Microsoft’s Bing is rolling out a new series of updates to its search service tonight, including a deep dive into a media-rich entertainment vertical, as well as other improvements to its existing offerings.
The software company has been pushing hard in the search arena, trying to gain market share from the dominant Google (GOOG) and also the No. 2 player, Yahoo (YHOO).
That has included a different look and feel and very detailed results in certain niches, such as travel and health.
The push into improving entertainment search is a natural one, given its popularity with consumers.
For example, Microsoft (MSFT) will now offer users the ability to play once an entire song out of a 6.8 million-song catalog, rather than just being able to sample a portion.
It will also offer lyrics and a more detailed artist profiles, as well as loads of movie and television information.
“We want to be one of the two major players in search and we are building out to do that,” said Yusuf Mehdi, SVP of Microsoft’s Online Audience Business. “The economic opportunity of search is as good as it gets in the business, if we can make these inroads.”
Those inroads have been encouraging, with Bing gaining market share. But it has also been costly, with the Online Services division bleeding cash.
Of course, search is an area Microsoft cannot abandon, so I would imagine the push will continue.
That’s good for consumers, of course, and it sure is pretty.
But seeing is better than a BoomTown description–here are some entertainment-focused screenshots, as well as the official face sheet below it (click on the images to make them larger):
Music Homepage:
Music Lady Gaga Songs:
Movies Homepage:
Movies Visual Search:
TV “Gossip Girl”:
Games “Bubble Town”:
