Five years ago, Microsoft launched Bing. In fact, Bing launched on June 3rd, 2009. Microsoft wanted to provide a fresh approach to search and compete against Yahoo and Google – and the company did just that with Bing, allowing users do more rather than just search.
“Over the past five years, we’ve seen tectonic shifts in how people experience the Web. From the rise of social data and the myriad connections that exposed, to the explosion of mobile experiences that fundamentally redefined how people interact with devices. The Web of today wouldn’t recognize itself in 2009. Think of the sheer volume of data that has been created in the past five years. The amount of information shared in single day in 2014 equals everything shared digitally prior to 1997,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.
In 2009, Microsoft introduced Health and Travel for Bing. The company also introduced a categories section on the left side of search results to help narrow down what you were looking for. In 2010, Microsoft added social integration to Bing, allowing Twitter and Facebook to inject a “human touch” to search results. In that same year, Yahoo signed a deal with Microsoft to have Bing power its search engine. Microsoft also designed the Bing homepage to be more tablet and mobile friendly in 2011. In 2012 and 2013, Bing became smarter with a new 3-column format that showed you “what the web knew, what Bing knew, and what people knew about your query.”
“The best is not yet to come but on the imminent horizon. As the world of devices constantly changes and new form factors come into play there will be a need to better use information, either by seeking it out or having it pushed to you, and take action. Bing has shifted its focus to be in position to be the search for this new, changing world,” Microsoft explains.
Microsoft: “The best is not yet to come but on the imminent horizon”
Microsoft says you should expect relevant information to come to you when and where you need it. With Bing, Microsoft wants you to expect experiences to adapt to you and your context, not the other way around. Bing should anticipate what you need and be proactive, not reactive to your search query. “Only Bing and Microsoft can provide all of this, and we couldn’t be more excited for the next five years and beyond,” Microsoft adds.
Happy Birthday Bing! Here’s to another five years! Head over to Bing.com’s homepage gallery to check out the homepage images from the past five years.
