What is Google vs. Bing?

Google vs. Bing is a comparison meme that mocks the different ways Google and Bing handle search queries about self-harm or taboo topics, with Google surfacing crisis info and Bing autocompleting the phrase. Tumblr user jonnovstheinternet posted the earliest version in September 2012.

Where did Google vs. Bing come from?

Tumblr user jonnovstheinternet posted the earliest known version on September 21st, 2012, using Good Guy Greg and Scumbag Steve to depict the two engines. The underlying contrast dates to March 2010, when Google added the Suicide Prevention Lifeline to the top of relevant results.

What does Google vs. Bing mean?

It casts Bing as a search engine that follows harmful queries to the letter and Google as one that intervenes with crisis resources or safer suggestions. The joke lands because Google really did ship that behavior change in 2010.

How do you use Google vs. Bing?

Typically, posts place a Google screenshot and a Bing screenshot side by side on the same taboo query, then caption each with a common exploitable face such as Good Guy Greg or Why Are You Booing Me? I'm Right. The query is usually about suicide, drug use or weapons.

Is Google vs. Bing still popular?

Fresh use slowed after the October 2019 Reddit spike that Cheezburger documented at the time. The original 2012 Cheezburger repost reached over 4,900 thumbs up in its first seven years on the site.

Google vs. Bing

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Published October 21, 2026

Google vs. Bing is a comparison meme that roasts the gap between Google and Bing results for harmful search queries, such as 'how to commit suicide,' where Google surfaces a crisis hotline and Bing autocompletes the question. Tumblr user jonnovstheinternet posted the first version on September 21st, 2012, using Good Guy Greg and Scumbag Steve to cast the two engines as a conscientious friend and a careless one5. By October 2019, the format spiked on Reddit with Why Are You Booing Me? I'm Right edits gaining more than 13,700 upvotes in /r/me_irl8.

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Overview

A typical Google vs. Bing post sits two screenshots side by side, with Google's result page on one side and Bing's on the other. On Google, the top of the page shows the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number, inserted by a tweak the company added in 20101. On Bing, the same query produces plain organic results and autocomplete suggestions that finish the phrase2. Writers caption the two panels with text that casts Bing as an uncaring enabler and Google as a worried friend.

Variations lean on common exploitable templates. jonnovstheinternet's first version placed Good Guy Greg over the Google panel and Scumbag Steve over the Bing panel5. In 2019 Redditors reused Why Are You Booing Me? I'm Right and The Secret Ingredient Is Crime panels to tell the same joke10. The subject grew beyond suicide searches to drug recipes and bomb-making, with the punchline staying the same: Bing hands over the goods, Google tries to intervene6.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Tumblr / Reddit (viral spread)

Creator

jonnovstheinternet

Date

2012

On March 31st, 2010, Google added a tweak that places the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number above all other results when someone searches for ways to commit suicide. The New York Times covered the change on April 4th, 20101. Over the next two years, outlets such as WebProNews noticed Bing had not followed suit, autocompleting the full phrase and listing related searches on the right rail2.

The first known meme comparing the two engines came from Tumblr user jonnovstheinternet, who posted a two-panel image on September 21st, 2012. It placed a Good Guy Greg caption over Google and a Scumbag Steve caption over Bing, and gained more than 109,600 likes and reblogs over the following seven years5. Cheezburger user stephenwood51 reposted the composite to that site the same day, where it reached over 4,900 thumbs up7.

How It Spread

After the 2012 origin of Google vs. Bing, the composite image bounced around Reddit, Twitter and other platforms through the mid-2010s6. Vice covered the public health side in 2015 after the Germanwings crash, when co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was found to have searched suicide methods before flying an Airbus 320 into the French Alps3. On April 17th, 2018, Imgur user Imadethisaccounttopost posted an 'easiest way to suicide' comparison that gained more than 240,400 views and 6,900 points on the platform11.

The format exploded again in autumn 2019 alongside Google Page Two memes. Redditor mr-blvck posted a Why Are You Booing Me? I'm Right version on September 27th, 2019, which gained more than 13,700 upvotes in /r/me_irl8. On October 2nd, Redditor Grat_ posted a noose-tying version that gained more than 40,900 upvotes in /r/memes within two weeks9. On October 15th, Redditor GGisno's The Secret Ingredient Is Crime take earned more than 37,900 upvotes in /r/dankmemes in one day10. Cheezburger published a round-up of the 2019 revival shortly after12.

Timeline

2010-03-31

Google adds the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number to the top of search results for suicide-related queries.

2010-04-04

The New York Times reports on Google's search tweak.

2012-09-21

Tumblr user jonnovstheinternet posts the first Good Guy Google / Scumbag Bing comparison meme.

2012-09-21

Cheezburger user stephenwood51 reposts the composite image to Cheezburger.

2018-04-17

Imgur user Imadethisaccounttopost shares an 'easiest way to suicide' comparison that gains more than 240,400 views.

2019-09-27