Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, has its work cut out for it, considering Google’s total domination of the market. Yet Bing is increasing in popularity, albeit slowly and a redesign this year could attract even more users. If, like most people, you’ve still not tried Bing out recently, come with me as I take a look at the new Bing.

Sleeker Design

While the Bing homepage stays the same, featuring a different striking photograph each day, there are some big changes when you search for an item. The upcoming Bing design will have three columns of results, with subcategories located for search items on the very first page of results. The idea is to have more relevant results, tailored to help you more easily find what you need.

Explaining the Columns

Microsoft has been referring to the three columns as “Search Knows,” “Bing Knows,” and “Friends Know.” The first is a typical search results column, located on the left of the page. Bing Knows is a snapshot location, which provides contextual search results, such as what other sites are saying about the topic, as well as reviews and ratings. The third column features a social search, which will show you what friends on social media sites have said about the topic.

Partnership with Yelp

Google has partnered with Zagat to roll out Google + Local, a new initiative giving users reviews of restaurants and other attractions. Bing has countered with a new partnership with the very popular Yelp, which has consumer-opinion on virtually every business out there. Information from Yelp will be included in the Bing Knows search results column.

Social Search

What is unique about Bing as opposed to other search engines is the more extensive way that social networks are integrated into the search results. For example, if you search for information on a particular product, you may not only find what your friends have said on it, but you can also be directed to online experts who can give you opinions on the product, making it very easy for you to query them. You can also easily query your friends. This is reflective of our modern world, where people get opinions from their friends when making decisions.

View Trends

That social search column can also show you what is currently trending, the way Twitter does. So you can get an easy look at what the water cooler topics are in the country, all at the click of a mouse.

What it all Means

The new Bing is designed to tell you as much about people, places and things as possible on one page. The three columns give a variety of angles on one topic, and the social search features are more extensive than Google’s. Bing is rolling out the redesign now in the United States, but it is not yet available in all browsers.

Lisa Swan is a representative of Blue Fly Web search engine marketing company.

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