Google versus Bing – Part 1: Webmaster Tools

Darren Franks - April 26, 2011

Let’s talk about Bing Webmaster Tools (even if no one else is) and how it compares to Google’s version. I say that with all due respect, because, well, Bing has certainly tried. Below are the major features of each:

Google Webmaster Tools has (that Bing doesn’t):

• Ability To Test Robots.Txt
• Remove URL Or Directory From Index
• Set Up A Change Of Address
• Links To Your Site
• Ability To Block Sitelinks

Bing Webmaster Tools has (that Google doesn’t):

• Submit URL To Be Indexed Or Re-Crawled
• Ability To View Average Click Position
• Number Of Pages With Crawl Errors By Day
• Date Page Was Discovered

It’s interesting that even though Google seems to have many more options within its Webmaster Tools, Bing has some really comprehensive data that Google does not. Bing’s crawl data seems to be much more granular in that it will give you the specific date that a page was found by their robots. It’s also interesting that Bing gives people the ability to resubmit a URL to be crawled, but Google only gives people the ability to remove a URL or page from its index. Google Webmaster Tools, however, seems like it has more “configuration” tools and Bing Webmaster Tools seems more of a “diagnostic” tool.

Regardless of which one you prefer, Bing has certainly made headway over the past year or so. Their re-inclusion of presenting inbound links data makes their webmaster tools more robust, but Google’s version still seems to one-up their competitor in that you are given more opportunity to configure different elements of parts of your website for Google’s crawlers.