We reported yesterday on the early appearance of the Bing Images new layout and features update. In our excitement, we briefly covered some of the superficial elements found in the new Image search. With a full day of use under our belt and some more information from the Bing Image Search team, we’re able to provide some more insight to the new alterations.
Do More
According to the Bing Image team, the new design was intended to help users do more with image search. In their studying and research, the team realized that in an image search, the image is rarely the end point but rather the start for users. In order to help users jump from one piece of the search puzzle to the next, the image team created a fluid path to more options. When users search images in the new layout, and click a picture, they can scroll or swipe to receive:
- Places to buy the product in the image (beta).
- Related searches based on the image to help you discover more images like the one you found.
- Pinterest collections to help you locate other images pinned by people. Microsoft is starting with Pinterest but plans on expanding out to other sites over time.
- More sizes of the image available from across the web.
- Pages with images where you may be able to find more information or take actions related to the image. If the image is of food, one of these pages might contain a recipe. If the image a location, the page may have more travel information.
Learn More
Aside from additional search paths found by conveniently scrolling or swiping, users are presented with the most relevant description of the image. For instance, a search for images of Hawaii, users can find information about the particular image in the middle of the bottom bar and some other tidbits about volcanoes in the area as well as tourist material. The Image team elaborates on the new addition, “These descriptions and links will help you learn more about a wide variety of subjects. The quality of the descriptions and the number of images with one will improve significantly over time.”
The new layout experience has also been extended to mobile searches as well. Information is now overlayed on the image to reduce borders and bezels, and better present images. Since phones present an entirely different use case when image searching, this new addition makes sense and is sure to be appreciated.
Lastly, the new image search also has a Chrome extension for Chrome users. The new extension takes the image information straight into the web page users browse. The extension can be found in the Chrome web store for those interested.
This update is significant and a great direction for Bing Image search. The team is not done and will continue to tweak and adjust as time goes on. With a partnership like the recent Getty team up, the Image team is looking to surface license info when that information becomes available. You can check out more on the new image search in this video:
According to the image team, the new layout will be rolling out to Bing.com on PC’s, tablets, and smartphones worldwide over the next few weeks. For those using Cortana on Windows Phone for image searches, there is no word about the layout coming to the mobile search assistant just yet.
Swing over to Bing Images and take the new search for ride.
