Microsoft Bing: Difference between revisions
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| launch date = June 1, 2009 <!--Beta Release--> |
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'''Bing''' (formerly ''Live Search'', ''Windows Live Search'' and ''MSN Search'', codenamed ''Kumo'') is the name of [[Microsoft]]'s new [[web search engine]], designed to compete with the industry leaders [[Google]] and [[Yahoo!]]. Unveiled by Microsoft CEO [[Steve Ballmer]] on [[May 28]] [[2009]] at the All Things D conference in San Diego. Bing is a replacement for Live Search, and will go live |
'''Bing''' (formerly ''Live Search'', ''Windows Live Search'' and ''MSN Search'', codenamed ''Kumo'') is the name of [[Microsoft]]'s new [[web search engine]], designed to compete with the industry leaders [[Google]] and [[Yahoo!]]. Unveiled by Microsoft CEO [[Steve Ballmer]] on [[May 28]] [[2009]] at the All Things D conference in San Diego. Bing is a replacement for Live Search, and will go fully live by [[June 3]], [[2009]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/may09/05-28NewSearchPR.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases |title=Microsoft’s New Search at Bing.com Helps People Make Better Decisions: Decision Engine goes beyond search to help customers deal with information overload |publisher=Microsoft.com |date= |accessdate=2009-05-29}}</ref> |
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Notable improvements in general searches include the addition of related searches (called "Explorer pane" on the left side of search results) based on semantic technology from [[Powerset (company)|PowerSet]], a search company Microsoft purchased in [[2008]], search suggestions as you type, and the ability to keep track of your search history.<ref>{{cite news|last=Schofield |first=Jack |authorlink=Jack Schofield |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/may/28/microsoft-bing |title=Microsoft launches Bing.com as its new search engine | Technology | |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=May 28, 2009 |accessdate=May 29, 2009}}</ref> |
Notable improvements in general searches include the addition of related searches (called "Explorer pane" on the left side of search results) based on semantic technology from [[Powerset (company)|PowerSet]], a search company Microsoft purchased in [[2008]], search suggestions as you type, and the ability to keep track of your search history.<ref>{{cite news|last=Schofield |first=Jack |authorlink=Jack Schofield |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/may/28/microsoft-bing |title=Microsoft launches Bing.com as its new search engine | Technology | |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=May 28, 2009 |accessdate=May 29, 2009}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 06:33, 1 June 2009
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| Bing homepage The Bing homepage has an image that changes daily. | |
Type of site | Search Engine |
|---|---|
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Owner | Microsoft |
| Created by | Microsoft |
| URL | http://www.bing.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search and MSN Search, codenamed Kumo) is the name of Microsoft's new web search engine, designed to compete with the industry leaders Google and Yahoo!. Unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 28 2009 at the All Things D conference in San Diego. Bing is a replacement for Live Search, and will go fully live by June 3, 2009.[1]
Notable improvements in general searches include the addition of related searches (called "Explorer pane" on the left side of search results) based on semantic technology from PowerSet, a search company Microsoft purchased in 2008, search suggestions as you type, and the ability to keep track of your search history.[2]
Name origin
The word "bing" is onomatopoeic. It typically represents a sound of arrival or conclusion, such as the sound made when an elevator arrives. Microsoft indicated that the name Bing "was memorable, short, easy to spell, and that would function well as a URL around the world" and reminded people of the sound made during "the moment of discovery and decision making."[3]
Qi Lu, president of Microsoft Online Services, also announced that Bing's official Chinese name is bì yìng (simplified Chinese: 必应; traditional Chinese: 必應), which literally means "very certain to respond" or "very certain to answer" in Chinese.[4]
While being tested internally by Microsoft employees, Bing's codename was Kumo,[5] which came from the Japanese word for spider as well as cloud, referring to the manner in which search engines "spider" Internet resources to add them to their database, as well as cloud computing.
History
MSN Search
MSN Search was a search engine by Microsoft that comprised a search engine, index, and web crawler. MSN Search first launched in the fall of 1998 and used search results from Inktomi. In early 1999, MSN Search launched a version which displayed listings from Looksmart blended with results from Inktomi except for a short time in 1999 when results from AltaVista were used instead. Since then Microsoft upgraded MSN Search to provide its own Microsoft-built search engine results (list of web addresses with samples of content that meet a user's query), the index of which is updated weekly or even daily. The upgrade started as a beta program in November 2004 (based on several years of research), and came out of beta in February 2005. Image search was powered by a third party, Picsearch. The service also started providing its search results to other search engine portals in an effort to better compete in the market.
Windows Live Search
The first public beta of Windows Live Search was unveiled on March 8 2006, with the final release on September 11 2006 replacing MSN Search. The new search engine offered users the ability to search for specific types of information using search tabs that include Web, news, images, music, desktop, local, and Microsoft Encarta. Windows Live Search aimed to make its over 2.5 billion worldwide queries each month "more useful by providing consumers with improved access to information and more precise answers to their questions." A configuration menu is available to change the default search engine in Internet Explorer.
In the roll-over from MSN Search to Windows Live Search, Microsoft stopped using Picsearch as their image search provider and started performing their own image search, fueled by their own internal image search algorithms.[6]
Live Search
On March 21 2007, it was announced that Microsoft would separate its search developments from the Windows Live services family, rebranding the service to Live Search. Live Search was integrated into the Live Search and Ad Platform headed by Satya Nadella, part of Microsoft's Platform and Systems division. As part of this change, Live Search was consolidated with Microsoft adCenter.[7]
A series of reorganisations and consolidations of Microsoft's search offerings were made under the Live Search branding. On May 23, 2008, Microsoft announced the discontinuation of Live Search Books and Live Search Academic and integrated all academic and book search results into regular search, and as a result this also included the closure of Live Search Books Publisher Program. Soon after, Windows Live Expo was discontinued on July 31, 2008. Live Search Macros, a service which allowed users to create their own custom search engines or use macros created by other users, was also discontinued shortly after. On May 15 2009, Live Product Upload, a service which allowed merchants to upload products information onto Live Search Products, was discontinued. The final reorganisation came as Live Search QnA was rebranded as MSN QnA on February 18, 2009, however, it was subsequently discontinued on May 21, 2009.[8]
Microsoft recognised that there was a brand issue as the word "Live" continued to remain in the brand.[9] As an effort to create a new identity for Microsoft's search services, on 2009-06-03, Live Search was officially replaced by Bing.[10]
Search products
In addition to its tool for searching webpages, Bing also provides the following search offerings:[11]
| Service | Website | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Health | http://www.bing.com/health | Bing Health refine health searches using related medical concepts to get relevant health information and allow users navigate complex medical topics with inline article results from experts. |
| Images | http://www.bing.com/images | Bing Images enables the user to quickly search and display most relevant photos and images of interest. The infinite scroll feature allows browsing a large number of images quickly. The advance filters allows refining search results in terms of properties such as image size, aspect ratio, color or black and white, photo or illustration, and facial features recognition. |
| Local | http://www.bing.com/local | Bing Local searches local business listings with business details and reviews, allowing users to make more informed decisions |
| Maps | http://www.bing.com/maps | Bing Maps enables the user to search for businesses, addresses, landmarks and street names worldwide, and can select from a road-map style view, a satellite view or a hybrid of the two. Also available are "bird's-eye" images for many cities worldwide, and 3D Maps which include virtual 3D navigation and to-scale terrain and 3D buildings. For Business users it will be available as "Bing Maps For Enterprise". |
| News | http://www.bing.com/news | Bing News is a news aggregator and provides news results relevant to the search query from a wide range of online news and information services. |
| Shopping | http://www.bing.com/shopping | Bing Shopping lets users search from a wide range of online suppliers and marketer's merchandise for all types of products and goods. This service also integrates with Bing cashback offering money back for certain purchases made through the site. |
| Translator | http://www.bing.com/translator | Bing Translator lets users translate texts or entire web pages into different languages. |
| Travel | http://www.bing.com/travel | Bing Travel searches for airfare and hotel reservations online and predicts when is the best time to purchase them |
| Videos | http://www.bing.com/videos | Bing Video enables the user to quickly search and view videos online from various websites. The Smart Preview feature allows the user to instantly watch a short preview of an original video. See also Soapbox on MSN Video |
| xRank | http://www.bing.com/xrank | Bing xRank lets users to search for celebrities, musicians, politicians and bloggers, read short biographies and news about them, and track their trends or popularity rankings. |
Webmaster services
Bing allow webmasters to manage the web crawling status of their own websites through Bing Webmaster Center. Additionally, users may also submit contents to Bing via the following methods:
- Bing Local Listing Center allow businesses to add business listings onto Bing Maps and Bing Local
- Soapbox on MSN Video allow users to upload videos for searching via Bing Video
Mobile services
Bing Mobile allow users to conduct search queries on their mobile devices, either via the mobile browser or a downloadable mobile application. Microsoft also operates a toll-free number (1-800-CALL-411) for directory assistance called Bing 411.[11]
Toolbars and gadgets
Toolbars
Both Windows Live Toolbar and MSN Toolbar will be powered by Bing and offers users an easy and convenient way to access Bing search results. Together with the launch of Bing, MSN Toolbar 4.0 will be released with inclusion of new Bing-related features such as Bing cashback offer alerts.[11]
Gadgets
Bing Gadget is a Windows Sidebar gadget that uses Bing to fetch the user's search results and render them directly in the gadget. Another gadget, the Bing Maps Gadget displays real-time traffic conditions using Bing Maps. The gadget provides shortcuts to driving directions, local search and full-screen traffic view. However, only traffic data from 23 selected US cities are supported, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington DC.
On October 30, 2007, both gadgets were removed from Windows Live Gallery due to possible security concerns.[12] The Bing Maps gadget was made available for download again on January 24, 2008 with the security concern addressed.[13]
Advertising
Bing
Bing's debut will feature a $80 to $100 million online, TV, print, and radio advertising campaign. It was reported that the advertisements will not take on other competitive search engines such as Google and Yahoo! directly by name, however, they will instead attempt to convince users to switch to Bing by focusing on Bing's unique search features and functionalities.[14]
See also
References
- ^ "Microsoft's New Search at Bing.com Helps People Make Better Decisions: Decision Engine goes beyond search to help customers deal with information overload". Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
- ^ Schofield, Jack (May 28, 2009). "Microsoft launches Bing.com as its new search engine | Technology |". The Guardian. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
- ^ "The sound of found: Bing!". Neowin.net. May 28, 2009. Retrieved May 29,2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Binging on search by design
- ^ "First screenshot of Microsoft's Kumo emerges". Neowin.net. March 3, 2009. Retrieved May 29,2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Chris Sherman, September 12, 2006, Microsoft Upgrades Live Search Offerings
- ^ Mary Jo Foley: Microsoft severs Live Search from the rest of the Windows Live family
- ^ Live QnA team blog announcement
- ^ Keynote with Kevin Johnson at Microsoft
- ^ http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/microsofts-bing-hides-its-best-features/
- ^ a b c Bing Product Guide
- ^ LiveSide.net: Yes, the Live Search and Live Search Traffic gadgets are gone: security concerns cited
- ^ LiveSide.net: The Traffic Gadget is Back!
- ^ Microsoft Aims Big Guns at Google, Asks Consumers to Rethink Search
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