Bing unveils visual search function

Search engine Bing has unveiled the latest arsenal in its fight to wrest users from Google: a feature that lets users search through pictures instead of text links.

Visual search lets users search for products such as ‘digital cameras’ and ‘new cars’ with results displayed as pictures rather than text. As users refine their query, thumbnails that no longer match the search fly off the page, with the other images reshuffling to fill the blank spaces.

The tool is “like searching through a large online catalogue,” Microsoft senior vice president Yusuf Mehdi told Agence France-Presse. “It’s a more graphical way to search and discover information.”

Microsoft, which owns Bing, says the feature also lets users find results faster than traditional searches. A study conducted by its research division found consumers can process results with images 20% faster than text only results.

Just 50 specific search results are currently available on the trial version, although Microsoft says it will expand the number. The feature is currently only available to US users. An Australian release date has not yet been set.