Last night I saw a commercial for Bing For Schools. I don’t know if you saw it, too, but it ran before the president’s speech about Syria. Let me tell you why I think it’s a brilliant concept.
Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, has never been able to gain a significant share of search because users have not found a good reason to switch from Google. With Bing for Schools, Microsoft is offering an ad-free search engine just for schools. Why is this a win-win in my opinion?
1. No Ads: Students aren’t distracted by advertising while they are using the web for research at school
2. It’s Free: With limited budgets for anything extra, Bing provides a service for schools that is free (with features such as lesson plans and a rewards program for teachers)
3. THE BIG WIN: Bing For Schools will get youngsters comfortable with using Bing and there’s a good chance that Bing will become their go-to search engine when they’re on their own time (and as they mature and become consumers).
This is reminiscent of way back when Apple gave free Macs to schools. The model was to have an entire generation that was comfortable with Apple’s operating system. It seems to have worked.
Do you have an opinion?
Find out more about Bing For Schools here: http://www.bing.com/schools
Photo from: http://www.bing.com/schools
