Microsoft Corp. announced Thursday a redesign of its Bing Web-search engine that incorporates more information from social networks such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., another step in the company’s campaign to chase market-leading Google Inc.
- Microsoft’s redesign of Bing splits up the familiar page of Web-search results into three columns.
The latest version of Bing, which at Microsoft bore the codename “Metallica” after the heavy-metal band, splits up the familiar page of Web-search results into three columns. The first shows traditional Web links. The middle column, called “snapshot,” includes information to help Web surfers follow through on certain search requests. For example, a person searching the name of a movie could see an online trailer for the film, and could have an option to buy tickets to the film without leaving the Bing results page.
The third column incorporates relevant posts from a Web searcher’s social networks on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and eventually other services such as LinkedIn, said Microsoft executives. A person searching Bing for Honolulu vacations could see a travel blogger’s Twitter posts about activities in the city, or the person could use Bing to post directly into Facebook asking his friends for recommendations on the best hotels in Honolulu.
Microsoft has invested heavily to refashion its search engine as an able competitor to Google, but so far Bing hasn’t made much of a dent. Microsoft’s share of U.S. Web search was 15.3% in March, according to comScore, while Google had a 66.4% share. Combined with Yahoo, for which Bing also powers search, Microsoft had a combined 29% market share, according to comScore.
At a press event Thursday, Qi Lu, president of the Microsoft division that includes Bing, said Microsoft regards search market share as a “lagging indicator” that will eventually push ahead if Bing gives Web surfers useful information. “Search needs to be reinvented,” Mr. Lu said at the event, held in Microsoft’s San Francisco offices. “We at Bing aspire to lead the reinvention of search.”
Bing has been a frustration for Microsoft investors, in part because the division that includes the search engine continues to bleed money. In Microsoft’s third quarter ended March 31, the online services division posted an operating loss of $479 million, narrower than the $776 million operating loss in the prior-year quarter. Microsoft has eased losses by cutting expenses for its online service division, which includes Bing and other digital services such as the MSN Web portal and tools for online advertising.
Microsoft said the new Bing design will begin to roll out in the U.S. in coming days.
via WSJ
