Bing rolled out several new features for search on web and mobile last week as it follows Google’s lead on making it easier for users to find the content they need via written word, speech and visuals.
A new expanded visual search option promises to make results more relevant by auto-detecting multiple objectives within a single image. Bing will now scan the image after it has been uploaded and serve up more in-depth results, which include interactive clickable hotspots.
The second change is the arrival of enhanced “intelligent answers”. Bing has already been using its processing power to pull info from different sources to answer queries, but further advances to the tech will now allow it to answer harder questions.
In a blog post, Bing stated: “For example, instead of the relatively simple answer to ‘what is the capital of Bangladesh’, Bing can now provide answers to more complex questions, such as ‘what are different types of lighting for a living room’, quicker than before.”
The final update brings text and speech closer together. Bing’s mobile app now uses a voice that is near identical to a human’s and can therefore provide search results via speech that is more natural sounding to the ear. This development has again been powered by advancing tech, with Bing revealing that its AI can articulate words clearly and with an intonation like a human.
In other search news, Google said last week that rel=”next” and rel=”prev” have not been supported for some time, despite recommending its use to improve content indexing in results.
