My favorite search engine should be dropped according to the New York Times. Bing is a great search engine, but it’s cash flow is really horrible. Bleeding $2.6 billion dollars last fiscal year, it hasn’t been Microsoft’s golden child. But, if Bing were to go to the wayside, Microsoft would lose a big online “billboard” of advertising. Personally, I prefer Bing to Google, and it’s results are getting quite a bit better. When searching Google, I find myself visiting more irrelevant links than when using Bing.
Of course, the NYT mentions Apple may be a better owner for Bing. How’s that going to work? Bing is a type of cherry, not Apple.
Microsoft needs to concentrate on a different kind of search: finding a buyer for Bing, its online search business. Bing is the industry’s distant No. 2 after Google. It has become a distraction for the software giant — one that costs shareholders dearly. The division that houses Bing lost $2.6 billion in the latest fiscal year. Facebook, or even Apple, might make a better home for Bing. A sale would be a boon for Microsoft’s investors.