In further attempts to improve its user-experience, Microsoft-owned search engine Bing has unveiled a  string of updates which will affect its news feature.

The section has now been altered to put the focus on topics which are trending on social sites like Twitter and Facebook. It is thought the firm is trying to modernise its searching experience.

Describing the changes, the company’s news team said:

“At Bing, we know that keeping pace with what’s happening in the world can be a full time job. People want to access the news in real-time whether it’s on a phone, tablet, or PC. That’s why we’ve refreshed Bing News to make it easier for you to stay on top of the stuff you care about.”

The upgraded feature allows users to filter stories to find topics which are receiving attention elsewhere. It offers a ‘real-time’ perspective on news, with the most relevant articles being broken and highlighted more promptly.

The team at Bing has also utilised Satori technology with the update, which enables the page to identify people and places associated with the trending stories. More information on these – as well as links to further articles – can then be accessed from the same page.

The announcement came in the same week that Bing updated its video search capabilities. The company is obviously working hard to make itself relevant among the search engines. While Google is well ahead in terms of market share, Bing is a close third behind Yahoo, which isn’t growing quite as steadily as expected.

Here at Pressroom, we’re eagerly watching to see whether Bing’s moves pay off. It’ll certainly be interesting to see if the number of businesses looking to move some of their SEO efforts away from Google grows at all.

Graeme Parton

Graeme has experience creating content for online sources and for the radio, and at university he studied Multimedia Journalism.