microsoft bing

Verizon goes all in for 4G, the first Android watch is pleasing on the eyes, and Google TV adds cloud gaming from OnLive.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded, from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas:

More proof that Americans are a celebrity-obsessed culture: the Casey Anthony trial beat out Osama Bin Laden's death as the most searched news story of 2011 on Bing.

With a full month left in 2011, Microsoft's Bing released its annual top searches of the year list. As ever, it illustrates how much Americans can't get enough of the our celebs.

Some might take solace in the fact that Kim Kardashian dropped from No. 1 in 2010 to No. 2 in 2011 as the most searched person on Bing. Then again, her replacement at the top of the … Read more

Editors at Microsoft's Bing search engine are now curating content to help users find answers to common queries.

The software giant just introduced Bing Editors' Picks, hand-selected Web sites that its staff thinks Net searchers will be most keen to see.

"Our goal, whether delivered by algorithm or by editors, is to help you find what you're looking for faster and to get stuff done," wrote Kristen Kennedy, managing editor for the Bing Editorial Team, on a blog post this morning.

The news was first noted by Search Engine Land.

Kennedy wrote that Editors' Picks are &… Read more

Mozilla wants to diversify its search revenue base from Google. Microsoft's Bing wants more market share. Enter some integration that may move the needle for both parties.

In a short blog post, Microsoft said it worked with Mozilla to launch Firefox with Bing. In a nutshell, this version of Firefox has the default settings for Bing and the user won't have to change anything to use Microsoft's search engine.

Will this effort move the needle for Mozilla and Microsoft goals? It's unclear, but Firefox with Bing certainly can't hurt.

Keep in mind this Firefox with … Read more

Streaming video has exploded in the home theater.

Only a few years ago there was only Netflix, but now Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, and Vudu all offer top-notch streaming video services. The variety is great, but it forces streaming video fans to keep a mental catalog of where their favorite shows and movies are available. When I rereviewed the Apple TV, I almost rented "The Trip" for $5 before I realized it was available for free on Netflix.… Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer isn't one to mince words, and he certainly offered many candid opinions while speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit this evening.

Here's a rundown of Ballmer's thoughts on a number of topics involving Microsoft and its competitors:

Bing Bing still has a small slice of the search market share pie, but Ballmer stood strong that Bing has seen a nice rise in the last few years.

"We went from the number three player to the number two player," Ballmer said happily, attributing part of that rise to the search … Read more

Bing is now trying to direct you toward specific actions with a new search feature appropriately dubbed Action Buttons.

Designed to appear among certain types of search results, the Action Buttons can link you to pages where you can complete a specific task. For example, searching for airline flights may pop up a result for an airline with Action Buttons that you can click on to book a flight, view a flight status, and check in with the airline. Searching for hotel rooms may display different hotels with links to find their locations and reserve a room.

The goal, as … Read more

Microsoft's Bing is hanging onto its 14.4 percent of the search engine market, according to new data out yesterday from ComScore.

Looking at ComScore's U.S. search engine rankings for July, Bing stayed flat, Google lost just 0.4 of a percentage point, and Yahoo climbed slightly by 0.2 points. Overall, Google still led the way with an overwhelming 65.1 percent market share, leaving Yahoo in second place with 16.1 percent.

Drilling down to the actual number of searches conducted in the U.S. last month, Google took home 11.2 billion in total, … Read more

Microsoft should consider selling Bing, says a Reuters opinion piece that's gained attention in the last day or so, after being published last Friday.

Though the search engine has grown in market share and popularity since its debut in 2009, it's still a money-losing proposition and a distraction for its parent, claims Reuters columnist Robert Cyran. Despite the flush of cash that Microsoft has poured into Bing, the search's engine's online services division lost $2.6 billion in the company's latest fiscal year, he says.

Microsoft believes Bing provides a boost to some of its … Read more