[tptacek]

This seems like a fabulously awful marketing message. Every time they say it, they concede that Google offered superior search quality up until now. If they're going to compete on features, like "entertainment search" or pretty front pages, they should neutralize the concern about results quality, not turn it into the entire horse race.

[qeorge]

Pretending otherwise would be dishonest.

I like it, in the same way as the Domino's ads that admit their pizza used to suck.

[yellowbkpk]

But in both cases, the product still sucks. Saying that your product has "caught up" gives the customer a greater incentive to question any future improvements and any other marketing material coming from your organization.

After Domino's said they did better and after a taste-test I discovered it was still worse than Papa John's, I mock the Domino's commercials and will never visit a Domino's again. Same with Bing.