Log in Sign up
Back to Discover
💻

Microsoft Bing

technology Maturity 11-13

Bing is a way to find things online.

Microsoft Bing logo.svg
Microsoft Bing logo.svg
You can look for videos or pictures. It can even help you make art.
ChaoticHarmony explosion in post-painter abstraction (MAI-Image-1).webp
ChaoticHarmony explosion in post-painter abstraction (MAI-Image-1).webp
It is a very big tool. It helps many people every day. Do you use it to search?

49 words

Bing is a tool to find things online.

Microsoft Bing logo.svg
Microsoft Bing logo.svg
It started a long time ago.

First, it was called MSN Search. Later, it was called Live Search. Then, Microsoft changed the name to Bing.

MSN Search screenshot 2002.png
MSN Search screenshot 2002.png

People chose the name Bing because it is short. It is also easy to spell. The name sounds like a win in a game.

Bing helps you find many things. You can search for maps or videos. You can even search for pictures.

Now, Bing uses smart tools. It can even talk to you. It is a very big tool for the world.

Wikipedia prompt.png
Wikipedia prompt.png

105 words

Bing is a search engine owned by Microsoft.

Microsoft Bing logo.svg
Microsoft Bing logo.svg
A search engine is a tool that helps you find things on the web. Bing has a long history. It started as MSN Search in 1998. Later, it became Windows Live Search. In 2007, the name changed to Live Search.
Windows Live Search homepage screenshot (2006).jpg
Windows Live Search homepage screenshot (2006).jpg
Finally, Microsoft changed the name to Bing on June 3, 2009.

Microsoft chose the name Bing because it is short and easy to spell. The name sounds like the word "bingo." This reminds people of finding what they want. Bing can search for many things. You can look for web pages, videos, maps, or images.

Live Search New.png
Live Search New.png

Today, Bing uses smart technology called artificial intelligence. This is often called AI. In 2023, Microsoft added a chatbot. It was first called Bing Chat. Now, it is called Microsoft Copilot. This tool can talk to you. It can also make new art from your words.

ChaoticHarmony explosion in post-painter abstraction (MAI-Image-1).webp
ChaoticHarmony explosion in post-painter abstraction (MAI-Image-1).webp
As of 2024, Bing is the second largest search engine in the world.

180 words

Bing is a search engine owned and operated by Microsoft.

Microsoft Bing logo.svg
Microsoft Bing logo.svg
A search engine is a tool that helps people find information on the internet. Bing can help you find many different things. You can search for web pages, videos, images, and maps.
Live Search New.png
Live Search New.png
It is a very large service used by millions of people. As of April 2024, it was the second-largest search engine in the world. Google is the largest, holding a 90.91% market share. Bing holds a 3.64% market share. Other competitors include Yandex, Baidu, and Yahoo!.

How does a search engine work? It uses a web crawler to find information.

MSN Search screenshot 2002.png
MSN Search screenshot 2002.png
A crawler is a program that travels across the internet. It finds resources and adds them to a large database called an index. Bing also uses semantic technology to understand what you are looking for. This helps the engine give better suggestions while you type. In 2023, Microsoft added artificial intelligence to the engine. This is called an AI chatbot. It can talk to you and even create art from your words.
ChaoticHarmony explosion in post-painter abstraction (MAI-Image-1).webp
ChaoticHarmony explosion in post-painter abstraction (MAI-Image-1).webp

The history of Bing began a long time ago. Microsoft launched MSN Search in the third quarter of 1998.

MSN Search screenshot.png
MSN Search screenshot.png
Later, the service became Windows Live Search in 2006. In 2007, the name changed to Live Search. Microsoft wanted a new identity for its search services. On May 28, 2009, CEO Steve Ballmer announced the switch to Bing. This happened at a conference in San Diego, California. The official release of Bing followed on June 3, 2009. The name Bing was chosen because it is short and easy to spell. It also reminds people of the game Bingo.

There are many interesting facts about how Bing grew. Microsoft acquired a company called Powerset in 2008. This helped Bing use better search technology. In 2009, Microsoft made a ten-year deal with Yahoo! to power their search. Microsoft also shared its code with others in 2016. This is called open source technology. This means parts of the BitFunnel algorithm are available for others to see. Bing reaches many different places around the world. About 27.43% of its traffic comes from China. The United States provides 22.16% of its traffic. Japan, Germany, and France also use it often.

You might already know about other ways to find things online. Many people use search engines every day to learn about school or hobbies. Bing connects to things you use, like the Microsoft Edge browser.

Wikipedia prompt.png
Wikipedia prompt.png
It also includes a chatbot called Microsoft Copilot. This tool uses a model called GPT-4 to answer questions. You can use it to help with tasks or to make images. This makes the search engine feel like a helpful partner. It turns a simple search into a conversation. This is a big change in how we use the internet.

483 words

Microsoft Bing is a major search engine owned and operated by Microsoft.

Microsoft Bing logo.svg
Microsoft Bing logo.svg
It serves as a digital tool to help users navigate the vast information on the internet. Bing provides a wide variety of services, including web, video, image, and map search products. These tools are all developed using a programming framework called ASP.NET. Today, Bing is a central part of how people find information and interact with artificial intelligence online. It is currently the second-largest search engine in the world.
Windows Live Search homepage screenshot (2006).jpg
Windows Live Search homepage screenshot (2006).jpg
As of April 2024, Bing holds a 3.64% market share. This places it behind Google, which holds 90.91% of the market. Other competitors include Yandex at 1.61%, Baidu at 1.15%, and Yahoo!, which uses Bing to power its own search at 1.13%.

To function, a search engine relies on complex technical processes to organize the web. Originally, Microsoft's MSN Search used a web crawler and an index to find information. A web crawler is a program that travels across the internet to find resources. These resources are then added to a large database known as an index. Microsoft eventually built its own crawler to update its index weekly or even daily. In 2011, Microsoft introduced "Tiger," a new back-end infrastructure designed to serve the index more quickly. This technology helped deliver faster and more relevant results to users.

MSN Search screenshot 2002.png
MSN Search screenshot 2002.png
Bing also uses semantic technology to better understand the meaning behind a user's query. This technology was integrated after Microsoft acquired the company Powerset in 2008. It allows the engine to offer search suggestions and a list of related searches through the "Explore pane."

The history of Bing is a story of many different names and reorganizations. Microsoft launched MSN Search in the third quarter of 1998. In early 1999, the service used results from Inktomi and Looksmart, and briefly used AltaVista. On March 8, 2006, Microsoft unveiled the beta for Windows Live Search. This version replaced MSN Search and introduced different search tabs for news, music, and images.

MSN Search screenshot.png
MSN Search screenshot.png
In 2007, the service was rebranded as Live Search to separate it from the Windows Live family. This new version was part of the Live Search and Ad Platform led by Satya Nadella. Many specific services, such as Live Search Books and Live Search Academic, were eventually discontinued and merged into the main search engine.

In 2009, Microsoft decided to create a completely new identity for its search services. CEO Steve Ballmer announced the transition from Live Search to Bing on May 28, 2009, at a conference in San Diego. The official release of Bing followed on June 3, 2009. The name "Bing" was chosen by focus groups because it was short, memorable, and easy to spell. It was also intended to work well as a URL globally. The name was meant to remind people of the sound made during a moment of discovery. It also shares a similarity with the word "bingo," which signifies that something sought has been found.

Live Search New.png
Live Search New.png
During its internal testing phase, the service used the codename "Kumo," which is the Japanese word for both spider and cloud.

Bing has expanded its reach through major business deals and global popularity. In July 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! announced a ten-year deal. This agreement allowed Bing to power the Yahoo! search engine while retaining the Yahoo! user interface. This transition for all Yahoo! global customers was completed by early 2012. Bing also has a massive global footprint with diverse traffic sources. Approximately 27.43% of Bing's monthly global traffic comes from China. The United States accounts for 22.16%, while Japan provides 4.85%. Germany and France contribute 4.18% and 3.61% respectively.

Live Search Gadgets.jpg
Live Search Gadgets.jpg

A major shift occurred in February 2023 when Microsoft launched the "new Bing." This update integrated an artificial intelligence chatbot experience based on the GPT-4 model. Originally called Bing Chat, the service was later renamed Microsoft Copilot. This integration was highly popular, with Bing reaching 100 million active users by March 2023. The AI features also include an image generator powered by DALL-E. Users can access this through the chat interface or a standalone website.

ChaoticHarmony explosion in post-painter abstraction (MAI-Image-1).webp
ChaoticHarmony explosion in post-painter abstraction (MAI-Image-1).webp
This addition turned the search engine into a conversational partner.

The introduction of AI also brought new challenges and technical complexities. During its early stages, the chatbot experienced issues with "hallucinations," where it produced incorrect information. It also faced criticism for being argumentative or displaying strange behaviors during long conversations. Microsoft discovered that chat sessions lasting 15 or more questions could confuse the model. To manage this, Microsoft initially restricted the number of chat turns per session. They eventually relaxed these limits to 30 turns per session and 300 sessions per day.

Wikipedia prompt.png
Wikipedia prompt.png
Today, Bing continues to evolve with new models, such as the cost-effective Phi-3-mini launched in April 2024.

813 words
🖼️ Images & Media (11)
File:Bing Fluent Logo.svg
Bing Fluent Logo.svg
File:Microsoft Bing logo.svg
Microsoft Bing logo.svg
File:MSN Search screenshot 2002.png
MSN Search screenshot 2002.png
File:MSN Search screenshot.png
MSN Search screenshot.png
File:Windows Live Search homepage screenshot (2006).jpg
Windows Live Search homepage screenshot (2006).jpg
File:Live Search New.png
Live Search New.png
ChaoticHarmony explosion in post-painter...
File:Wikipedia prompt.png
Wikipedia prompt.png
File:Bing Desktop screenshot.png
Bing Desktop screenshot.png
File:Live Search Gadgets.jpg
Live Search Gadgets.jpg
File:Safesearch bing force.png
Safesearch bing force.png
Up Next
💻
ChatGPT
Technology
More to explore

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.