Bing vs. Google: Competition gets turned up on April Fool’s Day (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Zr4JwPb99qU]

While Google has played several light-hearted April Fool’s jokes today, Microsoft’s search engine Bing took things to the next level by pretending to be Google.

To see the somewhat harsh joke, go to Bing’s website and then search for “Google.” A Google-like search page will appear with the header “Bing.” The fake search page features floating squares that criticize Google, but it most notably changed Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” button to “I’m Feeling Confused” with link to a blog post that fully explains the joke. 

According to Bing.com’s blog:

So today we’re running a special test, where if you visit bing.com and enter a certain telltale query, you’ll get something a little more bland. We decided to go back to basics, to the dawn of the Internet, to reimagine Bing with more of a 1997, dial-up sensibility in mind. We may see some uptick in our numbers based on this test, but the main goal here is just to learn more about how our world would look if we hadn’t evolved.

So, Microsoft has basically slammed Google’s look and deemed it dated. Yeah. Way to keep things light, Redmond. Don’t worry, though: Google has lashed back.

The Internet Giant introduced Gmail Blue today, which is just Gmail with a more blue interface, and called it a complete redesign that “recreates something, while keeping it exactly the same.”

Google’s same-thing-‘cept-bluer Gmail Blue is clearly a jab at the next version of Windows, dubbed “Windows Blue.” Take that, Microsoft!