In 2010, Google announced an experimental fiber network and wanted to bring this experiment to life in a handful of small cities across the country. One town that tried to lobby the search giant was Topeka, Kansas. They wanted Google to roll out fiber in their city so much that they temporarily changed their name to Google, KS. Unfortunately for them, Google picked Kansas City, instead.
Enter Microsoft. In an effort to convince people that Bing is superior to Google, they’ve been going around the country filming commercials of ordinary users seeing results from both of the search giants and picking the one they like better. This time, the Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Microsoft went to Google Topeka, KS to shoot the next commercial. They picked the city solely because it would be recognizable due to the name change.
So how did Bing do in the challenge? The first person questioned, Jenny Curatola, typically uses Google but found that she preferred Bing during the challenge. She says that she’s going to “rethink her searching strategy," although we assume she wasn"t told about the extra malware that comes through via Bing.
The commercial guide summed up Microsoft’s strategy: “You tried to name your town Google, but it’s a Bing town. No more boom towns, only Bing towns."
The commercial will begin airing next month.
Source: Topeka Capital-Journal