Let’s make three things clear before we start with this story: the first is that this is not a sponsored article, the second is that I still believe that Google is a much better search engine, and the third is that nothing I am going to write here are reasons for that your need, want or should use Bing. This it’s just my experience and with it comes a lot of information that you might find interesting.
Not long ago I told you why I stopped using Chrome, and the short answer is that I now use Microsoft Edge because it seems like a better browser by far. With Edge I haven’t looked back for two years, but with Bing, the story is a little different. And, although it is a little bit related to the use of Edge, it is more so to the use of other Microsoft products: Xbox and Rewards.
Google offers better results (not always), but we all have a price
Despite the fact that Bing has been my default search engine for a little over two years, that is, I use it in all my browsers (desktop and mobile), this does not mean that I have stopped using Google as I stopped using Chrome completely. Bing is not a perfect replacement, there are times (they are rare, but it happens) when I need more specific results from a search and the Microsoft search engine falls short.
Google results are like Instagram ads: they seem to read your mind and know what you’re thinking when they show you the results. Those of Bing are more neutral, and it shows that they are less personalized. It is even interesting to get out of the bubble of results to your measure of Google.
Google crawlers have priority access to everything, because it is the company that spends the most millions on maintaining a real-time map of the entire Internet. The only other company that perhaps spends this much money on search engine crawlers is Microsoft. But while Google indexes between 500 and 600 billion websites, Bing “only” indexes between 100 and 200 billion. It is an abysmal difference.
DuckDuckGo is focused on privacy but relies on sites Microsoft indexes to bring you results
DuckDuckGo, the search engine focused on privacy which receives some 100 million searches a day, stopped crawling the web years ago because it costs too much money, and gets its results from Microsoft instead. So why not use DDG if it is going to offer me the same results as Bing and also protect my privacy?
Well, because, honestly, on this modern website everything has a price and we users are the ones who charge the least. Microsoft wants you to use Bing so much, it pays you to do it. The company has a whole program called Microsoft Rewards, which is honestly pretty cool.
When 1000 points are 1 euro and those games buy themselves
The Rewards app on Xbox includes its own sets of daily, weekly and monthly rewards
The main reason I started using Microsoft Rewards or “Microsoft Rewards” is because when you are an Xbox and Xbox Game Pass userthe service puts you at the forefront of a series of “quests” or daily, weekly and monthly missions in which you get points for playing and buying games.
Those points are part of the Microsoft rewards program, and in many cases you are earning them without realizing it if you are a gamer… or if you use Bing. In this program, technically, every 1,000 points you accumulate is equivalent to one euro.
I had been accumulating points there for years since the Xbox 360 era that were useless, but it was not until 2018 that the rewards began to reach other countries, including Spain. Those points can be exchanged for Microsoft gift cards or subscriptions to Microsoft services. like Xbox Game Pass, and there are also rewards from other stores and partners.
Depending on your level in the rewards program, points may be worth a little more
For example, you can redeem points for company stuff like a few months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, or for things unrelated to Microsoft, like Nike, El Corte Inglés, or Ikea gift cards and other stores. In the case of Microsoft products, the thousand points are equivalent to one euro (sometimes even more if you level up), and with 12,000 points, for example, you can claim a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate that is worth 12.99 euros a month.
EITHER, you can spend 10,000 points on a 10 euro gift card from Microsoft that you can use in the company’s online stores to buy games, movies, or even Xbox controllers or headsets. The truth is that there are many options.
A “hackable” routine and not for everyone
The Microsoft Rewards home page
Using Rewards and engaging with Bing for this is definitely not for everyone. Microsoft gives you points for three main tasks: play, search, and answer questions. Every day you have a daily set of “quests”. These include opening a few links, answering short one- or two-minute quizzes, and maintaining a streak by logging in daily.
Every day you can accumulate extra points for doing 90 Bing searches from desktop, 60 Bing searches from mobile, and 12 specifically from Microsoft Edge. There are tricks to doing this not organically, but by “hacking” the process, looking for things like images or a chemical element and just passing the instant results in quick clicks.
This Microsoft Rewards extension for Edge (and Chrome) lets you track your points and gives you direct access to all available daily activities
Again, it’s like a “mini job”. I usually invest a huge 5 to 10 minutes a day of my life in it, which usually translates into a thousand points in the best of cases.. Obviously, the points for playing and completing the missions that are exclusive to Xbox are additional time, but I don’t count much because they are earned by playing.
For example, just opening an Xbox Game Pass game and the Xbox Game Pass mobile app every day equals 10 points. Earning a daily achievement in any game is 50 pointsreview an offer in the Xbox store can be 5, etc.
It may not sound like much, but it’s more than zero, which is what I earn using just Google. It has a touch of gamification that I even find a bit funny, and there are certainly days when I don’t pay attention to it and lose my streaks. I have not even redeemed the points that I have accumulated in this time because I just want to see the number grow more, for now.
It’s something that has become part of my daily routine, and that’s a bonus. It has made me explore life a little beyond the Google search engine. I’ve found that although I don’t need to have Bing as my default search engine for this, I can live with it, and the truth is that the difference is not too noticeable on a day-to-day basis. Except, in the little money that I earn.