It will take a few weeks.
We got a glimpse of what the new homepage would be like in November and now the time has finally come. MSN will begin rolling out their new homepage today. But as one of the most trafficked pages in all the web, it should come as no surprise that the full roll-out will take a few weeks.
The new page goes from a blue background to white and relies on structured data from Bing to inform content selection for the homepage.
Other new features include:
A new day in search: It’s so on.
Microsoft and Yahoo! have received approval from both the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission for their search deal announced last summer. Now, their attention turns to implementing the deal.
Let the games begin.
Yahoo! will transition their search to Bing, and their paid search platform will become adCenter. However, Yahoo! ad reps will be the sales force for the deal.
The plan is to get things merged by the 2010 holiday season, but they’re also not going to mess with that crucial time of year for advertisers if they fall behind schedule.
Phones are due out by the 2010 holiday season.
It’s called the Windows Phone 7 series and, despite the name, it’s nothing like Windows. Sure, there’s mobile versions of Office, Outlook and Internet Explorer. But if Windows was more like this phone, it wouldn’t have image and reputation problems.
No, this phone is more like Zune HD, which is smooth and sleek. There’s room for games and music and video. There’s also XBox Live integration – you can tinker with your avatar on your phone. Plus, you can update social networks like Facebook directly from your phone. No need to wait for apps to be developed (with apologies to my husband, an iPhone app developer).
Improved imagery for Haiti and Vancouver included.
This month Bing is adding a ton of imagery to its Maps. Much of the new stuff helps users virtually explore the world – specifically Europe and Africa – with Australia, Canada and the U.S. thrown in for good measure.
Also, timely releases for Haiti and Vancouver are included in the release. Here’s what’s new:
Bird’s Eye
- Italy – 5,547 sq. km.
- Netherlands – 554 sq. km.
- Romania – 1,414 sq. km.
- Spain – 512 sq. km.
- Sweden – 1,174 sq. km.
Bing is well on its way in providing street-level imagery on its maps product. Now, they’re incorporating Flickr photos through a new Bing Maps application called Streetside Photos. The photos are associated with their location and laid on top of existing Streetside imagery.
Photos are given attribution, but if you find a photo that shouldn’t be included in the app – or find yours and don’t want it there – you can click the “Report” button to have the image removed.
Only 2 out of 300 events will stream live on the Internet.
It’s no secret that people are increasingly multi-tasking their entertainment, firing up the laptop to access the Internet while watching TV. This is not lost on search engines and who would very much like your split attention to be spent with them.
Bing and Google in particular are going head to head when it comes to mapping Vancouver and nearby Whistler, where many events will be held. Both Bing and Google have already announced enhanced mapping elements for both cities. Now, Google stepped it up a notch by grabbing “Street View” images of ski slopes via snowmobile.
Special Atlas pricing to be extended to IPG clients.
Microsoft and Interpublic Group (IPG) have entered into a partnership designating Atlas as the preferred ad server solution. Preferred pricing agreements for Atlas will be put into place for IPG clients. IPG manages an estimated $30 billion in global media billings for their clients.
“IPG has long been considered a bellwether in the advertising industry, and to be selected as a preferred ad-serving partner in North America is something that we’re extremely proud of,” said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Advertiser & Publisher Solutions group.
Instant Answers and Visual Search galleries are given the winter games treatment.
Microsoft is an official partner of NBC for the Olympics. With that, Bing is offering up new search features to make it super-easy for you to find Winter Olympics-related info. The 2010 winter games begin this Friday in Vancouver!
One of Bing’s best features is its Instant Answers. They’re harnessing the power of this awesome feature for the Winter Olympics.
Here’s what you get when you search simply for “winter olympics.”
Search for an athlete, such as snowboarder Kelly Clark, for more Instant Answers:
Get ready for the “Bring Back the Old Facebook” groups.
There’s a flurry of changes going on at Facebook and they should be quite noticeable to even the most casual observer.
First of all, Facebook has changed their navigation. Again. Yes, it’s like changing your underwear. Assuming that you change your underwear regularly.
The new navigation updates are rolling out, so you may not have them yet – but you’ll get them soon. It basically involves a new, comprehensive dashboard along the left sidebar. Plus, notifications are easily accessed across a new top bar. Here are screenshots per the Facebook blog:
Bing is helping you stay out of the doghouse on February 14.
Valentine’s Day is 11 days away and if you’re stumped as what to get your sweetie, you might want to check out Bing’s new Valentine’s Gift Guides. Not only will you get gift ideas, but Bing has, of course, included their Cashback program into the mix. That means you can either save a little dough or get more gift for your buck. (A hint for the fellas: Don’t tell your honey you got her present on sale.)
Here are some sample deals:
