In this edition of Web Enlightenment we'll be talking about Bing, Microsoft's new search engine.

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Bada Bing, Bada Nothing to Do

As many of you know I was speaking at The Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition in Boston last week - I had a wonderful time.

Strangely enough for a guy who worked on Cape cod for a decade I had never been to the Boston convention center before and I was very impressed by this world class facility. The 6,000 or so folks there indeed needed a building that big and the trade show floor was buzzing with over 350 exhibitors. I had a great time connecting with old friends and making new ones - and it is always fun to check out the latest offerings from vendors as they showcase and display new technologies. I filled three bags with information and I think I have enough free geek junk to last me at least a year.

One of the largest booths at the show was Microsoft's and they were of course featuring their new search engine Bing. Every time I walked by I got handed a bing sticker, or pen, or a piece of candy - you get the idea.

I have to admit that my many years on the web have apparently made me a bit prejudiced - I don't like Microsoft or Microsoft products. Generally speaking I am a LAMP guy that loves open source solutions and free software. I'm not quite the type that views Microsoft as an evil empire but I suppose I am more like that than I usually acknowledge.

So I took a big deep breath , prepared for it to be awful, and went into the Bing booth and sat down. Running through my head was the phrase "I have responsibilities to my clients to learn while I am here" and so I needed to actually shake the hand of - gasp - a Microsoft salesperson.

Well I have to say that I not only survived the encounter unscathed but I actually quite enjoyed it. They were nice, and at no time did they openly indicate a desire for world domination or love for monopolistic practices used to crush entrepreneurs. It kind of reminded me of the time I spent with Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts - I knew we didn't have the same philosophy but he was really amazingly nice.

Bing is really pretty cool - they call it a decision engine and they are trying to focus on high quality content. The major focus areas are Travel, Shopping, Health, and Local results. Like many engines today they are offering what the trade is calling "mixed results" - which means that video, images, sponsored links, and all sorts of other stuff are all mashed up together in your results. I was particularly impressed by the intelligence of the related searches bar on the left, it actually helped narrow broad generic terms (like vacation) in a very smart way.

So having endured the tour of the engine the geek in me took over and I started asking some technical questions about the algorithms being used and the impact on optimization. I was stunned that the person I was asking to asked me to hold on and got the most qualified geek there to have this chat with me. We talked a bit about some of the common problems that have plagued search engines for years, traded some math jokes - I won't bore you but instead simply say that search engines , like weather prediction, have always been a really fascinating problem for programmers.

So the thing that surprised me - and that defies the current buzz in the Search Engine Optimization community I have heard - is that Bing is all front end. All the work they have done is related to the results Bing visitors receive and the way they can sort and encounter them.

So for Internet Entrepreneurs and Web Professionals alike this should come as joyous news. When you first saw the blitzkrieg of a marketing campaign Bing has had since it opened you probably thought:

• What do I need to do to optimize for Bing?
• What will they consider to be important with their new algorithms?
• Will all of this mess up efforts I have made?

And so it is with great happiness I report to you what you need to do about Bing - absolutely nothing. Bada Bing, Bada Nothing to do indeed. Bing uses the same old MSN-Bot that has been around for many years and it has no new data collection mechanisms of any kind.

So feel free to stay focused on the same keyword phrase strategy, content optimization, page creation, density analysis, and all the other fun fun stuff you already familiar with. Bing changes nothing (for now) and that makes me smile.

Kindle is a Big Old WOW

Like many geeks I have been fantasizing about an electronic book for many years - half the science fiction books I love feature such an item and I hoped to have one before I died. My new Amazon Kindle DX came in the mail last week and I must say I am incredibly impressed by this device. Unlike most other hardware it actually lives up to its hype, does what it says it does, and works really well.

The most amazing thing about the Kindle is the electrophoretic display, they call it 'electronic paper" and they aren't kidding about how new fangled it is. It really doesn't look or feel like a computer screen at all, you kind of have to see it to really get it but it is an awful lot like a very high resolution etch a sketch. Or the stickers that come over displays you buy that you then peel away - the screen looks just like that all the time.

As a guy that lives on 80+ acres in the middle of nowhere the ability to roll out of bed in the morning to a freshly electronically delivered New york Times is making me smile.