Microsoft has expanded Bing’s range of brand plugins and made Bing the default search engine of ChatGPT.
Bing already has plugins with OpenTable and Wolfram Alpha but, following the Microsoft Build event in Seattle, the company has announced a range of new plugins that allow brands to engage with customers in more conversational and (hopefully) engaging ways.
“These past 100 days have been critical in the development of the new era of AI-powered search. As we see people engage with Bing and Edge in profoundly new ways, it’s clear the transformation of search is well underway. We’re excited to continue to expand what’s possible with today’s announcements,” wrote Microsoft’s corporate vice president and consumer chief marketing officer, Yusuf Mehdi, in a blog post announcing the changes.
A plugin with Expedia will let travellers enjoy conversational trip planning for a seamless experience to facilitate memorable travel. Instacart will let users take the dinner menu Bing helped them plan, turn it into a shopping list and place an order to get the ingredients delivered directly to their door from grocery retailers.
A Kayak plugin will act as a virtual travel assistant while buy-now-pay-later firm Klarna will offer a “highly personalised and intuitive shopping experience” with curated product recommendations for shoppers looking for advice and inspiration. There will naturally be links to buy those products via Klarna’s search and compare tool.
US real estate firm Redfin will let users describe their ideal home in “everyday terms” before Bing finds listings that suit a buyer’s needs.
TripAdvisor will let users “become better travellers” in an unspecified way. Zillow will offer additional housing and market information.
Microsoft said that Bandsintown, Bohita, Cloudflare, Coupert, Fareportal, FiscalNote, Golden, Lexi Shopper, Likewise, Notable, One Word Domains, PromptPerfect, Shopify, Skyscanner, Spotify, Spotnana, and Trip.com are also working on plugins for Bing Chat.
These plugins and Bing Chat are also being more deeply integrated into Windows 11 to help users get personalised answers, relevant suggestions and take quick actions whether they are browsing the web or not. Called Windows Copilot, these features will be persistent next to any apps on a user’s machine and will support the same plugins as Bing Chat.
