Bing Introduces New Upgrades

Bing has introduced lots of new upgrades in an apparent attempt to increase Microsoft’s (News - Alert) market position against search engine rival Google.

Some of the most popular improvements on Bing relate to Facebook (News - Alert). Search Engine Land highlights two new Facebook-related features: “like annotations” and “social annotations.”

With like annotations, links listed on the search results page will indicate if they were “liked” by the user’s Facebook friends, explains Search Engine Land. And with social annotations, “like” data is being brought into core search across all users’ queries, according to Search Engine Land.

There are other improvements, too, as outlined by Search Engine Land. What follows are just samples:

• Venue maps provide maps and listings for shopping malls, airports, museums and college campuses.
• Landmark details are easier to find. Users will get contact info, related businesses and landmark specifics.
• Real-Time Transit information: Commuters can see if transit service is on schedule, and get predicted arrival times. Updates will be provided for commuters in Boston, San Francisco and Seattle.
• Reminders: Receive alerts when near a specific location.
• OpenTable lets users make restaurant reservations.
• Everyscape integration lets users view the inside of local restaurants and businesses. The 360-degree and panoramic views will be available for starters in restaurants in Seattle, San Francisco and Boston.
• FanSnap lets users purchase tickets to a concert or sporting event.
• Bing Maps will differentiate between important and less significant streets in cities.
• Flight Summary: Displays an estimated cost for trips and offers travel options.
• Destination Pages: Presents information on a city.
• Transit Routing: Users can select departure times and choose routes. Initial cities include: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Newark metro area, New York metro area, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and Washington, D.C.
• Autosuggest: To help users plan an evening’s entertainment, Bing refines restaurant and movie searches by suggesting query strings.
• Check-in: Users can indicate their current locations to friends and relatives through Facebook, Foursquare (News - Alert) or Windows Live.

In related company news, TMCnet reported in September that Bing overtook Yahoo, and was ranked as the second-most-used U.S. search engine, according to the Nielsen Company.

Since August of 2009, Microsoft increased its market share from 10.7 percent to 13.9 percent, TMCnet reported in September. During that same time, Yahoo dropped from 16 percent to a low of 13.1 percent, says TMCnet.