SEARCHENGINES
The New AI Powered Microsoft Bing Is Really Impressive & Thought Out
Yesterday I was at the Microsoft office with dozens of other media folks (lots of famous YouTubers also) for Microsoft to showcase its next evolution of Bing, the co-pilot for the web powered by the upgraded ChatGPT.
I should start by saying the leaks were accurate representation of this but the demos were far more impressive. Microsoft posted its own blog post over here and my Search Engine Land coverage is here.
I will say, this is far more impressive and thought out than what Google rushed out with Bard on Monday. But Satya Nadella did say Microsoft has been working on this for a while, not just the AI and language models but also how to build it into search as an assistant, as an “intelligent agent” as he put it.
Microsoft showed how you can not only get wicked smart answers, that you’d expect from ChatGPT but also how the user experience in search works smoothly with it. The right side panel that shows you not just the answers, but also the attribution and other ways to expand on those answers. You can also toggle from search to your chat assistant, and the chat feature will just pick up from search and visa versa. It just works together, at least in the demo.
I will have full access to it soon but you can also request access at bing.com/new.
Here is the home page as I see it:
Here is a screenshot Bing provided of the chat:
I live tweeted the event, where I tried to capture as much of the demo as possible, here are those tweets:
I see a bus load of famous YouTubers and reporters – like real famous.
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
I am in the back of the bus – was sitting across from iJustine:
Heading to Microsoft’s campus to learn what they’re planning, possibly, with ChatGPT. #Microsoft pic.twitter.com/7cUdA35869
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 7, 2023
They funneled us into a breakfast area:
Timelapse (5 minute) of the Microsoft Media event – where Bing search goes AI… pic.twitter.com/z0DkMfaCd4
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Then we went to the keynote room and Sam from OpenAI was sitting right in front of me:
Look who I see at this Microsoft event – it’s @sama pic.twitter.com/a6hRVjdnqT
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Then Satya took the stage:
He is talking about AI and how its incredibly exciting times and how this can solve so many problems.
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Satya saw what OpenAI developed and he was mind blown #Microsoft – now they need to scale this technology pic.twitter.com/UZAdDbCTIq
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
This AI technology will reshape every software category @satyanadella said #microsoft pic.twitter.com/Z3DkuQ1hnF
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Then Yusuf Mehdi took the stage:
40% of queries result in someone clicking back and most searches are three keywords or less…
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
he explains navigational, informational and other searches people do today. 50,000 people’s searches go unanswered, which is why it is time for a new approach with search.
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Bing is using a new ChatGPT designed for search
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
also, new core search index improvements and they applied AI to its core and it resulted in a huge improvement in relevancy
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
New Bing homepage to search with more words. pic.twitter.com/4vc6wXxjYz
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
And it shows more real time using the Bing index pic.twitter.com/fo1gIykQs6
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
It won’t be perfect so there are feedback links
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
New chat button in search to go from search to chat pic.twitter.com/1Y90o461nw
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Microsoft is also bringing this AI copilot to Edge browser by integrating Bing in a new cool way with chat and to summarize and compare based on what is in the Bing index pic.twitter.com/rPhw6X27Qt
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
And it shows more real time using the Bing index pic.twitter.com/fo1gIykQs6
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
It won’t be perfect so there are feedback links
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
New chat button in search to go from search to chat pic.twitter.com/1Y90o461nw
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Microsoft is also bringing this AI copilot to Edge browser by integrating Bing in a new cool way with chat and to summarize and compare based on what is in the Bing index pic.twitter.com/rPhw6X27Qt
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
That’s it I think pic.twitter.com/HXL4hLnrOf
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
More on technicals on these Bing upgrades – it’s pretty technical pic.twitter.com/C1pyswdeCB
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
I’ll add, this all seems light-years ahead of what Google showed us yesterday… At least from an integration and UX standpoint
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
it will expand to more people over time…
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
New Bing waitlist page at https://t.co/KWfVn2gd7S pic.twitter.com/abNP30skHJ
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Microsoft won’t talk about the cost difference to run ChatGPT versus normal search…
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
@nfarley10 asked about Ads and @yusuf_i_mehdi said ads will be there, its in the screenshots from the presentation
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
More from Nicole on that over here.
and now I have early full access to the new Bing – what a big search box you have! pic.twitter.com/eTU4w1VWMU
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
There is a lot there but check out Techmeme – there is so much coverage of this and it is deserved. Also, Nicole did a test drive of the new Bing – her write up is here.
Finally, created this short vlog style video of my experience with this in person media event:
Forum discussion at Twitter & WebmasterWorld.
SEARCHENGINES
Google’s Search Liaison Urges Patience As The March 2024 Core Update Continues To Rollout
Google is urging site owners and SEOs to have patience as the Google March 2024 core update continues to roll out over the coming weeks. Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, said on X to wait for the update to complete before deciding on what changes you may want to make.
He wrote, “I would let the update complete before deciding if there are any fundamental changes you might want to make.” In fact, he said, “There might not be any to do at all,” and maybe whatever ranking declines you are seeing now won’t be there when the update is done rolling out.
As a reminder, the March 2024 core update started officially on March 5th, then we first saw ranking shifts on March 8th and 9th, then some reversals on March 12th and then more movement on March 15th. The update can take a full month to roll out, so it may go into April 2024.
Sullivan then went into what other changes or factors may lead to a site seeing less search visibility and traffic.
Your site seems clean and nice. Going through the site, I see [steak pie] as one of your featured recipes. You’re in the carousel and second in web links for that. That’s a pretty solid sign that we like your content.
If you were previously first, trying to move up from second by doing a lot of technical and content stuff wouldn’t be something I’d recommend. Second is super successful. Rankings can also change for various reasons, so you might move back up.
You might also look to see if there’s any seasonal change. IE: instead of looking at rankings, look at your traffic. If it was higher previously, what for? Perhaps you had some seasonal recipes a few months ago that people are looking for less. We have a page about debugging traffic drops that talks about seasonality here.
Here are those posts within context:
I would let the update complete before deciding if there are any fundamental changes you might want to make. There might not be any to do at all.
Your site seems clean and nice. Going through the site, I see [steak pie] as one of your featured recipes. You’re in the carousel and…
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 15, 2024
Please be kind in your responses.
Forum discussion at X.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More
For the original iTunes version, click here.
This past weekend (a week ago) we saw the first ranking volatility likely from the Google March 2024 core update. We also some saw possible reversals or recoveries a few days later. Then today, Friday, March 15th, I am seeing more ranking volatility likely related to the core and spam updates. Google posted its official FAQs for pure spam manual actions. Google has clarified its page experience and core web vitals help documentation and how it relates to rankings. Google has replaced FID with INP as a core web vital metric, as expected. Google said sites use AI for some articles but don’t specify which are the lowest quality pages. Google explains that double down on AI content may be a bad idea now. John Mueller’s site dropped out of the Google index this week, no joke. Bing Webmaster Tools may provide up to 24 months of data. Bing Webmaster Tools’s new top SEO insights report can tell you if you have inadequate links. Bingbot now supports Brotli compression. Google Top Stories has this “more context” section written by AI. Google image search is testing like buttons. Google Local panels are testing numerous interface changes. Google local reviews can show photos related to reviews and related photos to photos. Google is testing placing website links next to hotels and restaurants. Google Business Profiles shows services with book now buttons. Google Merchant Center Product Studio released themed templates, with the first being for St. Patrick’s Day. Microsoft Advertising is testing a new advertising console. Microsoft Copilot is now using GPT-4 Turbo. Copilot is now in that Microsoft Advertising console. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.
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Search Topics of Discussion:
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SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: March 15, 2024
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
We’re seeing more ranking fluctuations likely related to the Google March core and spam updates. Google Merchant Center Product Studio has new AI generated themed templates, one ready for St. Patrick’s Day. Google Image search is testing thumbs up like buttons. Google tests dishes near me. Google has trending icons in the people also search for section. Plus, I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Google March 2024 Core & Spam Update Movement Today
Today is day 10 of the Google March 2024 core update rollout and Google March 2024 spam update. We believe we saw the core update touch down on March 8th and 9th and some possible recoveries or fluctuations on March 12th. Now I see more signs of Google search ranking volatility likely related to the core and spam updates today. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More
This past weekend (a week ago) we saw the first ranking volatility likely from the Google March 2024 core update. We also some saw possible reversals or recoveries a few days later. Then today, Friday, March 15th, I am seeing more ranking volatility likely related to the core and spam updates. Google posted…. -
Google Merchant Center Product Studio With Themed Templates Including St. Patrick’s Day
Google Merchant Center has added new themed templates to the Product Studio. The new theme was for St. Patrick’s Day, which is coming up this Sunday. But Google will soon add Easter, Spring, and Mother’s Day themed templates to the Product Studio as well. -
Google Image Search Results Testing Like Button
Google seems to be testing a like, thumbs-up, button on image search results. The thumbs-up icon is near the share and save button and below the image, description and visit button. -
Google Search Dishes Nearby Carousel
Have you seen the “dishes nearby” carousel in the mobile Google Search results? I am not 100% sure if it is new, but I don’t think I’ve covered it before. But Google will show dishes served by nearby restaurants in a carousel interface. -
Google People Also Search For Trending Icons
Google is placing trending icons on some of the people also search for people in the knowledge panel. We’ve seen various forms of this and I don’t think this is specifically new, but I don’t think I covered this specific example. -
Wall Of Superstars At Google
Here is a photo from the Google Hong Kong office of a wall that says “Superstars at Google” and it then shows photos, names and descriptions of specific Googlers.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Bing is testing a large font size for the first title on Bing SERP., Shameem Adhikarath on X
- Google, in an effort to display and prioritize even more expertise, is showing a short bio of who the person is who’s writing or tweeting about a “Perspective” Notice how they add “covers technology” This looks very ve, Shalom Goodman on X
- Are these JavaScript Errors Anything to Worry About?, Reddit
- I think this might be new (DMA), for bus and train searches. Don’t recall a “Transport sites” module (like the Places sites one) being mentioned in Google’s announcements…, Lluc B. Penycate on X
- Perplexity’s integration of Yelp data is imperfect but points to exciting times ahead for “Local AI.”, Greg Sterling on X
- Want your mind blown today? -> Ray Kurzweil is Google’s AI visionary and has over *61* years of experience with AI. Yes, 61. On Rogan’s podcast, he covered a number of topics that would blow your mind. To say he knows his stuff AI-wi, Glenn Gabe on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
- How Local Businesses Inspire Love, Loyalty, and Friendship, Moz
- Apple Maps Cycling Directions Expand to Austria, Belgium, and Sweden, MacRumors
- Apple Maps vs. Google Maps: Which Is Better?, MacRumors
- Istanbul construction pit mistaken as lake on Google, Apple, Yandex maps, Daily Sabah
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Other Search
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
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