Microsoft Revamps Bing From Head To Toe: All New Features Explained

In an attempt to reorganize its offensive against Google, Microsoft's search engine, Bing, is getting a brand new look and a new logo. The revamp will not be restricted to design alone as there will be some nifty new features like social search options, increased adaptability across devices and more.

"The improvements we are releasing in this latest release of Bing.com are the beginning of a new, more modern era for Bing," Lawrence Ripsher, General Manager of User Experiences, Bing said in a blogpost.

Cosmetic Changes

Bing is dropping its current blue logo for one that is in line with Microsoft's more recent branding schemes. Microsoft has used a stylized lower case "b" for its new logo and it looks sharp, angular an modern. Apart from this, Microsoft is saying that Bing has been overhauled and rewritten from scratch to support a responsive design that works well across all platforms and devices.

New Search Features

Page Zero

One of the most important changes in Microsoft's approach will be Page Zero, a new search function that provides users with a useful answer to their page query before they are shown traditional search results. "Start to type a query, and Page Zero will show you content that's likely to be helpful before you hit 'Enter'," the blogpost said.

"For example, if you type Katy Perry, we understand what you're looking for before you've even searched and give you a quick glance of who she is and suggest other popular search tasks associated with the singer," Ripsher said

Pole Position

Another important change is Pole Position. And when it comes to "high-confidence" queries, in which Bing is certain it has clear data related to a user's intent, users will find a new area on the upper portion of the page which will be named as Pole Position. For instance, if you're trying to find information on the weather conditions on your city, then you'll see detailed information provided by this new feature in the specified area.

Ability to Distinguish Search between Terms

Another change is that Bing will supposedly be able to more easily distinguish between similarly named search terms. So lets say you're searching for Bon Jovi the band or Jon Bon Jovi the lead singer. You're then offered two options to pick either of the two and head in completely different search options.

Social Search Feature

Next, the revamped Bing combines its Snapshot and Sidebar features into a single, concentrated view which will provide related social input from friends on Facebook or Twitter apart from factual information.

Market Share

According to ComScore, Bing is the second most popular search engine after Google, boasting 17 percent market share as opposed to Google's 70 per cent share.