Is search ready for a revolution?

One of the challenges in?web?search is that it's a tool that is so ingrained in our daily behavior that it can be difficult?and scary?for those of us working in this space?to make big changes?for fear that users will opt for the familiar.?Over my?13?years in?the business, I’ve seen?this play out in a steady?evolution from?blue links to answers to knowledge graphs,?where the changes in the?UX and?interaction model have been meaningful, yet incremental in nature.?Some people argue?web search is a solved problem with?little room for innovation,?let alone?disruption.?I disagree with that view and believe there’s much that can be done to make search significantly better for users. I’ll even argue that we are at the cusp of a search?revolution.??

At?Microsoft?Bing, we’re looking to shake up?the way we search. In March we shared how?we’re planning?to make?Bing more visually immersive . And we’re?continuing to make good on that?promise.?As we?embark on?that?journey,?we have?experimented with?many?different?ideas. Some are resonating with our users and are?showing?that we are making?search?easier and more compelling.?These experiences are powered by advanced deep learning technology, which is another revolution on its own, as large-scale deep learning models permeate across the search stack.??

One of these ideas is to reconsider how we approach the information shown on the right side of a search results page. Traditionally, we show reference data from sources like Wikipedia or IMDB. While informative, it often misses the most interesting facts – the hidden gems. Enter knowledge cards which surface key facts but also unexpected ones. For example, did you know that a dolphin sleeps by using only one side of their brain at a time? This new approach presents information in a fun and beautiful way and is available on many types of queries such as people, places and things.

THEN:

NOW:

We've also noticed that people are starting to use search for more exploratory queries where they're looking for ideas and inspiration. We want to bring more of that inspirational content directly into the main search results (not just in our image search). In addition to the usual web results, for queries with more inspirational intent such as recipes, travel, home improvement and more, we show a collage of image and video content at the top of the page. This content dynamically expands as you interact with it. It’s the perfect way to find the great new paella recipe you’ve been searching for without ever leaving the page.

The opportunities to improve search don’t just exist in our personal lives. We know people are often frustrated when they search for other types of data, such as intranet information in their companies. We’re investing in Microsoft Search in Bing so you can easily find personalized results from work and the web together, with a single search.

One of the things I love most about search is the opportunity to bring innovation and competition to a space that is so critical for society.?Our?aspiration is to not only help users accomplish tasks faster,?but to?make?search?more modern?and?intuitive.?It’s difficult to make these big changes,?and some people may be resistant, but our hope is that if you give it a chance,?you’ll realize?how cool?search?can be.??

Stay tuned as we continue to experiment?with?this next generation of search.??