Microsoft Corp, seeking to narrow Google Inc’s 5-to-1 lead in internet queries, will add shopping, health, map and entertainment features to its search engine.
The updated service, debuting later this week, will respond to queries with a special panel of results, Microsoft said on Thursday. A search for products such as digital cameras will bring up the most popular models, as well as an average of online reviews. Users who type in “Britney Spears” can see pictures and albums, along with videos that play whenever the cursor hovers over them.
After a yearlong effort to improve Microsoft’s search engine, called Live Search, it now matches Google in quality, said Product General Manager Brad Goldberg. The new features represent the most important changes ever to Microsoft’s search engine, said Satya Nadella, vice president in charge of search unit.
For shopping searches, Microsoft will now scan reviews from outlets such as Amazon.com Inc and CompUSA Inc and assign a rating to the product. The service also culls common words from the reviews and creates a list of categories related to the product, measuring how well it fares in each. A digital camera might be scored on price, size and image quality.