Microsoft has unveiled several enhancements to its Bing search engine. Drawing insights from search trends and user feedback, the tech giant aims to boost efficiency and provide a more streamlined user experience.
Enhanced Bing Homepage
The upgraded “task-focused” homepage is more than a facelift. Hovering over categories such as “Travel” reveals more search functions. Mousing over this category gives users direct links like “find flights” or “find hotels” for more focused searching.
Bing Product Manager, Henry Hall, highlighted the new Bing Travel feature: “An interactive Instant Answer lets users input travel details. Once done, it swiftly redirects them to Bing travel.” There, users benefit from the price predictor indicating cost-effective travel times. Comprehensive flight listings and links to top travel resources are also readily available.
Local Information Boost
For those who seek local insights, Bing has expanded its local information database for countless cities. This includes attractions, neighborhoods, and even access to local online publications. Enhanced city results showcase key information, supplemented by high-resolution slideshows.
Improved Preview and Interface
Bing promises more efficient search previews. Hall mentioned, “Enhancements include better extraction of contact details from websites, a more user-friendly interface, and integrated images in certain preview results.” These modifications aim to assist users in quickly gauging a website’s relevance to their query.
Event Search Feature
Another addition is the Event Search feature. Users can now get a quick summary of events in major cities. Filtering options include performances, food & dining, festivals, and more.
Sharing on Social Media
Shopping enthusiasts can now effortlessly share their search results on Facebook. As Hall notes, this feature is perfect for sharing holiday gift recommendations. The health search function has also been fine-tuned, delivering enhanced results for conditions, medications, and hospitals.
Integration with Wolfram Alpha
In a significant collaboration, Bing has integrated Wolfram Alpha’s algorithms and its “expertly curated data”. This partnership will bolster Bing’s search results, especially concerning nutritional information and mathematical queries.
A user in search of a specific food item on Bing will now find a nutrition quick tab. This showcases comprehensive information, accompanied by a nutrition facts label.
The Bing Team further explained another notable tool, “Wolfram|Alpha’s body mass index interactive form is now on our results page. A search for ‘bmi’ offers a form for height and weight input, yielding an in-depth Body Mass Index analysis directly on Bing.”
For math enthusiasts and students, Bing will capitalize on Wolfram Alpha’s prowess in solving intricate math problems.
As per Bing’s announcement, users should keep an eye on the Bing Search Blog for more updates on the new features. The updates are currently rolling out in the US, and global users might have to wait a bit longer to access them.
For a deeper look into these features, check out this post. To learn about Bing’s collaboration with Wolfram Alpha, visit here.
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