Why is Bing Called Bing?

Bing is a strange word.

When he was a boy, my father in law's favourite soft drink was called "Bing". It was made by the Silver Spring Company in Folkestone. You can still buy it today in Kent; it's a dark orange colour and tastes like cherryade.

And then of course there's the legendary Bing Crosby. As a fan of vintage popular music, I've always been a big fan. I especially love his late twenties and early thirties stuff. Also his forties period with Bob Hope.

This week Microsoft launched it's long awaited internet serach engine. It's been code-named Kumo, but when it went live it was under the name "Bing".

Bing, according to Microsoft is, "A new Decision Engine and consumer brand, providing customers with a first step in moving beyond search to help make faster, more informed decisions".

The web has been alive with threads and posts discussing whether Bing will be the next Google, will Bing replace Google etc etc. But it's harder to find out why Microsoft chose the name Bing.

So, time to put Bing to the test I thought! I asked it "Why is the Bing search engine called Bing?" And lo; up comes John Battelle's search engine blog.

In it he quote's Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer. "It's short, it works globally, we could get the URLs and it makes for a good brand".

That's it then. Sadly nothing to do with fizzy drinks or crooners.

Video Marketing; Why Video SEO is like buying a Tudor Chicken

Was marketing easier five hundred years ago?
Imagine you’re a farmer. It’s the year 1509, Henry the Eighth has just become King. You have some chickens and eggs to sell. Off you go to the market.
It’s very busy; there are almost a hundred stalls there, lots of them selling chickens and eggs. So how do you market your products?
Perhaps you set out your stall close to the entrance so people will see you first. Perhaps you advertise by shouting in a loud voice, “Best chickens and eggs, Get yer lovely chickens and eggs, best prices in the market”!
Your customers can’t read, so a written sign wouldn’t be much use, but a picture of a chicken painted on a board might help. Another marketing trick would be to hire a street caller to walk round the market advertising your wares.
Yes, marketing is an ancient art; advertising messages have even been found in the ruins of Pompeii. But today it’s evolving at a breath taking rate.
If you want to buy a product or service today, you’re probably going to look for it on the internet. My son bought a cricket bat last week; he did it online. Some retired friends of ours booked a B&B last week, they did that online too.
Search engines like Google or Yahoo have become the market place. If you’re not visible to the search engines, then you’re like the farmer who stayed at home. You won’t sell many chickens!
New industries are sprouting up to help businesses appear higher on the search engine lists. It’s called SEM or Search Engine Marketing. There are experts who will help your web site achieve a more prominent place; this is called SEO or Search Engine Optimisation.
The latest development is Video Marketing, Video SEO or Video SEM. This will become increasingly important because recent changes to Google’s search algorithm (the way Google is programmed to rank websites) favour video content.
Which is why we’ve been celebrating this week. Our business has grabbed the number one spot on the first page of Google for seven of our key search phrases. We are, at least for now, like the farmer with the best spot and the loudest voice in the market place!
Chicken anyone?
Kersh Media and KWIKVID are Kent video production and Kent video marketing companies. In other words we’re agencies that delivery quality, affordable video production and video marketing to a range of clients.
Although we are based in Kent (close to London and the M25), we work UK and World Wide. So if you need help with video production and video marketing, please contact Kersh Media and KWIKVID as we’d be happy to help you.
Graham Majin is Head of Video Production and Video Marketing at Kent video production and video marketing companies Kersh Media and KWIKVID. www.kershmedia.co.uk www.kwikvid.com