Bing Video search receives feature improvements and layout optimizations

Kareem Anderson

Image Credit: WinBeta

Microsoft is continually refining the Bing experience. A few months ago, the Bing team touched up the image search experience by updating their Image Graph. With the updated Image Graph, users are now presented with additional information when searching for pictures. The new Image Graph can now help users sort their searches through colors, related relevant information, meta tags, and a plethora of other options directly within the selected image window.

Today, the Bing team is addressing video search in a similar fashion as it did with pictures. YouTube may be the default video search for most, however, searching for videos in Google, Bing, or Yahoo is still an activity some use. As some people may opt to look for videos using their default search engine rather than YouTube, the Bing team is taking this opportunity to offer a better video search experience.
Bing users will now be greeted with:

  • Bigger images 
  • We increased the size of the video thumbnail in our search results, giving an expanded view of the video and making it easier to find the video you want to watch.
  • More information before you watch
  • Additional information has been added to the video search page like channel, upload date, and view count.
  • “Hero” answers for songs
  • When you search for a song, we display an enlarged thumbnail image, or “hero”, for that song. The hero is chosen based on the top result and relevance to your search. The hero video will play in place, or you can click through to the source of the video to watch it there.
  • Related searches are easier to explore
  • All of the related searches have been moved in line with your original search, so as you scroll through the page you’ll have some ideas of what to search for next to help refine your search results. When you hit the bottom of the page, you’ll get even more suggestions and the option to see more video search results. These updates improve touch friendliness and scale better to tablets and other smaller screens.

Image Credit: Bing Blogs

The new video experience should be rolling out to most places (presumably North America first, possibly other regions later). As we head into Father’s Day weekend here in the US, Bing users can utilize the new layout to quickly pull up internet gems and pass the time while hanging out with the family.