gmb45
2nd June, 2009, 05:18 PM
Microsoft has begun the UK roll-out of Bing, the search engine it hopes can rival Google.
Microsoft Bing will replace its Live Search web tool
It replaces their existing Live Search and aims to offer more "intuitive" answers to questions.
Bing officially launches in the UK on Wednesday but a beta version is already live.
It will remain in beta for six to nine months in the UK as more features are added. The US version launched last week.
Features include a more sophisticated video search, which offers previews of the clips without having to leave the results page.
However this has already received criticism for allowing users to watch ~~~~ographic material directly from Bing.
Other search engines only provide external links to explicit content.
Microsoft was forced to tweet how to switch on safe mode after it came to light.
Senior Product Manager Marie Thirlwall told Sky News Online ~~~~ographic content was a "valuable market" Microsoft did not intend to ignore.
"The priority is we have had adult filters in place," she added.
The name represents the "sound of found" and Microsoft hopes it will become a verb the same way "to Google" has.
"People were confused they didn't know what to call it... Live Search didn't really trip off the tongue," Ms Thirlwall explained.
The web firm believe the revamped search engine can offer a genuine threat to Google's dominance.
Ms Thirlwall said: "Google are a great company but we're on to 'search 2.0' and the market is there for the taking."
According to research last year from comScore, 9% of web queries used Live Search, compared to 62% who used Google.
Web firm BlackDog have created a side-by-side comparison site so users can test the differences between Bing and Google.
Microsoft Bing will replace its Live Search web tool
It replaces their existing Live Search and aims to offer more "intuitive" answers to questions.
Bing officially launches in the UK on Wednesday but a beta version is already live.
It will remain in beta for six to nine months in the UK as more features are added. The US version launched last week.
Features include a more sophisticated video search, which offers previews of the clips without having to leave the results page.
However this has already received criticism for allowing users to watch ~~~~ographic material directly from Bing.
Other search engines only provide external links to explicit content.
Microsoft was forced to tweet how to switch on safe mode after it came to light.
Senior Product Manager Marie Thirlwall told Sky News Online ~~~~ographic content was a "valuable market" Microsoft did not intend to ignore.
"The priority is we have had adult filters in place," she added.
The name represents the "sound of found" and Microsoft hopes it will become a verb the same way "to Google" has.
"People were confused they didn't know what to call it... Live Search didn't really trip off the tongue," Ms Thirlwall explained.
The web firm believe the revamped search engine can offer a genuine threat to Google's dominance.
Ms Thirlwall said: "Google are a great company but we're on to 'search 2.0' and the market is there for the taking."
According to research last year from comScore, 9% of web queries used Live Search, compared to 62% who used Google.
Web firm BlackDog have created a side-by-side comparison site so users can test the differences between Bing and Google.