Maybe I have my facts wrong, but I was thinking yesterday that Google’s Fast Flip was released the exact the day that Bing’s Visual Search was released.
There may be some earlier dates of developers getting access to these platforms, but from what I’m able to dig up, they both have the same release date. And if that is the case, is it just coincidental or is Google’s Fast Flip a direct response to Bing’s Visual Search?
Here’s an image of Bing’s Visual Search:
The core selling feature of Bing’s Visual Search is a visual browsing experience you get, plus the micro-categories that you can start dissecting the images into. For example, if you started your search with iPhone Apps, you could then click categories such as “top sellers”, “top free”, and “games”.
Bing’s Visual Search seems to focus on a broader spectrum of the web, covering a wide range of subject areas and products.
Here’s an image of Google’s Fast Flip:
Much different in layout, design, and strategy than Bing’s Visual Search, but the concept here, just like with Visual Search, is browsing through images.
And the main motivator in the differences is nothing more than revenue. Google obviously wants to generate more revenue from the ads that are shown on these high-quality news sites. These impressions from Google’s ad inventory makes up 99% of Google’s revenue – so it makes sense to create a platform that better facilitates visitors getting to these sites.
For Microsoft, and Bing’s Visual Search, it’s a bit more unclear what the underlying motivator might be, other than they simply want to create a product that is extremely useful to visitors. Or perhaps somewhere along the way, Microsoft gets revenue from the product displays and ad impressions.
Either way, I find it ironic that we are looking at possibly the exact same release date with Google’s Fast Flip and Bing’s Visual Search. Ironic again that these platforms both deliver visual browsing.
Ultimately, the winner is us – the web browsers – because competition at these levels result in amazing products and platforms for us to experience!