Launch of Microsoft’s Bing Set for June 3

As we discussed earlier in the week, Microsoft is launching a major marketing campaign, estimated at $80 million to $100 million, to promote their new search engine. Bing will be the successor to Microsoft’s Live Search. You probably heard of Bing being developed in recent months under the name Kumo.

When you head to Bing.com right now, you will see a “bing & decide. Coming soon …” There is a “Find out more” link which takes you to a video about Bing. There are also links to Bing’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Since its launch on Thursday, the Bing Facebook page has accumulated over 14,000 fans. It also links out to other Bing Facebook sites, including Bing Travel and Bing Cashback.

Image: Bing.com screenshot

Bing’s worldwide launch date is set for June 3, 2009 but preview codes are being distributed to a select few. They are also having a Bing Live Demo happening on June 1 at 10:00am PDT that will walk through all the best Bing features.

Though the huge marketing campaign will obviously aim to take on Google, Bing is being marketed as more than just a search engine but rather a “decision engine.” Its search engine results are categorized. And Bing also offers shopping price comparisons and reviews, as well as travel planning, health questions, local search and many other aspects. They also feature cashback from “hundreds of retailers.”

“Decision engines are common on shopping Web sites, but I believe this is the first time one’s been built into a search engine,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group told the E-Commerce Times.

Check out the video about Bing below.

What do you think about Bing so far? Leave your comments here and let us know.