Microsoft Revamps Bing Search Engine For Mobile Devices

Microsoft has revamped the look of its Bing search engine, with the aim of making the homepage and search results cleaner and easier to use.

Other cosmetic changes are a larger homepage image and improved readability for the benefit of touchscreen devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Bing Clearer?

Navigational alterations include streamlined search options at the top of the screen. Only links to web, images, videos, maps, news, search history and ‘more are shown, along with links to other Microsoft web services MSN and Hotmail.

Results pages have also been rationalised, with information removed from the left handside of the pager, while the header has also been minimised to make things cleaner.

“Most of us would like to spend less time searching for information online, as, let’s face it, there is more to life than search,” said Peter Maxmin, head of Bing UK. “We want to make your search experience quicker and easier so you can get on with the important stuff.”

Bing was first launched in 2009, replacing Live Search, and is positioned as Microsoft’s challenger to Google’s search crown.

In May, Microsoft released a major update to the service, the largest since Bing was launched. Social networks were the main focus of the update, which allowed users a way to integrate information from Facebook and Twitter into their search results. Entries from the Encyclopedia Britannica  are also included in Bing, with questions answered directly on the results page.

Bing surpassed Yahoo in market share earlier this year, edging up to second place, but it still trails Google by a considerable margin.

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