which will focus on the notion that current search engines don’t work as well as consumers previously thought. The site is expected to launch on June 3.

 

The company is seeking areas where Google (News - Alert) doesn't deliver exactly what users want, Mike Nichols, Microsoft's general manager for search products, told The Salt Lake Tribune.

 

"We don't have any illusion that people will wholesale change their behavior in a massive way," Nichols said.

 

But it remains to be seen how Internet users will respond. Microsoft is facing an uphill battle against the Google giant. The latest comScore numbers, released last week show Google increasing its share to 64.2 percent of searches in the U.S. in April, versus and 20.4 percent for Yahoo and 8.2 percent for Microsoft.

 

Already, some industry observers are skeptical about Bing’s success.

 

"While the search sector is excited by the prospect of a new service, only time will tell if Bing is to have a permanent impact,” Andrew Girdwood, head of search at bigmouthmedia, told VNUnet. “The industry has seen numerous new engines launched over the years - including several by Microsoft - and it's fair to say they haven't been hugely successful.”

 

Martin McNulty, director of online marketing agency Trafficbroker, offered another viewpoint.

 

"While Bing brings some exciting new features to search, the big difference between it and Google is that Google is embedded in our culture and language, while Bing is still in beta,” VNUnet reported. “That's one hell of a gap to bridge."

 

Recent server outages at Google left some Internet users frustrated and looking for alternative search engines. Earlier this month, Web surfers were without Google News and e-mail for about an hour. The company explained it was forced to direct some of its Web traffic through Asia, which caused the traffic jam. As a result, 14 percent of Google users experienced “slow services, or even interruptions.” Then, a day later, Google users experienced a second round of outages, leaving many people frustrated and searching for alternate search engines.

 

The outages came on the heels of Google unveiling some new features meant to help Web surfers with complex searches.