Personalized search suggestions now available from historical search clues.

Bing has made an update to its query suggestion feature that incorporates a bit of personalization. Since many web users tend to return to similar search topics, it makes sense to incorporate relevant terms into query suggestions. And that’s just what Bing has done with its Autosuggest feature. It will now take query history into consideration when serving up suggested keywords.

Suggestions based on query history are in purple, similar to a visited link. The other suggestions are in blue, similar to an unvisited link.

 Read more... (220 words, 2 images, estimated 53 secs reading time)

If I had to guess, I would say the Bing team’s 2010 resolutions are to continue growing fast and furiously. If the five updates they’ve released in the past two days are any indication, they’re on track to do just that.

First up, Bing has notified the Article 29 Working Party in Europe that they’re reducing the amount of time they store IP addresses to just six months. Up until now, they’ve held on to the info for 18 months.

Secondly, Bing has added current and trending news topics to their Autosuggest feature.  Read more... (340 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Typing on a mobile phone is a pain in the you know what no matter what device you’re using, so query suggestion features on search engines come in handy. Now, Google is making its Search Suggestions on mobile devices even easier.

The feature now serves up query suggestions based on your location. The update is only available for iPhone and Android devices at the time. You might need to refresh Google.com on your device in order to see the updated suggestions.

Let’s take a look, comparing the desktop search suggestions to the mobile suggestions.

First up the desktop:  Read more... (104 words, 2 images, estimated 25 secs reading time)

When you query Google, you’ll notice suggestions appear to assist you in your search. They appear as a list in a drop down menu. This feature is known as Google Suggest and became default on the homepage in August 2008. Now, that menu is getting additional, universal features.

Let’s say you’re wondering what the capital of a country is. As you’re typing, the answer may appear directly in the Suggest menu:

Also, you might want to check the weather. So you search and a forecast appears in Google Suggest:

Google has enabled new sync features between desktop computers and mobile devices, specifically for local search and query suggestions. You need to be signed in, of course, to makes use of the sync. Here’s what to expect if you do:

Local

If you’re searching on Google Maps, you can star various local businesses. Later, you can pull them up on your phone on Google.com under the Local section. Just look for “Starred Places.” Once you bring them up, you can access mobile optimized Place Pages, the new local content pages Google just released.  Read more... (218 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

Google has updated its mobile app for Windows Mobile. The update includes My Location, Google Suggest and Search with Maps.

My Location gives local results for searches. Now, if you’re searching for local pizza, simply type in pizza instead of a longer query like “pizza + city + state.”

Google Suggest is Google’s query suggestion feature.

Search with Maps, like My Location, enables local search. You’ll need to have Google Maps installed on your phone. Then enter a local search and little red pins will show you relevant search results.