Bing Summer Update: UI Redesign, Search Improvements and New Entertainment Focus

A new major update is pushing Microsoft’s search/decision engine to the next level, introducing a number of enhancements across the table. The Bing summer update started rolling out on June 22nd, 2010, with Satya Nadella, senior vice president, Online Services Division, referring to the refresh as being packed with features. The promise from Microsoft is that, following the introduction of the summer update for Bing, the search engine will make it easier for users to both complete tasks and come to a decision based on the results returned to their queries.

“This release is a great milestone for Bing,” Nadella stated, indicating that Microsoft had more in store for users in the coming weeks and months. After all, the Redmond company has been keeping a steady pace of upgrades for Bing, using a variety of opportunities to advance the search/decision engine. In this regard, the last major upgrade was introduced in the spring of 2010. According to Nadella, the summer Bing refresh is focused on three core aspects.

“First, we want to better understand search intent and surface the right tools for you in visually organized, easy-to-use ways. To this end, we have made some major changes to Bing’s user interface which we hope you will like and find useful. We are introducing a feature called the Quick Tabs which sit across the top of the Bing pages highlighting the best and most relevant search results available on Bing, organized in tabs that match the most common decisions you might want to make based on what we know of your search intent,” Nadella said.

The second pillar of the most recent upgrade to Bing revolves around consistent enhancements delivered to the search engine’s vertical areas. Microsoft has worked to add netter content sources for health-related searches, as well as to drive up the quality of travel answers, and even to enhance the content associated with new, shopping, and finance experiences. Still, the software giant’s efforts to improve search results for Bing users cover areas wider than the ones mentioned above.

“Lastly, we have made a big bet on entertainment, a top search focus for customers. 10 percent of search queries are entertainment-related, and Bing is making a first step today to help having a great entertainment experience on Bing easy and fun, so you spend less time searching for entertainment and more time doing the stuff you love,” Nadella added.