Bing

Fact Sheet

July2013

Microsoft Corp.understands that search is not just about finding information; it’s about taking action and doing. As part of its ongoing mission to take people from searching and finding to searching and doing, the Bing user interface has been designed in a way that fundamentally changes the way people interact with search. Only Bing brings together the best of search and the social networks people already use (friends and information from Facebook, Twitter, foursquare, Quora, Klout and others) to help them spend less time searching and more time doing. The three-column design1 focuses on providing information from the Web, experts and enthusiasts, and friends to help people do more.

What the Web knows

Because Bing knows people are often just looking for a quick answer, algorithmic search remains at the core of the Bing search experience and is the first column on the left of the search results page. People should think of column one as the fact finder. As part of the Bing experience and design, there’s less clutter and improved features, such as sorting and filters, and search results are bringing in more relevant information on the first page to make it easier than ever for people to find exactly what they’re looking for and to get things done.

What Bing knows—snapshot

The snapshot, the center column, makes it easier than ever to get things done. The snapshot is designed to help people take action and includes information such as maps and reviews, so booking a restaurant or checking hotel rates is now quicker and easier. Bing also brings partners such as OpenTable right into the snapshot to help people take action without leaving the page.

  • Restaurants. See summarized reviews from across the Web, location maps and one-click directions, interior panoramas, and building shots right within the snapshot without ever opening a new page. This will help people know where they’re going, what to wear, how to get there and more, right within the snapshot.
  • Hotels. Bing shows a collection of hotels with easy access to pricing data through the check-in, check-out tool. For specific hotel searches, Bing offers photos, maps, easy access to pricing and the exclusive OpinionRank from Bing, which shows what people from across the Web think about the property.
  • Movies and events. When searching for a specific movie, the snapshot aggregates movie images, reviews, facts about the film and important links such as show times near a person’s location. Movie trailers can even be viewed without having to leave the page.
  • People. Searching for people is very common, but finding the right person can be difficult. Bing uses social networks to help narrow down searches for the correct person. Snapshot allows people to see information from many networks, including LinkedIn, Twitter and even photos shared across Facebook, to help them find the right person.
  • Celebrities. Bing helps people stay up-to-date with their favorite celebrities, providing a bio of the person as well as relevant content such as images, movies they’ve starred in or albums they’ve released.
  • Landmarks. Find an overview of various world landmarks and destinations, including fun facts, reviews, images and more.

What your friends know—sidebar

Getting things done often includes friends, family, and the opinions of experts or enthusiasts. Whether it’s making a purchase, choosing a restaurant or deciding what movie to see, the new Bing design focuses on unique ways to bring friends and experts into the search experience from the most popular social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Quora, foursquare, Klout, Google+ and LinkedIn. These social results, found in the right column, complement the standard search results without compromising them, offering people the chance to start a conversation and get help from their friends and the advice of experts and enthusiasts, right within the search experience.

  • From friends. Bing will surface Facebook friends in the sidebar who have recently liked, shared or searched for content related to a query, helping people find more relevant information. For example, if someone is searching for great diving spots in Costa Rica, they might discover that a person in their Facebook network also just visited and has some great ideas, based on their recent searches or shared content.
  • From social networks. Beyond friends, Bing also identifies and surfaces experts and enthusiasts with knowledge in areas related to a search. When searching for an amazing diving spot, for example, Bing may surface people who the searcher may not know personally, but who are influential on that topic and can help find that perfect spot.
  • Ask friends. People can post aquestion to get help from their Facebook friends as they search. Bing suggests friends on Facebook who might know about the topic — based on what they like or have shared — so searchers can easily get relevant experiences and solicit opinions from people who know. Friends can see and reply to a person’s question on Facebook or Bing and add in recommended search links with their responses.
  • Friends’ photos. Bing displays photos related to a person’s search query based on album titles, album descriptions and photo captions from their Facebook friends that may match the search request. If someone searches for a specific person in their Facebook network, photos where that person has been tagged will also be displayed. Friends who have their Facebook settings marked as private or who have opted out of certain features on Facebook or the Bing App will not show up in any results, which includes the photo feature landing page on Bing.

Making search easier

Most search engines can provide basic results, but with Bing, many aspects of the search experience are improved.

  • Homepage.The Binghomepage includes a new,beautiful image daily, information hotspots embedded in the image, and clear links to start searches for video, news, shopping, travel, images,entertainment and maps. In addition, the Bing homepage features panorama images for Windows 8 users, the ability to download the homepage image directly to your computer, and,occasionally,rich HTML5-poweredvideos in place of the daily image, providing people with an even more immersiveexperience.
  • Autosuggest.One goal of Bingis to eliminate unnecessary clicks from the search experience. Theautosuggest feature saves customers even more time by allowing them to directly clickthrough to top websites and get query-related answers for people, places and things directly from the autosuggest drop-down box.
  • Best match. The Bingbest match feature is designed to make finding relevant information easier by cutting down the number of clicks and getting to a final destination faster. Best match results includecustomer service numbers for retail sites, the ability to track a package right from the search page, deep links to common pages within the site and much more.
  • Instant answers.Bing provides instant answers that immediately return highlyrelevant direct answers in response to a specific search. For example, entering a flight number will return the most recent flight information and display it prominently in the results, saving the hassle of going to a separate page. Other instant answers onBing include stock prices, local weather, sports scores and more.

Making search more organized

Our research indicates that 72 percent of people surveyed think current search results are too disorganized.2To provide order to the chaos of search, Bing analyzes search results for certain types of search terms and organizes them so they’re easyto navigate. These categories include travel, shopping, health, technology, autos, entertainment, sports, animals and more.

  • Related searches.Our research has shown that, when searching for a specific result, people also like to expand their search to explore related topics. After making an initial search, Related Searches provides a list of related search terms, helping to easily expand a search to find more great results.
  • Video search.Bing videoshelps make finding, previewing and watching videos easier. Bing indexes content from video sites across the Web, as well asits own index of full-length television shows. It also includes filtering tools to narrow a search to make it easierto find the exact video.
  • Image search. Bing imagesearchallows people to find the images they want faster using smart tabs, small image view, and the image detail page. It also features less clutter, bigger thumbnails and infinite scrolling, allowing foreasy browsing of image results without clicking to a new page. Bing also has powerful filtering tools for images to make it easier to find just the right image.In addition, Bing offers Pinterest integration for U.S. users only.
  • News search. Bing Newspulls in and organizesuniquely rich local and world newscontent and multimedia, including articles, images, videos and related searches from across the Web.In addition, alongside the latest headlines on Bing News, people will find a real-time feed with the latest updates from Twitter highlighting hot news topics. Leveraging Satori technology, Bing provides deep understanding of trending news topics in a visual and easy-to-use carousel.
  • Search history. Nearly half of all searches are a repeat of a previous search.3Search History provides easy access to searches from a current search session so people don’t need to initiate a new query to get back to an earlier result.

Providing tools to help complete tasks

Bing was designed to help people make more informed decisions faster and go from searching and finding to searching and doing, focusingon several key areas:

  • Maps.Bing Maps is an immersive mapping experience that brings search to maps, providing a limitless canvas for people to accomplish their location-based tasks online through new types of imagery, relevant content recommendations and map apps. Bing Maps offers engaging imagery, including aerial,Streetside, Bird’s Eye and Global Ortho imagery.
  • Shopping. Online shopping is increasingly the best place to start looking for a good deal, but finding the best deal can sometimes take just as long as offline bargain hunting. With Bing, we’ve improved the shopping experience by offering consumers tools to help them easily find and digest reams of information in customer and expert reviews, search for a product based on specific features or price points, and find the best deals available.
  • Travel.Bing travel analyzes billionsof airfare and hotel observations to offer a flight price predictor and Hotel Rate Indicator.These and other Bing Travel features provide useful information for people looking to book travel online. In addition, through partnering with KAYAK, Bing Travel provides people with access to a more comprehensive set of flight itineraries, including more airlines, airports and cities. Based on science, not marketing, BingTravelenables people tomake smart, well-informed decisions when planning and booking a trip.
  • Local.Finding the best local information online can be challenging. Whether searching for a review of the newest restaurant in town or the contact information for a local plumber, information on local services is often strewn across many websites. Today’s search engines don’t always help make the most informed decisions about whether to patronize a local business. Bing is designed to be different — it provides tools to make it easy and quick to find relevant local content, such as customer reviews, hours of operation, one-click directions, maps and traffic reports. Bing partners with Yelp to provide searchers with even richer local data — including review snippets, photos and business details — from one of the Web’s leading local listing services. Yelp content surfacesin snapshot and in relevant Bing local pages, which are labeled as “Powered by Yelp,” to signify a trustworthy mark for consumers who are looking to make informed decisions.
  • Mobile.With Bing, Microsoft is demonstrating continued commitment to the mobile space and dedication to delivering a multiplatform mobile strategy — rapidly evolving to better meet the needs of consumers. Bing remains focused on enabling people to easily discover, access and use the information they need and want, anytime, anywhere, with the convenience of their mobile devices. Bing can be accessed on Web-enabled mobile and tablet devices and multiple browsers through m.bing.com. The Bing for mobile iPhone and Android apps bring together the best of the Bing for Mobile browse and Bing for Mobile app experiences, with the goal of creating a consistent and seamless experience across most platforms and devices. With a search hardware button on every device, Bing on Windows Phone offers easy access to maps, directions, local businesses and more.

Availability

Bing is available worldwide. Specific feature availability, however, differs according to market.

Bing is available at

Bingis on Twitter at

Bing is on Facebook at

TheBing team is available to chat at

1 The three-column Bing experience is currently only available in the U.S.

2 2008 Ipsos Vantis Categorized Search Concept Value Study, commissioned by Microsoft. 1,000 participants.

3Live Search logs analytics, February 2008. Approximately 1,000 queries analyzed.

For more information, press only:

Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, (503) 443-7070,