Bing or Google, what do you use?

BANGALORE, INDIA: Almost three years ago, on May 28, 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the company's very own search engine 'Bing'. The search engine went fully functional on June 3, 2009.

Despite a promising entry and boasting unique features (including an integration with Facebook), Microsoft's Bing has not been able to get anywhere close to the search engine giant Google.

Bing currently has 15 per cent of the US Internet search market, while Google has a whopping 66 per cent, according to a media report. These results are not really noteworthy considering the fact that Yahoo's searches are actually being performed by Bing.

Ever since it's launch, Bing has been plagued by controversies. Microsoft was criticized for censoring Bing search results to queries made in simplified Chinese characters, even though it was done to comply with the censorship requirements of the government in China.

Competitor Google also accused Bing of copying their results in October 2010, after the later appeared to be imitating Google's auto-correct results for a misspelling. A Microsoft spokesperson, denying the allegations, said "We do not copy Google's results."

However, in what seems to be a bid to claw the market share from Google, Microsoft on Thursday unveiled a new design for its second-ranked Bing search engine. The design includes a 'Sidebar', a feature that searches users' social networks for information relevant to the search query.

Also read: Will Bing's new look bring luck to Microsoft?

Whether or not this move will increase Bing's popularity among netizens is yet to be seen.

Google or Bing, Which search engine do you opt for? If Google, why? What can Microsoft do to make Bing more user friendly?

Do share your views with us.