Microsoft Bing Adding New Features to Search Results
Get Inspired with Intuitive, Interactive Search Results
Microsoft Bing is rolling out five new upgrades to search that target to evolve SERPs beyond a list of links to provide users with a richer experience. One thing is similar in these new Bing updates – they all combine visually rich imagery with text-based information in a single view. The new format is said to deliver information quickly and in a way that allows searchers to find what they need without scanning large blocks of text.
Microsoft Bing’s Upgraded Search Features Include:
- Intuitive highlighting of content
- Integrated visual search
- Expandable carousels
- Infographic-like SERPs
- Richer results for local queries
Let’s talk about these latest updates in more detail that was announced today.
Intuitive Highlighting
Microsoft Bing is upgrading SERPs so they adapt to intuitively highlight content the searcher is engaging with. Bing provided an example to demonstrate that how this feature works with search results for recipes. Below you can see in the picture that how Bing provides the initial results in a unique card-based format.
When a user clicks on any results, Bing extracts the information related to the recipe and displays it inline without leaving the search results page.
The expanded view contains information such as:
- Ingredient list (with possible substitutions)
- Calories per serving
- User reviews
- A drop-down menu to scale the recipe to a specific number of servings
- Nutritional information
To get the step-by-step cooking instructions searchers will still have to visit the actual web page. Recipes are just one example. This feature may also be applied to other types of searches such as home improvement and creative projects.
Integrated Visual Search
While browsing through the card-based results, as shown above, users will have the option to instantly conduct a visual search to find similar-looking items. Microsoft Bing has integrated the visual search button into these results, which allows users to conduct an image-based query with just a click.
According to Microsoft Bing:
“While exploring these visual results, you might see something you like but is difficult to describe with words. That’s why we’ve also integrated visual search into the experience, so you can quickly search using an image. For example, in the “DIY coffee table” result, you may see wicker baskets that fit the table’s look and feel. With just a click, you’ll get image results of similar-looking items, and can directly click off to retailer sites to purchase a particular basket if you’re sold on it.”
Expandable Carousels
Bing is upgrading its carousels with a feature that displays additional information when users hover over the results. You can see in this search for movies how hovering over a result shows details such as when the film was released, a synopsis, and review scores from multiple sources.
Infographic Inspired SERPs
An upgrade that Microsoft Bing provides “style and substance” presents results in an infographic-like experience that combines text and imagery.
“For example, you can search for broad topics like “Kenya” or “giraffes”. Results for these move beyond a dense summary of the results and blue links and aggregate the top text and visual results into an infographic-inspired experience. Curiosity piqued? Click off to sites that contain more detail or explore other related topics.
Many of these features are now live in Microsoft Bing. I think bing users should be excited about these new upgrades. Stay tuned for future updates that are coming in the next couple of months with more visually immersive experiences across the web.
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