14 DAY TRIAL // Customers looking to implement Bing branding into their own environments now have the Bing Product Guidelines available. The documentation is live on the Microsoft Download Center since last week and currently up for grab at no charge. The download offers third parties a deep insight into how the Bing brand can be implemented into non-Microsoft environments. At the same time, the documentation is not limited to the brand but covers additional elements associated with Bing.
“This document provides visual guidelines and recommendations to implement the branding for Bing for third parties. These guidelines can help echo the Bing product brand experience into your environment,” revealed Alessandro Catorcini, lead program manager, Bing API.
One aspect that customers need to take into account before starting their implementation of Bing is that in order to use the Bing logo brand signature they need to first get written permission from Microsoft, as well as the approval from the Legal and Corporate Affairs (LCA) department.
At the same time, there are a number of restrictions associated with using the logo. “Remember that the Bing logo should: never appear connected to, or as part of, any other symbol or icon; never be contained in a box, circle, or other shape; never be modified in any way. Do not recombine the artwork elements together with other logos or graphics to create new artwork. Use the artwork as it is provided from the Bing branding team,” Microsoft explained.
On top of the Bing logo, the software giant also emphasized that a key element of its decision engine experience was related to what it referred to as the “gateway to Bing search,” namely the search box forms. The Redmond company is allowing customers to customize the text in the entry box with either the “search for” attribution text or with suggested keywords.
Additional “topics include: Bing branding guidelines; Bing searchbox guidelines; Bing searchbox guidelines for third party (web); Font guidelines for UI; Visual elements for Bing search UI; Editorial style; Approach to UI error messages; Overview of China Transliterated Logo; China Transliterated Logo searchbox guidelines for third party (web),” Catorcini added.