Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is leaving no stone unturned to challenge Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) in search business. Expanding on its existing partnership with Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Microsoft announced that it is adding a new feature in Bing that will allow users to search directly for Twitter content. Now Bing allows users to search celebrity Twitter handles, tweets, and trending hashtags.
Microsoft is hungry to bring Twitter’s trending content to Bing
For example, you can search for a hashtag such as ‘#windowsphone’ on Bing to see the top tweets. However, the service is currently available only in the United States for the time being. Microsoft said it would also include the top Twitter content about celebrities in its search results. The Redmond-based company first signed an exclusive deal with Twitter in November last year to integrate some tweets into Bing search results.
The microblogging company had also reached a real-time search deal with Google. But they never rekindled their relationship. Microsoft seems hungry to bring Twitter’s valuable trending content to Bing. Notably, Twitter has its own search engine, where you can search for all its trending content, hashtags and celebrity tweets. It is yet to be seen how Bing affects Twitter’s own service.
Microsoft introduces many other new features
Microsoft has added many other features as well to its flagship search engine. It will now give faster access to free editions of books. Bing will also give users a direct way to view free online education courses in search results. For instance, if you search for “physics” in Bing, you will see a list of free online courses on physics in the snapshot pane on the left. Microsoft has partnered with Khan Academy for these courses.
Moreover, if you search for a book title, Bing results will show you links to a free ebook copy. If a free ebook is not available on that subject, the snapshot pane will display a link to the nearest public library where that book might be available.
Microsoft shares were down 0.62% to $41.99 at 10:50 AM EDT on Monday.