Forum Discussion
Time for Bing to go...rename options
Out of curiosity, I tried to find out how Bing got Binged. This part of the story, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bing, is pretty funny:
"The Bing name was chosen through focus groups, and Microsoft decided that the name was memorable, short, and easy to spell, and that it would function well as a URL around the world. The word would remind people of the sound made during "the moment of discovery and decision making".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bing#cite_note-19Microsoft was assisted by branding consultancy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbrandin their search for the best name for the new search engine.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bing#cite_note-20The name also has strong similarity to the word https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bingo, which is used to mean that something sought has been found or realized, as is interjected when winning the game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingo_(U.S.). Microsoft advertising strategist David Webster originally proposed the name "Bang" for the same reasons the name Bing was ultimately chosen (easy to spell, one syllable, and easy to remember). He noted, "It's there, it's an exclamation point [...] It's the opposite of a question mark." This name was ultimately not chosen because it could not be properly used as a verb in the context of an internet search; Webster commented "Oh, 'I banged it' is very different than 'I binged it'".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bing#cite_note-21
I can't remember what the Internet Explorer search engine was called before Bing appeared a decade ago. Whatever it was, it wasn't memorable.