Bing rolled out its Social Sidebar in May 2012 and is currently testing a new design. This new design features more content and enhanced functionality. The search engine has removed the gray background and created a more seamless look with a white background.
Here’s a full list of the complete changes:
- Removal of Facebook share box with “Post” button
- Header that says “Social Results” and lists how many matching results
- “Friends Who Might Know” and “People Who Know” headings have been modified to ”From Friends” and “From Social Networks”
- “Activity” stream has been removed of friends posting general questions to Facebook through the Social Sidebar
- See how many likes and/or comments on one’s relevant post from Facebook
- Deeper integration with Facebook to present more relevant results
In the previous design, to learn more about a friend’s question or response, you had to scroll over for more information. Now, that information appears below their name.
Sharing to Facebook from Bing has been altered slightly with the new “Post” button. The “Want to share it with friends?” box has been removed. Simply clicking the “Post” button gives you the ability to share.
Currently, only a select few have access to the new Bing Social Sidebar. It’s expected to roll out in the coming weeks.
