Microsoft's search engine Bing (previously known as Live and before that as MSN) is to display results from Wolfram Alpha, greatly enhancing its functionality. This will certainly boosts its appeal and help it catch up with the mammoth Google. While Google controls a massive 70% of the market, Bing is its fastest growing competitor.

Wolfram Alpha differs slightly from traditional search engines in that it tries to answer questions directly, instead of giving you a list of pages that may answer it. It does this by checking thousands of databases, both public and licenses, and interpreting the data and your query.

As an example, lets say you want to compare the GDP of the UK and America. Wolfram Alpha presents very different results to the same search in Google.

Wolfram Alpha came out in May this year and Google was quick to respond. A search on Wolfram Alpha for "Population of Hitchin" shows numbers and statistics to answer the question. Back in May the same search on Google would show a standard set of page results, with the user having to click on each result. Google have come some way to catch up, although its source for the answer is not the most reputable.

If you run a business you may be asking what all this means to you? It means that you cannot rely wholly on Google to deliver your customers. Search engines are changing all the time. Your websites must be optimised for all of them, and your position in Yahoo, Live, Ask and others counts.