What is Bing?

By Viji Davis, VP, Client Services

What is Bing? Well, for one, I’m not talking about the cherry. Microsoft announced ‘Bing’ last Thursday as their new search engine, previously codenamed Kumo. What Bing developers are dubbing the ‘decision engine,’ differentiates itself through its organization of user relevant content around four key areas:

1. Better local results
2. Shopping results
3. Travel
4. Healthcare

Local

Bing says “ …by organizing search for better navigation, Bing delivers better results in less time.” They use the example of searching for “orchid delivery san francisco”:

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Shopping Results

One interesting thing that Bing incorporates is Rebates. Users can get cash back for shopping on Bing (the screenshots still show this as ‘kumo cashback’ until Bing is released to the public). The following example for a search on “digital camera” also shows Bing’s new layout with a left hand navigation that lists related search topics.

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Travel

Microsoft has rolled in the current ‘Farecast’ into Bing to be rebranded as ‘Bing Travel.’ The search for “flights to hawaii” are organized by not only cheap flights to Hawaii, but also by the cheapest last minute flights to Hawaii.

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Healthcare

Bing not only claims to have more relevant information on healthcare, but also says “The average search experience is littered with bad links and excess information. Bing provides a variety of tools to get healthcare information in less time.” See the query for “headache”:

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Should you Bing?

Search is evolving and engines are becoming more focused. Bing’s specialization is a continuing step in that process. Bing is now open to the public - jump on and enjoy!