14 DAY TRIAL // The newly-launched Windows 8.1 comes with a wide array of improvements, including a revamped search experience based on what Microsoft has baptized Bing Smart Search.
The company plans to use the same search feature to introduce a new advertisement concept in Windows 8.1, which would run in full screen and provide users searching the web from the Modern UI with a number of options to enhance the ad experience.
Since bringing ads in the Windows operating system is a bit risky, Microsoft is using every single occasion to praise the improvements it has made to Bing Smart Search, suggesting that ads would only help them find helpful information quicker.
“In Windows 8.1, when I tap on the Search charm and enter a term to search on, Bing Smart Search searches not only my PC, but also the web and SkyDrive, plus some apps and the Windows Store. I get a list of search results and suggestions as I type, or I can click the Search button search to see all of the search results,” a company employee wrote in a post on the Windows Experience blog today.
The post then goes on to detail some of the key features available in Bing Smart Search, adding that the revamped search tool is just great on both desktop computers and tablets.
“Little efficiencies like that make using my PC feel faster, easier, and quite honestly, cooler than it ever has before. I’ve noticed that the results page comes in especially handy when I’m using my Surface or my touch laptop as a tablet—it’s convenient to be able to see previews of web sites before I visit them—I can thumb through the results and flip through image searches with ease.”
There are no details as to when the company is planning to introduce the ad concept in Windows 8.1, but the upcoming Spring GDR update could be the right moment to make such a significant change to its platform.