Microsoft Corp. designed Bing.com to help you overcome search overload and make faster, more informed decisions when searching online.

Research indicates that 62 percent of people use a search engine to find a local business or destination.* However, finding the best local information online can be challenging. Whether it is a review for the newest restaurant in town or the contact information for a local plumber, information on local services is often strewn across many different Web sites. However, today’s search engines don’t always help you make the most informed decisions about whether or not to patronize a local business.

Bing is different — it provides tools that make it easier and quicker to find relevant local content, such as user reviews aggregated from local content sites, hours of operation for local businesses, one-click directions, maps and traffic reports.

Local Search Features

·        Detailed business listings. Each local listing in Bing provides a snapshot of information to help you make decisions. For example, a restaurant listing includes the phone number, type of cuisine, location, hours of operation, price estimate and parking availability. Search results also may offer quick links to customer reviews, menus, one-click directions and a bird’s-eye view** of the location.

·        Scorecard. Bing includes a scorecard that consolidates online reviews of local businesses in an easy-to-read format. You can click on “Show Reviews” to read consumer feedback for specific criteria. For restaurants, the criteria might include food quality or service.

·        Search refinement. Bing lets you refine local search results based on a number of factors, including rating, distance, type of cuisine, price or atmosphere, so restaurants can be filtered by “Mediterranean” or “romantic,” for example, to find just the right place for dinner. Other local business results can be filtered by payment options or parking availability.

·        One-click directions. People often have a good understanding of how to navigate their neighborhood, so by default, Bing provides directions from the nearest freeway or main route to a final destination, which can save time by eliminating a multistep set of directions beginning from your home. When needed, door-to-door directions can be accessed by clicking on “A Specific Location” from the one-click directions page. You also can access a variety of other navigational tools such as current traffic with Bing Maps.

·        Bing Maps. Bing Maps lets you easily find, discover and share location information. You can get maps and directions and view high-resolution aerial or bird’s-eye imagery.** Now with the introduction of Microsoft Photosynth, you also can add or view synths of many locations or point of interest on Bing Maps.

Availability

Bing is available at http://www.bing.com.

Follow Bing on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bing.

Chat with the Bing team at http://www.bing.com/community.

* Ipsos 2009, commissioned by Microsoft. 1,156 participants

** Bird’s-eye view imagery is not available for all locations.