Tag: Bing

Bing Takes #2 Spot in Search, Even Without Yahoo’s Help

Nielsen shared some new search market findings, indicating that Bing has overtaken Yahoo as the number two search engine in the U.S. for the first time. That’s MSN/Windows Live/Bing, to be more precise, which holds 13.9% of the market (as of August), according to the firm.

Yahoo holds a 13.1% share, a decline from 14.6% in July. Google saw little change, but accounted for 65% of all U.S. searches.

The numbers do not take into account the Search Alliance between Microsoft and Yahoo, as Bing started officially powering Yahoo searches on August 24. Nielsen says, "If we combined Bing-powered search in August pro-forma, it would represent a 26% share of search."

"In terms of a year-over-year comparison, Google has seen little change in its share of search while Yahoo! has seen a small but steady decline, going from a 16.0% share to 13.1% (a delta drop of 2.9% or a relative drop of 18%)," the firm says. "MSN/Windows Live/Bing’s share has grown from 10.7% in August 2009 to 13.9% (a delta increase of 3.2% or a relative increase of 30%)."

Clearly, good things are happening for Bing, and with the Search Alliance firmly in place in the U.S. and Canada, with the international transition on the way, Bing’s numbers will be doing quite well going forward. Of course they still have a search partnership with Facebook and Windows Phone 7 sales to look forward to as well.

September 14, 2010
Yahoo, Bing Start Off With Combined 25% Share

New Experian Hitwise stats regarding the search market in August have arrived, and truth be told, they’re not that exciting; very little changed compared to July. However, August did act as a sort of baseline for the Bing-Yahoo combo.

Experian Hitwise noted in an official statement, "The percentage of U.S. searches for the one-week ending Aug. 28, 2010 for the Bing combined powered search accounted for 24.56 percent, as Yahoo! Search and Bing received 14.32 percent and 10.24 percent, respectively."

That’s perhaps not a terrible starting point. After all, Ask, AOL, and lots of other companies can only dream of performing one out of every 20 searches, never mind one out of four.

The bad news for Yahoo and Bing is that they still didn’t gain ground on Google in August. Google’s market share rose from 71.43 percent to 71.59 percent on a month-over-month basis, while Yahoo’s market share fell (from 14.43 percent to 14.28 percent) and Bing made only the tiniest bit of progress.

Plus, Experian Hitwise observed that "Google delivered the most visits" to its Automotive, Health, Shopping, and Travel categories.

The big search announcement Google’s supposed to make later today may not play in Yahoo and Bing’s favor, either.

September 8, 2010
Bing App Comes to Verizon Android Devices

Microsoft has announced the launch of its first Bing for Mobile Android app for Verizon customers. The app is available for download in the Android Marketplace on Verizon Android devices.

The app homepage will look somewhat familiar to Bing users, as it will include the Bing image of the day with the clickable hotspots, much like the desktop version. You can swipe through past images.

The endless scrolling of the image search also makes the transition to the app. In fact, endless scrolling is functional with any search result.

The app also supports voice search, which Android users are already familiar with through Google’s offerings.

"Voice search is also great when it comes to your local business listings," says Bing’s Andy Chu. "Give it a try, even something complex, hold the phone to your ear and speak, or press the mic button—it’s that simple."

"The Android app also has a pretty smooth mapping feature," adds Chu. "First, Bing will automatically find your current location. You can then easily discover new places by category such as restaurants, banks, theaters and you can choose whether you want walking or driving directions. Swipe through each step of your directions, and check out how fast the map pans and zooms. For times when you only have one hand free and can’t pinch, there is the handy zoom-out button."

Other features of the app include local listing reviews, ratings, and news.

August 30, 2010
Why Are People Searching Less Than They Were a Year Ago?

Nielsen released its version of the U.S. search market rankings for July this week. Google is of course on top with 3 out of 5 searches (64.2%). Yahoo came in second with 14.3%, leaving Microsoft in third at 13.6%.

Yahoo and Microsoft both gained in month-over-month share (2% and 4%, respectively). This is all good for Microsoft, as Bing has now completely overtaken Yahoo’s organic results in the U.S. and Canada. We’ll see our first glimpse of how this is working out next month.

Do you think Microsoft and Yahoo combined can take on Google? Share your thoughts.

"In terms of a Year-on-Year comparison there has been little change in Google’s share but more significant movement amongst its closest competitors," says Nielsen. "MSN/Windows Live/Bing’s share has grown from 9.0% to 13.6% (a delta increase of 4.6% or a relative increase of 51%) while Yahoo!’s share has fallen from 17.1% to 14.3% (a delta drop of 2.8% or a relative drop of 17%). Consequently, over the last year Yahoo!’s delta lead over MSN/Windows Live/Bing has been reduced from 7.1% to only 0.7%."

Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft account for more than 9 out of 10 searches (92.1%).

The total number of searches in the U.S. over the last year has gone down by 16% from 10.5 billion to 8.8 billion. This is a very interesting stat. I wonder how much of this has to do with increased use of smartphones and mobile apps, taking the place of traditional searches. There are some other good points in the comments.

Why do you think people are searching less? Comment here.

August 29, 2010
The Search Market Isn’t Always What it Seems to Be

Like most studies, surveys, and stat counts related to Internet user behavior, search market stats should generally be taken with a grain of salt. While they can give us a general idea of which search engines users flock to, there are too many variables to paint a completely accurate picture.

What’s your search engine of choice? Why? Let us know.

comScore has added an "explicit core search" metric to its search market reporting. The firm defines this as user engagement with a search service with the intent to retrieve search results. In other words – a user searching for something from the search box.

While some may have assumed that was always the case, reports haven’t always reflected actual searches by users only. As Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan points out, "Companies such as Yahoo and Microsoft have inflated traditional metrics through the use of ‘slideshows’ and other ‘contextual search’ activities."

"Since March, Yahoo in particular has been gaining notable share by generating searches that many probably wouldn’t consider an actual search," he writes. "For example, someone might be viewing a photo slideshow. Clicking to advance the slide causes a page reload in a way that is counted as a ‘search’ under comScore’s traditional metrics." Sullivan has written several articles related to this, which he lists here.

One interesting piece of information that Sullivan gleaned from an interview with comScore is that they do not take into account map searches across any of the search engines in their core search numbers. This is a significant part of search marketing, particularly for local businesses, and is something to think about. News searches are counted.

comScore’s July numbers for explicit core search (according to JP Morgan, who obtained an early copy) indicate that Google’s share dropped slightly in July from 66.2% to 65.8%. Yahoo’s share increased 17.1% in July from 16.7% in June, and Microsoft’s share stayed flat at 11%. Again, that’s Google down, Yahoo up, and Microsoft flat. That means good things for Bing.

Reasons Why Things Are Looking Up for Bing

Windows Phone 7 is on its way to the smartphone market. While it remains to be seen if it can really be a contender, particularly with Google’s Android taking off, it will put Bing front and center for its users. In fact, the company will be making games a big part of the Windows Phone 7 experience, with direct connections to Xbox, which could provide a nice boost in usage. In case you haven’t heard, Xbox is pretty popular. More Windows Phone 7 users mean potentially more Bing users.

There’s also a little site called Facebook. It’s got over half a billion users (and counting), and a search function. While that search function may leave a bit to be desired, the web search results are coming from Bing. People are spending more time on Facebook, which puts that search box pretty close by during a significant part of their online experience. Facebook is moving up the charts as an online video destination as well, which means even more time spent. That doesn’t even take into account the fact that Facebook is practically connecting the entire web to itself.

A recent report from Chitika indicated that Firefox-based Google searches accounted for searches than total Bing or Yahoo searches. Google’s contract with Mozilla is due to expire next year. Expect Microsoft to make a bid to become Firefox’s default search option. That could be a significant booster.

Chitika also released a report this week indicating that Bing had surpassed Yahoo in search market share, based on the search traffic going into the Chitika ad network. While that’s not reflective of as big a picture as comScore’s numbers, it’s still an up arrow for Bing.

Let’s not forget the big Yahoo-Microsoft Search Alliance, which will effectively mash Yahoo’s and Bing’s shares together, complete with adCenter ads. This is set to go down any day now (late August).

Then there’s Microsoft’s massive marketing budget for Bing. You’ll continue to see Bing commercials on television, increasingly implanting that Bing brand into the minds of the masses, while Google does little to advertise its bread and butter. I’m not saying Google is in danger of losing out to Bing anytime soon, but it stands to reason that more people will continue to search with Bing one way or another.

With all of this in mind, webmasters and business owners should check out Bing’s newly refreshed webmaster tools. As more use Bing, the need for a search presence (organic and/or paid) there becomes more vital.

Update: Microsoft just announced that the Yahoo organic search transition has started. From the announcement:

In the upcoming days we will begin the organic (algorithmic) transition, which means that soon Bing will begin to power the English language organic search results on Yahoo! Search in the U.S. and Canada. Once this organic transition is complete, Bing will power 5.2 billion monthly searches… that’s 31.6% of the search market share in the U.S. (290 million monthly searches and 8.6% share in Canada).

Should Google be worried? Tell us what you think.

August 27, 2010
Bing Maps Integration Comes to Hotmail

Microsoft has launched some new Bing Maps integration with Hotmail. When Hotmail users create a new email message, they can insert Bing Maps data.

When a user selects "Maps and Places", a task pane opens, which lets you add new locations or interact with previously defined locations. It will default to the address you have in your Windows live profile. If you add a new place, you can store it in a Bing Maps collection and pick it from a list later.

"Once you made a quick pick from the list or geocoded a new address you can optionally edit the details and then insert it into your email," says Bing’s Johannes Kebeck. "I think that’s a great idea. If only I could have that in Outlook too."

In other Bing Maps news, Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch has just been released as public beta, and the company shows how it uses this with Bing Maps here. Microsoft says Visual Studio LightSwitch is "the simplest way to build business applications for the desktop, web and cloud."

August 26, 2010
Yahoo Completes Bing Transition for Organic Results (in US and Canada)

Last week, Yahoo announced that it had begun transitioning Bing results into Yahoo results – a product of the Search Alliance between Yahoo and Microsoft. Now, the companies have announced that the transition of organic results in the U.S. and Canada is complete.

This applies to web, image, and video search on Yahoo for both the desktop and mobile experiences of Yahoo Search.

"With this week’s milestone behind us, Yahoo! will continue to drive technology innovation in the search experience to bring more value to users and advertisers alike," says Yahoo SVP of Search Products, Shashi Seth. "We are focused on creating rich, immersive experiences that foster serendipitous discovery for people across the Yahoo! network. As we shared last week, we are also working hard on finalizing our revenue model for the Yahoo! Search BOSS program going forward, and will be offering other search-related tools for publishers in the months to come."

"We continue to work hard on the migration to adCenter, and are optimistic about completing this phase later this fall," says Microsoft’s SVP of Online Services, Satya Nadella. "As we have said all along, our primary goal is to provide advertisers with a quality transition experience in 2010, while being mindful of the holiday season."

Both companies have indicated that the transition has gone smoothly, with Yahoo praising the speed at which the teams were able to get it done.

So, what are your thoughts on Yahoo’s new search results? If you were a Yahoo user before, now you’re choosing between Yahoo’s and Bing’s user interface.

August 24, 2010
Can Bing Win More Search Market Share Through iPhone and Android?

I’ve written several times about Bing’s chances of increasing search market share through various avenues. While nobody expects Bing to overthrow King Google anytime soon, those chances are pretty good.

One of the keys I’ve repeatedly referred to, is the launch of Windows Phone 7, which will make Bing the default search option. If these devices take off, they could help push Bing’s share tremendously (not to mention the company’s deals with Yahoo and Facebook).

Bing wants to get to you through other mobile devices too though. Currently, Microsoft is really pushing Bing use on the iPhone, as Nick Wingfield with the Wall Street Journal points out. According to his article, at one point, there were 7 apps bearing the Bing name in the top 26 most frequently downloaded iPhone apps. While some of these were third-party apps and just gave users access to free music, Microsoft has still seen this as a chance to capitalize on the Bing brand in iPhone users’ hands.

WSJ quotes Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn as saying, "It turns out if you have more than one of these apps at the upper-end of the store, you see decent lift across all of them. It’s an innovative way that we can introduce ourselves to users of the iPhone platform, encourage downloads of our search app and do it in way that’s fun and engaging."

According to the WSJ, Bing will have an Android app out within months – Google’s territory. With Google’s Android Market being much more open to apps, there is not only room for more Bing apps, but for more third-party Bing-related apps. That could bode well for this strategy of Microsoft’s. However, they may still have a hard time trumping those search hard keys on Android devices that take users directly to Google.

August 24, 2010
Microsoft Increases Bing Crawl Rates

Microsoft announced today that it is making some ad relevance improvements, namely, a temporary increase in Bing crawl rates. The adCenter team writes:

Along with our consistent efforts to increase relevance for your adCenter campaigns, we will be temporarily increasing the rate at which your sites will be crawled to 20 to 30qps. This is within the accepted standards for crawl rates, and is vital to continuing to provide the most relevant advertising experience possible.

The team adds that if you have any concerns with the increased rate, you should contact your account management team as soon as possible. Microsoft’s Tina Kelleher adds that you can also leave comments on this blog post.

Keep in mind that Bing results have overtaken Yahoo results now in the U.S. and Canada, and the companies have begun testing the adCenter transition for pad results.

Last week, Microsoft announced that it has expanded negative keyword limits for adCenter, so advertisers can now add thousands of negative keywords.

August 23, 2010
The G2 to Deliver “Tight Integration” with Google Services

A teaser page for G2 from T-Mobile was discovered. It says, "The T-Mobile G2 will deliver tight integration with Google services and break new ground as the first smartphone designed to run at 4G speeds on our new HSPA+ network. In the coming weeks, we’ll share more details about the G2 and offer exclusive first access to current T-Mobile customers."

The G1 was of course the first Android phone, which launched 2 years ago.

9to5Mac points to Microsoft talking about its compatibility efforts in Office 2011 for Mac:

Speaking of Microsoft, Xbox Live for Windows Phone 7 will feature Bing Maps. Bing’s Chris Pendleton writes:

With the impending release of Windows Phone 7, I’ve been working with both the Windows Phone and XNA teams on creating experiences that will involve Bing Maps. As a preview, Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst is the first game to be shown and announced to use an XNA control with Bing Maps for Windows Phone 7. Hot. The game uses Bing Maps as a backdrop for an attack and tank-like game for blowing stuff up (or protecting stuff). Here are a couple screenshots used from within the game.

Speaking of Bing, it’s still in third place in the U.S. search market according to data released by Hitwise today. However, Yahoo has begun putting Bing into its search results this week, so that should be significantly different next month.

NewTeeVee reports that Verizon has unveiled a series of new video apps to bring Live TV to the iPad.

August 18, 2010
Bing Finally Comes to Yahoo

Yahoo users (in the U.S. and Canada) will start seeing Bing results for organic searches this week. Yahoo and Microsoft announced that the transition is starting, and that the paid search transition is in the middle of testing.

"Later this week, we will begin the work of transitioning the back-end technology for Yahoo! Search over to the Bing platform," says Yahoo. "This is an important step toward our goal of improving the overall relevance of Yahoo! organic search results and attracting a larger audience to Yahoo! Search, to ultimately put your ads in front of more potential customers."

"Soon, you’ll be able to access a transition portal from within your Yahoo! Search Marketing account," the company adds. "This portal will walk you through the simple step-by-step process of creating a Microsoft Advertising adCenter account and importing your campaigns, or linking an existing adCenter account that you may already have."

The portal is currently being tested with a limited number of accounts. Users will be emailed when it’s available.

Yahoo still intends to have the transition in place before the holiday season, but may elect to wait until 2011 if they feel like that would improve the user experience.

"Once this organic transition is complete, Bing will power 5.2 billion monthly searches… that’s 31.6% of the search market share in the U.S. (290 million monthly searches and 8.6% share in Canada)," says Microsoft’s Tina Kelleher, referring to comScore data (more on that here).

August 17, 2010
Report: Bing Leaps Over Yahoo in the Search Market

Chitika revealed its July search stats today, which have Bing at #2 in the search market, over partner Yahoo.

"July is over, and we have stats: in looking at the full month’s traffic, Google remains unassailable in its #1 spot, and Bing beats out Yahoo! by a few percentage points for the #2 spot," the firm says. "AOL and [Ask] continue to jockey for 4th place."

Yahoo and Bing recently announced that Yahoo’s organic results will be fully powered by Bing (in the U.S.) by late August.

Another element worth considering in the search market is the browser. Earlier this month, Chitika indicated that Google Firefox-based searches were more than total Bing or Yahoo searches. This could make things very interesting when Google’s contract with Mozilla as the browser’s default search option expires.

Let’s not forget that Bing powers web search on Facebook, which currently has over 500 million users. Bing will also make its presence felt more in the mobile space as Windows Phone 7 phones make their way to the market.

August 16, 2010
Bing Sets Retirement Date for Old Search API Version

Microsoft announced that that it is phasing out version 1.1 of the Bing Search API. This comes as no surprise, as version 2.0 was launched over a year ago.

Version 1.1 will no longer be supported as of November 1, 2010. Webmasters and developers still using the version 1.1 API will need to migrate over to version 2.0 by then. "In addition to the improved features, a single Bing Search API means streamlined maintenance, updates and support," a representative for Bing tells WebProNews.

Version 2.0 comes with support for new source types like translation, answers, video, and related search. It also supports protocols like JSON, XML, and SOAP. Version 2.0 users can also send an unlimited number of query requests (for legitimate uses described in the terms of use).

"There are other benefits of this transition as well," says Bing Developer Platform Senior Product Manager Reed Shaffner. "The new Bing Search API introduced considerable improvements for maintenance and updates so that going forward, we can introduce feature improvements and other changes without switching API versions. Furthermore, we will better able to aid you in your requests for assistance as there will now be a single version to monitor and support."

Version 2.0 is also accompanied by a new developer center and Project Silk Road, which is a set of tools from Microsoft for online publishers and developers aimed at generating traffic and increasing engagement on their sites.

August 6, 2010
Yahoo’s Organic Results Will Be Bing-Powered By Late August

Yahoo and Microsoft have provided an update on advertisers’ transition to adCenter as the Search Alliance gets underway.

Yahoo advertisers will soon either have to create a new adCenter account or link their Yahoo account to an existing adCenter account. Later this month, Yahoo advertisers will see an "adCenter" tab in their Yahoo Search Marketing account. This will take advertisers to the beginning of the account transition process where they’ll be walked through the steps.

"Once you create your adCenter account, it will be active and your ads will be eligible to serve on Bing right away," Yahoo says. "As a result, you’ll be managing both your new adCenter account and your existing Yahoo! Search Marketing account in parallel until ad serving for Yahoo! traffic transitions to adCenter, so plan to budget accordingly."

Advertisers will need to download Silverlight to look at the differences between their Yahoo and adCenter accounts.

As far as organic search results, Yahoo says Bing will start powering Yahoo results in late August. Yahoo will email a confirmation to advertisers once the adCenter tab becomes available and once the organic search transition is complete.

August 6, 2010
Bing Lands Deal With Sheraton Hotels

A well-respected line of hotels is entrusting at least part of its customers’ experience to Microsoft. Sheraton Hotels & Resorts announced today that a new online destination, dubbed the "Sheraton Guest Portal," will be powered by Bing.

This arrangement is supposed to go well beyond putting the Sheraton logo somewhere on a modified version of the Bing homepage. It isn’t meant to result in some one-size-fits-all site for all of the Sheratons around the world, either.

Instead, Sheraton Hotels promised in a statement, "[G]uests will find constantly updated relevant content, specific to each Sheraton location, such as local maps and the top search results for area restaurants, attractions, special events and services."

This is a risky move, since few vacationers want to waste more time than necessary using a computer. And pretty much no one wants to receive bad directions or get sent to a substandard attraction. But that speaks to the confidence Sheraton Hotels has in Bing. The company’s indeed labeled the new portal a "signature component" of "Sheraton’s $6 billion global effort to enhance the brand and differentiate the guest experience at properties worldwide."

Plus, the circumstances mean Bing has the opportunity to make a great first impression on new users.

In any event, Microsoft and Sheraton Hotels did not discuss any financial details relating to the deal.

August 4, 2010
How Important is Firefox in the Battle for Search Market Share?

Chitika has provided some very interesting search market-related findings. According to the firm, Firefox is responsible for a significant amount of Google’s share. In fact, based on the sample looked at, there were more Firefox-based Google searches than total searches from Bing or Yahoo.

It’s important to note that this isn’t representative of the entire search market, but it’s an interesting finding that may indeed have bigger implications in that market.

"The next big shift in the search engine wars may come in 2011, when Mozilla’s contract setting Google as the default browser in their popular Firefox browser comes to an end," says Chitika’s Daniel Ruby. "Based on a sample of over 14 million impressions across the Chitika advertising network, Firefox currently holds the keys to 9.17% of the search market – more than any one company except Google itself."

Of course Bing and Yahoo combined will account for more than Google’s Firefox share. If that means anything.

"Of the sample pulled by Chitika Research for the purposes of this study, Firefox drove 23% of all traffic to the network," says Ruby. "Of Firefox’s search traffic, 91.45% came from Google, and 39.87% specifically from the Firefox start page and embedded Google search bar."

He also speculates that we’ll see "a massive bidding war" when Mozilla’s contract with Google gets closer to the end. I guess we’ll see who wants it most. Of course meanwhile, Google will be heavily pushing Chrome, trying to get some of those Firefox users themselves into their own browser.

How much does the browser play into your search habits? Tell us about it.

August 4, 2010
How Facebook Handles Questions Could Play Key Role in Future Search Habits

Facebook’s new Questions product, launched in beta earlier this week, has a great deal of potential for answering the questions of half a billion people (the most recent number of Facebook users reported by the company).

Will you use Facebook Questions to seek answers? Let us know.

As competition between Facebook and Google over Internet user time and attention continues to increase, this may be yet another area where Facebook has a bit of leverage over the search giant. Q&A is becoming a big area of focus throughout the industry with many smaller players fighting for a piece of the pie (not that all of the players are small).

Google has Aardvark, which it has yet to really do anything incredibly significant with (at least related to Google search). Yahoo, of course, has Yahoo Answers. Ask just reinvented itself with a focus on community and web-driven Q&A. That’s just a few examples. Facebook has a major advantage, however, with that half a billion users, and the simple fact that many of those users spend a great deal of time using Facebook.

Facebook Questions data could be very useful to search engines and their users, if the product itself lives up to its own potential, but it remains to be seen if Facebook will be willing to share that information. The company is already notorious for being stingy with its data, from the open web perspective, despite its own "open" graph initiative.

Facebook told Search Engine Land that it doesn’t have plans to give search engines access to its questions and answers, though they didn’t rule out future consideration. The decision could be an important one strategically for the company in the future, particularly as Google continues to move toward trying to steal some of Facebook’s thunder (the key word there being "trying"…I should mention this notion has been downplayed by the company).

Microsoft has to be pretty interested as well, as it is frequently looking for new ways to compete with Google and it already provides Facebook with its own web search results.

Q&A is becoming an increasingly interesting segment of the search industry, and one where there is distinct possibility of shaking up Google’s share, thanks to an increasing number of players, the diversification of how people actually do their searching/information gathering, and blossoming mobile application ecosystems.

Facebook, Google, and increasingly Bing all have their places in these ecosystems, and Facebook Questions could conceivably play a powerful role in tipping x amount of searches in one direction or another.

Do you see Facebook Questions as a potential disruption to the search industry? Share your thoughts in the comments.

August 4, 2010
Microsoft Promotes Shopping Aspect Of Bing iPhone App

While this development isn’t likely to amuse everyone behind the BlackBerry Torch’s launch, Apple fans may be glad to know that Microsoft acknowledged the iPhone’s importance in a small way today, discussing the new Bing for Mobile iPhone app as it relates to shopping.

This app is of course free, and the shopping section can be accessed just by clicking on "Shopping" from the homepage. As for what it’s supposed to do, the app is meant to provide a complete, start-to-finish shopping experience rather than just determine where stuff is available or compare prices.

A post on the Bing Search Blog explained, "[Y]ou can find products, see ratings, and read reviews. Search with your camera, your voice, or your keyboard to find brand-name products and compare prices. Not sure what to get for her birthday? No problem, we provide you with a list of product categories of the most popular items."

That’s not to say the app is perfect; in Microsoft’s own screenshots, you can see that a product’s price is given as $0.00, which doesn’t seem quite right. So iPhone owners might still be better off using more than one tool or just heading for a desktop computer when it’s time to do some serious shopping.

The Bing for Mobile iPhone app obviously has quite a lot to offer, though, and Microsoft’s demonstrated that it’s not focusing on the upcoming Windows 7 Phone devices to the exclusion of everything else.

That’s good news for both Microsoft and Apple, if not so much for RIM.

August 3, 2010
Bing Maps Gets Interface Enhancements

Microsoft has launched an update to the Bing Maps interface today aimed at improving readability and aesthetics.

The new interface uses cool colors, which Bing says creates a more visually appealing backdrop, helping content "pop" on the map, and provides clear differentiation for pushpins, labels, and traffic overlays.

There are new labels with larger fonts for major streets. This eliminates the need for bolding, and less attractive glows while allowing users to quickly find locations in a relevant format, Bing says.

The new interface also comes with improved international coverage. There is improved road and street data across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, and Asia.

Finally, Bing Maps has launched Dynamic Labels in beta, which allow users to quickly zoom to a region or location on the map with just a few clicks, making it easier to identify and explore areas or neighborhoods of a city. These labels can be turned on from the map style selector on bing.com/maps/explore.

As reported earlier, Bing now offers an app for OpenStreetMap, a Wikipedia-style community-driven mapping interface.

August 3, 2010
Bing Maps Gets OpenStreetMap App

Microsoft has launched a new Bing Maps app for OpenStreetMap. The app adds a layer on Bing Maps as a new style option.

"OpenStreetMap follows a similar concept as Wikipedia, but for maps and other geographic facts (despite its name, it’s by no means only limited to streets and roads)," explains Bing’s Chris Pendleton. "People, like you and me, gather location data across the globe from a variety of sources such as recordings from GPS devices, from free satellite imagery or simply from knowing an area very well, for example because they live there. This information then gets uploaded to OpenStreetMap’s central database from where it can be further modified, corrected and enriched by anyone who notices missing facts or errors about the area."

"Users can still perform searches atop of the OSM map layer," adds Pendleton. "Once the OSM Maps are rendered, users will find the OSM map option listed in the map types so if you switch to Bird’s Eye or some other native Bing map types, you can easily return to the OSM map style. Of note, we are using the Mapnik map style from OSM (one of the many map styles available to open source users) to create our OSM map type. People love the details you see?"

It should be interesting to see how the OpenStreetMap grows from community participation, and how it looks compared to other map offerings.

Bing is doing some interesting things with maps through its Maps Apps. They’ve recently launched apps for Facebook, Foursquare, health, and the Tour De France, not to mention Mars imagery.

August 3, 2010
Microsoft Launches Online Circular Ads for MSN Local

Microsoft Advertising has unveiled new localized deals through interactive online circulars (like those ads that fall out of your newspaper, the company notes) as part of MSN Local Edition.

The site is geo-targeted, so only location-relevant circulars will be shown to consumers.

Site visitors will be able to rotate through the different circulars on one screen, as well as browse and flip through them just like print versions. They will also be able to search for products across circulars, add items to a shopping list, find retailer locations with Bing Maps, and share offers with friends through Facebook, Twitter, and Windows Live.

The back-end data for the circulars comes from ShopLocal. As long as retailers update their info on ShopLocal, their circulars will be refreshed. If they’re not current, they won’t be shown.

Microsoft says it intends to leverage more of its assets (including mobile) as it evolves its circular offerings. Advertisers need to talk to their account execs if they want to take advantage of this kind of offering.

August 2, 2010