I'm often asked how I think Bing is going.
If I step back and take a look at our progress, I'm optimistic about our potential and our future. Since we launched in June, we've already released a number of new features that aim to cut through the clutter of endless links and deliver knowledge to customers. Things like Visual Search and Twitter Search both present searchers with different ways to tap into the boundless information available on the Web using an experience that we think better matches how people naturally forage for information.
I also look at how customers perceive and use Bing. The number of people who know about our new engine is growing (over 4 in 10 know what Bing is without prompting!) and areas where we're investing to deliver better results like Travel and Shopping have both experienced triple digit increases in traffic. Partners are also coming to us in number we never saw with Live Search -- I think people are recognizing what we're trying to do by working with high quality data sources like Wolfram | Alpha to deliver knowledge versus pure information.
All that is a good start. But a larger challenge still remains. The search of today isn't the search of tomorrow. There are still too many unresolved customer needs and an incredible amount of change on the web that necessitate significant rethinking both of the search experience -- both how users "start" their searching as well as how the engines respond to them. So with this release of Bing we really focused on our vision:
"Empowering people with knowledge by computationally understanding user intent"
Translation? We think Bing should understand what you mean and help you find what you are looking for, even when you're not entirely sure. That means we needed to improve our index to include more data sources and partner with companies whose business it is collect, process, and disseminate high quality data. It means we need to continue to pioneer ways to understand what users were trying to do with search, both implicitly and explicitly. It means we need to apply the computing power we have to turn the ocean of data into actionable knowledge for searchers rather than just offer a bunch of links on a search page.
Sound big? It is. Luckily the launch of Bing coincided with one of the largest expansions of technical talent and resources in Microsoft's search history. We got lots of new hardcore technical talent and continue to learn a lot from customers as they are using Bing. The good news is that we are improving our understanding of what our customers want and need from search.
And that led us to today. This new wave of Bing features and capabilities is centered on a few principles that you told us were important to you:
• Faster access to knowledge
• Adapting the search experience to better match what you're trying to do
• Increasing focus on helping you complete important tasks
Let's take a look at what each of these things mean by showing you some examples of Bing in action.
Faster Access to Knowledge
When we see you going for certain types of info, how do we enhance the results with information that helps you do what you're intending to do? How do we stay out of the way when you don't want us? Take a look at the result for "latte calories." What are you trying to do here? Clearly it's likely you are trying to decide if you should have afternoon treat and if your waistline can afford it. Rather than send you on a scavenger hunt trying to find the answer, we've partnered with Wolfram|Alpha to deliver the actual computed knowledge right to the top of the page. You can even click the calorie result and get a detailed breakdown of the nutritional content of the drink.
Similarly, let's look at the result for "Miami," someplace I'm thinking about a lot as it pours down rain here in Seattle. Not only do we help you refine your query by showing you the common types of things people are looking for about Miami on the left side of the screen, but we are summarizing info about Miami right at the top of the page. What are the attractions in Miami? What about the local neighborhoods and newspapers? All there in an intuitive presentation to help you make better decisions.
Adapting the search experience to better match what you're trying to do
Along with providing a more complete answer, we're also looking at ways to change the search experience to better match what you're trying to do. We all know not all queries are the same -- why should all search answer pages look about the same? For example, when you're looking for a new handbag you have literally thousands of options. Is the best interface a list of links? We don't think so. With Visual Search you're able to browse thousands of purses, narrow down the options using a language you're used to (show me evening bags that are under $100) and quickly get to your decision.
Another example: when we see someone searching for "flights to Boston," there is a pretty clear intent. What's the right experience? A list of sites about flights to Boston? Probably not -- you're probably looking to buy a ticket to get there. So on the results page we tell you whether or not we think prices will rise or fall, and with one click, you're taken to a new experience that actually helps you with what you're trying to do -- book that ticket.
Increasing focus on completing important tasks
We heard you during our initial Bing development: you want an engine to reduce the amount of time it takes you to get stuff done. What can we do? We focused on decreasing the amount of time people are sifting through the web assembling the info they need to make a decision.
One solution was our new "full page" experience for queries where we see people bouncing to a number of different sites to gather the information they need to make a decision. Check out "boston weather" and notice how different it looks from a list of links. Here, we combine information from a number of sources and present it to you in a crisp interface that summarizes the relevant information right on a single page.
The great thing about the search engine business is that is always changing and evolving. As the Internet grows, as people use different devices and need different things from online services, search can grow and change to meet the needs of the customer. We are humbled to be able to work on a product that can help so many people cut through the clutter of everyday life and make better decisions. And while we have made some good progress, we also know there is a long way to go before we can deliver a search engine that truly anticipates your needs and gets you even faster to the results, tasks and decision that are important to you. That's why we'll be here early tomorrow, working hard to bring you the next incarnation of Bing. We hope you'll love it.
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I like Bing but am concerned about the transparen
Thanks for taking the time to explain this to us!