14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s Bing is changing. The New Bing is meant to provide users with the possibility to spend “less time searching and more time doing,” and details on how it does that are now available.
The redesigned search engine arrives with a new information architecture that sports a three-column design, aimed at delivering better information from the web and at providing users with the possibility to take action and interact with friends and family.
The update brings changes to the search results that users are provided with. They should be relevant to what the user is looking for, and uncluttered from results with social updates.
Through serving more relevant results, Bing is better positioning itself against Google. In fact, Microsoft claims that more and more people prefer Bing results: 43 percent compared to only 28 percent (last year, Bing was second with 34 percent vs 38 percent Google accounted for).
The new Bing search results page brings along a center column called Snapshot, which delivers relevant information and services related to the search. Maps, restaurant reservations and reviews are included here.
“We’ve run thousands of experiments to determine the types of tasks most frequently attempted in Bing, and in snapshot we help you take certain actions when we determine that the intent of your search matches these tasks,” a post on the Bing Search Blog reads.
“To help you do more and do it faster, we continue working with industry leading companies like OpenTable, FanSnap and others integrating them right into the middle column. With snapshot, Bing does the heavy lifting by organizing useful information so you can act more quickly.”
On the right side of the screen, users will find a sidebar for quick access to social networking, so that users could make their searches social.
“With sidebar, Bing brings together the best of the web, with what experts and your friends know, giving you the confidence to act. This new way to search lets people share, discover, and interact with friends like they do in real life,” the blog post continues.
The sidebar will appear as part of any query, though it will remain on the right side, and will offer users the possibility to post questions to receive help from Facebook friends.
Bing will also provide users with suggestions on the friends that might have knowledge of the topic, based on what they “like” and on the information and photos shared on their Facebook profiles. Additionally, the search engine can help users find people who know more on the matter, based on their blogs and tweets.
There is also an activity feed included in the sidebar, so that people could access posts and queries that friends and contacts chose to share on Bing. These activities will show both on Bing and Facebook.
Soon, the new Bing will arrive on mobile devices as well. The layout and placement of social results has been optimized for the smaller screen of these devices, as well as for touch input.
Although it connects to Facebook, the new Bing will still provide data protection and privacy to its users. Only content that friends could access on Facebook will be displayed on Bing as well.
The new Bing will roll out in the United States in the coming days. Users can now head over to Bing and register to receive information on when these changes will arrive.
