Microsoft Bing facts for kids
 
Main logo and wordmark since October 2020
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Homepage of Bing
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Type of site
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Search engine |
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| Available in | 40 languages |
| Owner | Microsoft |
| Created by | Microsoft |
| Revenue | Microsoft Advertising |
| IPv6 support | Yes |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional (Microsoft account) |
| Launched | June 3, 2009 |
| Current status | Active |
| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
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| Initial release | App launched July 2014 |
| Operating system |
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| Type | Search engine |
Microsoft Bing (usually just called Bing) is a major web search engine created by Microsoft. A search engine is a helpful computer system that looks through the vast World Wide Web to find information for you. When you type a question or a word into the search box, Bing scans millions of pages to find the best answers. It can locate regular websites, pictures, videos, news, and maps.
Microsoft created Bing to help people explore information quickly. Bing was built using a programming tool called ASP.NET. Over time, it has grown into one of the largest search engines in the world. Bing includes modern artificial intelligence tools, such as Microsoft Copilot, to answer questions in full sentences and create artwork.
Contents
How Microsoft Bing Started and Grew
Early Search Tools Before Bing
MSN Search
Before Bing existed, Microsoft made several other search tools. In 1998, Microsoft launched MSN Search. At first, MSN Search did not explore the web entirely on its own. Instead, it used search data provided by a company named Inktomi.
A search system uses a program called a web crawler. A web crawler travels from webpage to webpage reading text, following links, and saving copies into an index. In early 1999, MSN Search also showed directory listings from Looksmart and sometimes from AltaVista.
Microsoft soon decided that it needed its own crawler. Developing its own technology would give it better control over search results. Microsoft started testing its new crawler in a beta program during November 2004. A beta test allows software makers to let the public try a program and find bugs before releasing the finished version. The new system officially finished beta testing in February 2005.
During this period, rival company Yahoo! Search had also built its own system. To help users find pictures, MSN Search used technology from an image company called Picsearch. Microsoft shared these results with other portals as well to gain more visitors.
Windows Live Search
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In 2006, Microsoft introduced an updated system called Windows Live Search. It began public testing on March 8, 2006, and launched fully on September 11, 2006.
Windows Live Search brought cleaner organization to web queries. It arranged searches into different tabs across the top of the screen. Users could choose between Web, news, images, music, desktop files, local area results, and the digital encyclopedia Microsoft Encarta.
Microsoft stopped working with Picsearch during this transition. Engineers wrote their own internal programs to discover and sort images across the internet.
Live Search
In March 2007, Microsoft decided to separate search tools from its other online software. It renamed the service Live Search. Computer scientist Satya Nadella led the division that managed both Live Search and Microsoft adCenter.
Microsoft decided to simplify its tools and close several smaller projects. On May 23, 2008, it closed Live Search Books and Live Search Academic, moving those book results into the general search bar. It also shut down the Live Search Books Publisher Program. Later that year, Microsoft ended a local classifieds listing tool called Windows Live Expo.
It also retired Live Search Macros, which had allowed people to make custom search engines. In May 2009, Microsoft closed Live Product Upload, which let online stores send product data to Live Search Products. An online question-and-answer board named Live Search QnA was renamed MSN QnA before closing down in May 2009.
The Launch of Bing in 2009
Choosing the Name Bing
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Microsoft leaders realized that keeping the word "Live" in the title confused many users. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer revealed the brand new name, Bing, at the All Things Digital conference in San Diego, California, on May 28, 2009. Bing went live to the public on June 3, 2009.
Microsoft tested many different names with groups of everyday users. They wanted a word that was short, easy to remember, simple to spell, and easy to say in any language. The team liked that the word sounded like a lightbulb turning on when someone has a great idea. It also reminded people of shouting "bingo!" after winning the game Bingo.
One advertising planner suggested the name "Bang" because it sounded like an exciting exclamation mark. However, Microsoft decided against "Bang" because it did not sound natural as a search verb.
In China, Microsoft gave Bing the official name bì yìng (simplified Chinese: 必应; traditional Chinese: 必應). In the Chinese language, this phrase translates to "very certain to answer".
While Microsoft engineers were secretly building the project, they used the internal codename Kumo. In the Japanese language, this word can mean either a spider or a cloud. This was a clever play on words. Search engines use a virtual spider to crawl across the web, and modern internet services rely on cloud computing.
Bing included intelligent suggestions that showed up right as people started typing. It added an "Explore pane" with related ideas. To build these smart tools, Microsoft used semantic technology from Powerset, a research firm it purchased in 2008.
Partnership with Yahoo!
Shortly after Bing launched, Microsoft signed a major ten-year deal with Yahoo! in July 2009. Under this agreement, Bing became the technical engine running behind Yahoo! Search.
The deal allowed Yahoo! to keep its own unique look and user interface. Yahoo! kept 88 percent of the money earned from search advertisements on its pages during the first five years. Yahoo! finished moving all of its users over to the Bing platform by 2012.
Legal Discussions
A few companies questioned Microsoft's right to register the name Bing as an official trademark. The Laptop Company claimed Bing sounded too close to its shopping site named BongoBing. A software team called TeraByte Unlimited had a program named BootIt Next Generation, which people nicknamed BING. A design firm called Bing! Information Design raised concerns as well.
Microsoft defended its name. It showed that it had filed its trademark paperwork in March 2009, before those other companies submitted their claims.
Growing the Search Engine
In October 2011, Microsoft introduced a new back-end system called "Tiger". Tiger used advanced computer engineering to help Bing find index results more quickly and accurately.
In May 2012, Microsoft updated Bing with a tool called "Sidebar". This feature allowed users to see relevant public messages from friends on social networks alongside standard web results.
In 2016, Microsoft decided to support open-source technology. It publicly shared its BitFunnel search engine indexing code so computer scientists everywhere could study and improve it.
Adding Artificial Intelligence to Bing
Bing Chat and OpenAI
In February 2023, Microsoft changed how search works by adding modern artificial intelligence into Bing. It introduced a conversational chatbot called Bing Chat, which ran on OpenAI's GPT-4 model.
Over one million curious people signed up for the waiting list within two days. Bing Chat was first offered through the Microsoft Edge web browser and the Bing mobile app. In March 2023, the engine reached 100 million daily users.
Improving Chatbot Behavior
When the chatbot was first demonstrated to reporters, it sometimes showed mistakes called hallucinations. In computer science, an AI hallucination happens when a program states something incorrect with total confidence.
Some testers noticed that if they had very long conversations, the chatbot began acting strange. To fix this, Microsoft explained that long chats containing dozens of questions could confuse the AI model. Engineers solved this by limiting how many questions a person could ask during one session. They also adjusted the system so that it remained polite, helpful, and focused on facts.
Making Pictures with AI
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In March 2023, Microsoft added an AI image generator inside Bing. The tool used OpenAI's DALL-E 2 system. Users could describe a scene in plain words, and the computer would draw the picture in seconds.
Microsoft updated the tool to DALL-E 3 later that year. To keep the tool fun and family-friendly, Microsoft added strict safety filters. These filters stop the program from drawing scary, violent, or unsafe pictures.
In October 2025, Microsoft released its own in-house picture generation system called MAI-Image-1.
Useful Features Inside Bing
Microsoft Copilot
In November 2023, Microsoft rebranded Bing Chat as Microsoft Copilot. Copilot uses advanced computer learning called a large language model.
Copilot does far more than show a list of blue links:
- It can write funny poems, exciting stories, practice quizzes, and helpful essays.
- It can summarize long news articles and explain difficult school topics in simple words.
- It shows direct web links next to its facts so students can double-check the sources.
- It includes Microsoft Designer to turn descriptive words into custom artwork and diagrams.
- It speaks and understands many human tongues, such as English, French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese.
Copilot competes with other digital assistants, including ChatGPT, Google's Bard, and xAI's Grok.
Connected Software and Apple Devices
Bing works together with many third-party programs. For example, people on Facebook could use Facebook Connect to share results with friends.
In June 2013, Apple chose Bing to handle web lookups for its voice assistant, Siri, starting on iOS 7. Microsoft also built Bing directly into Windows 8.1 through a feature called "Smart Search", letting users search the web directly from their computer desktop.
Bing Translator
Bing Translator is a free service that changes sentences or whole web pages from one language into another. It runs on statistical machine translation technology developed by Microsoft Research.
The tool supports over 70 different languages. It can translate between different writing styles, such as Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
Bing Predicts
In April 2014, Microsoft launched an experiment called Bing Predicts. An engineer named Walter Sun noticed that people searched for school districts when bad storms were coming. He realized that search trends could predict events before they were announced.
Bing Predicts began guessing the winners of television competitions like American Idol, The Voice, and Dancing with the Stars. It achieved an 80 percent success rate on American Idol and an 85 percent rate on The Voice.
The system also made predictions for big sports tournaments. During the 2014 World Cup, Bing Predicts correctly guessed 15 out of 15 knockout matches. It also attempted to predict outcomes for political races, such as the 2014 United States Senate elections. In 2016, however, it mistakenly predicted that Hillary Clinton would win the presidential election.
Maps, News, and Webmaster Tools
Bing provides a collection of useful everyday online tools:
- Bing Maps: Shows street maps, driving directions, and live traffic reports for major cities around the world.
- Bing News: Collects headlines from newspapers and magazines, using smart tags to show related stories.
- Bing Mobile: Allows people to search the web using apps designed for smartphones and tablets.
- Bing Webmaster Center: Helps website owners check how Bing's crawlers see their webpages.
Desktop Software and Add-ons
The Bing Bar
Microsoft made a special browser extension named the Bing Bar. This toolbar sat inside browsers like Internet Explorer.
The Bing Bar let users check the weather, look up stock prices, and see notifications from Outlook.com, Skype, and Facebook without leaving their current website. If someone searched using another engine, the toolbar offered Bing results right next to them.
Desktop Programs and Gadgets
In April 2012, Microsoft introduced a computer program called Bing Desktop. It worked on Windows 7 and later on Windows XP.
Bing Desktop placed a handy search bar right in the middle of the computer screen. It could also change the computer wallpaper every morning to match Bing's famous daily nature photograph.
Earlier versions of Windows featured mini-programs called gadgets that sat on the Windows Sidebar. These gadgets gave instant driving directions and showed live traffic in cities like Chicago, New York City, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver.
How Bing Reaches Users
Advertising and Promotions
When Bing launched in 2009, Microsoft spent around $100 million on funny television and radio commercials. The ads showed people overwhelmed by useless facts, showing how Bing helped organize answers cleanly.
Microsoft also created clever games and reward programs:
- Search and Give: A 2007 program that donated money to the UNHCR charity ninemillion.org every time someone searched. It raised over $500,000 for refugee children and schools.
- Club Bing: A website where kids and families solved word puzzles to earn fun prizes.
- Bing It On: A 2012 challenge inspired by the famous Pepsi Challenge. People compared search results without knowing which was Bing and which was Google. In Microsoft's tests, many people picked Bing.
Microsoft Rewards
| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
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| Initial release | July 9, 2026 |
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1.13 / November 3, 2026
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| Operating system | Windows 10, 11 |
In September 2010, Microsoft launched Bing Rewards. The program gives points to people when they search on Bing, read news articles, or play trivia quizzes.
Users can trade these points for prizes, like gift cards, video games, or donations to their favorite charities. The system was renamed Microsoft Rewards in 2016. Today, it has different levels, including Member, Silver, and Gold tiers.
Search Engine Partnerships
Bing powers search results for several other popular internet platforms:
- Yahoo: Yahoo! Search continues to receive search technology and ads through Bing.
- DuckDuckGo: This privacy-focused search engine uses results from Bing alongside its own tools.
- Ecosia: A search engine that plants trees when people search, powered by Bing's results.
- Opera browser: Features Bing as a built-in search choice.
- Mozilla Firefox: Lets people choose Bing easily inside its address bar.
Keeping Searches Safe
To protect families and children, Bing uses a filter system called SafeSearch. SafeSearch filters out inappropriate or adult material so users see clean, educational web pages.
In some countries, local laws require search engines to filter results strictly. Bing's settings allow parents and schools to turn on strict filtering, keeping the internet safe for learning and homework.
See Also
- List of search engines by popularity
- Comparison of search engines
- List of search engines
