Microsoft deployed Bing, a new search decision experience, worldwide at http://www.bing.com .Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search and MSN Search) is a web search engine, Microsoft's current incarnation of its search technology. Unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 28, 2009, Bing is a replacement for Live Search; it went fully online on June 3, 2009. Bing takes a new approach to helping customers use search to make better decisions, focusing initially on four key user tasks and related areas: making a purchase, planning a trip, researching a health condition or finding a local business.
Notable changes include the listing of search suggestions in real time as queries are entered, and a list of related searches (called "Explorer pane" on the left side of search results). Bing also includes the ability to Save & Share search histories via Windows Live SkyDrive, Facebook, and e-mail.
The word "bing" is an onomatopoeia, a word that imitates the sound it represents. Through focus groups Microsoft decided that the name Bing was memorable, short, easy to spell, and that it would function well as a URL around the world. The word would remind people of the sound made during "the moment of discovery and decision making.
While being tested internally by Microsoft employees, Bing's codename was Kumo, which came from the Japanese word for spider as well as cloud, referring to the manner in which search engines "spider" Internet resources to add them to their database, as well as cloud computing.
