How Bing delivers search results

The first step in building search is figuring out which pages exist on the internet in order to index them - commonly called crawling. At Bing, we affectionately call our crawler “Bingbot.” Crawling is how Bingbot discovers new and updated pages and content to add to our search index. Bingbot uses an algorithm to decide what to crawl and how often, working to minimize its impact on websites. We are all about efficiency, even as we crawl billions of URLs every day. We prioritize relevant known pages that aren’t indexed yet and ones we think have been updated to help deliver the freshest results.

As Bingbot crawls the web, it sends information to Bing about what it finds. These pages are then added to the Bing index and algorithms are used to analyze the pages so we can effectively include them in search results, including determining which sites, news articles, images, or videos will be included in the index and available when users search for specific keywords. Learn more about how Bing finds and indexes pages here.

Complex algorithms generate Microsoft Bing search results using the user’s search query matching it with third-party webpages in our index. Bing designs and continually improves its algorithms to provide the most comprehensive, relevant, and valuable collection of search results available.

Given the scale of the internet and the complexity of operating a search engine, Bing relies on machine learning to ensure users see the best results for their query out of the trillions of pages of content on the web. Machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed by identifying patterns in data and generalizing based on a small set of examples. For web ranking, this means building a model that will look at some ideal results to learn which features are most predictive of their usefulness, relying on automated signals like user interactions with the Bing website, and training data labeled by human judges and/or via AI systems with human oversight. Bing guides its judges to make sure their evaluations align with Bing’s ranking goals and engages in ongoing monitoring and oversight of its ranking systems and adjusts its practices as needed to make sure search results remain aligned with Bing’s principles.

Main parameters of ranking

Below is a high-level overview of the main parameters Bing uses to rank pages in search results. These parameters are listed in general order of importance. Bing’s complex systems use these criteria to deliver search results. The relative importance of each of the parameters below may vary from search to search and evolve over time.

• Relevance: Relevance refers to how closely the content on the landing page matches a user’s intent behind a search query. This includes matching terms directly on the page and phrases used in links referring to the page. Bing also considers semantic equivalents, including synonyms or abbreviations, which may not be exact matches of the query terms but are understood to have the same meaning. Many queries may have more than one possible intent. Bing tries to provide a comprehensive set of results that reflect all possible intents, but Bing presumes the user seeks high-quality, authoritative content unless the user clearly indicates an intent to research low-quality content.

• Quality and Credibility: Determining the quality and credibility (QC) of a website includes evaluating the clarity of purpose of the site, its usability, and presentation. QC also consists of an evaluation of the page’s “authority”, which includes factors such as:

  • Reputation: What types of other websites link to the site? A well-known news site is considered to have a higher reputation than a brand-new blog.

  • Level of discourse: Is the purpose of the content solely to cause harm to individuals or groups of people? For example, a site that promotes violence or resorts to name-calling or bullying will be considered to have a low level of discourse, and therefore lower authority, than a balanced news article.

  • Level of distortion: How well does the site differentiate fact from opinion? A site that is clearly labeled as satire or parody will have more authority than one that tries to obscure its intent.

  • Origination and transparency of the ownership: Is the site reporting first-hand information, or does it summarize or republish content from others? If the site doesn’t publish original content, do they attribute the source? A first-hand account published on a personal blog could have more authority than unsourced content.

• User engagement: Bing also considers how users interact with search results. To determine user engagement, Bing asks questions like: Did users click through to search results for a given query, and if so, which results? Did users spend time on these search results they clicked through or quickly return to Bing? Did the user adjust or reformulate their query? For webmasters, the Bing Webmaster Dashboard provides insights into how users interact with their webpages.

• Freshness: Generally, Bing prefers fresh content. A page that consistently provides up-to-date information is considered fresh. In many cases, content produced today will still be relevant years from now. In some cases, however, content produced today will go out of date quickly.

• Location and Language: In ranking results, Bing considers the user’s location (country and city), where the page is hosted, the language of the page, and the location of other visitors to the page.

• Page load time: Slow page load times can lead a visitor to leave a website, potentially before the content has even loaded, to seek information elsewhere. In most cases Bing will consider this a poor user experience and a less helpful search result.

Use of personal data

Bing uses information specific to an individual user to improve relevance and performance. This information includes search history, location, language, device characteristics such as operating system or browser, and whether a user is on a mobile device, tablet, or desktop. Users can update their location, language, and other settings via Bing Settings, and delete search history on the Privacy Dashboard.

Paid content and Microsoft-promoted content

Websites may choose to advertise on Bing through Microsoft Advertising; paid advertisements that appear in search results are labeled as such.  Bing does not allow websites to improve their organic ranking positions (the “blue links”) through payment. Learn more about how paid search ads are ranked within advertising search results.

Bing does not prioritize Microsoft products or services over third-party products and services in algorithmic search results. Outside of organic search results, Bing will sometimes provide a standalone answer box or banner promoting a Microsoft product or service when relevant to the search term provided.

Nature of businesses 

The characteristics of the goods or services offered on a site do not affect how Bing ranks results, except in cases where the content is potentially offensive or harmful to a user. For example, pages offering adult content are not available when users set SafeSearch to “Strict” mode. As another example, pages promoting potentially harmful content, such as where a site promotes methods of suicide or purports to sell opioids or other potentially harmful drugs, would be considered low authority content.

“Answers” are how Bing describes the enhanced search results provided often at the top or side of search results that provide richer content in response to a user’s query, often with a direct answer to the question asked, or with additional related resources.  For example, if a user types “How tall is the Eiffel Tower?” Bing will respond with the answer of “330 m” to enable users to quickly find the information they need, along with a sidebar pane with more information about the Eiffel Tower, including interesting facts about when it was built, where it is located, and other details. For these queries, Bing looks at search results across the web, returns a summarized answer, and links to its sources.  Some of these answers may be powered by generative AI to provide an even richer experience, linking to key sources.

 If the query is related to a business, Bing may return relevant information about the business, such as store hours and location. Business owners can claim and verify existing listings on Bing using Bing Places for Business (available in limited markets) to create, edit or update their listing information. In some cases, Bing may partner with third-party content providers, such as local restaurant review sites, to further enhance the user experience.

Bing has integrated Copilot into the Bing search experience, which allows Bing users to access Copilot’s generative AI features such as Designer, Copilot Pro and Copilot GPT Builder. The conversational experiences enhance the existing Bing experience to provide users with a new type of natural language search interface, built on large language model technology. The sources Copilot uses to form its answer are derived from the same ranking of third-party search results as the main web search results page. These results are displayed clearly to the user, giving them the opportunity to dive deeper by visiting the third-party site. Based on the user query or prompt, the model may also produce output that helps inspire the user’s creativity. The output can serve as the inspiration for a poem, a story, code, an essay, a song, or anything else that can be expressed in natural language or in an image, depending on the nature of a user’s request. 

Bing sometimes shows Copilot-generated summarized results on the top of the Bing main search results page in response to user queries, making the search experience even easier and faster. Users can still find the traditional search results layout at the lower part of the page.  

Copilot's generative AI features were developed with responsible AI in mind. Please see Our Approach to Responsible AI for more detail. User activity in these features is governed by the service’s Terms of Use and Code of Conduct.

Bing’s image and video experiences provide the user with image and video results relevant to their search queries, which can appear in the image and video verticals, as well as on the main search results page where image or video content is relevant to the user’s query. Ranking within the image and video experiences generally relies on the same parameters as the main web search results page, i.e., relevance, quality, freshness, authority, and popularity. When a user first lands on the image or video experience homepages, prior to entering a query, the homepage will show recommended content based on prior interactions with the site, like the user’s search history, engagement with image results, saved images, and, where a user allows it, Edge browsing history.  Users can control this experience by deleting data used to influence personalization from their Privacy Dashboard, leveraging the consent for Microsoft Edge browsing activity for personalized advertising and experiences or, if they are not logged in, starting a new session. In some markets, Bing also offers a feature called Bing Saves that allows authenticated users to maintain collections of relevant image links. User activity in Bing Saves is governed by the Microsoft Services Agreement and Code of Conduct. 

In the Bing Maps experience, or on the main search results page where the query indicates a location intent, users can type queries into the search bar, and the map will display a list of locations in that vicinity responsive to that search or pinpoint a particular address. Bing Maps relies on licensed and publicly available location data and uses the same ranking parameters as outlined above. Businesses can improve the accuracy of Bing Maps results by registering with Bing Places and providing up to date information for Bing users on information relevant to that business, such as location, contact information, and hours.

Bing has a dedicated news home page called Bing News, which curates news content for Bing users.  Where relevant, Bing may also display a news-focused answer box on the main search results page pulling from the Bing News content.

While Bing News relies on the same main parameters for ranking results as Bing, content that appears in Bing news search results must meet specific Bing News Publisher Guidelines, described in detail in the Bing News Publication Hub. Websites interested in being included in the Bing News index may apply through PubHub. When the same article is available both on a third-party website and on MSN.com or Microsoft Start (as Microsoft licensed content), Bing News search results may display the Microsoft Start version of that content. This enables a more consistent, higher-quality user experience. Licensed Microsoft Start content appearing in Bing is marked by the label “powered by Microsoft Start.”

Bing Shopping is a search feature to help users discover products from multiple sellers on a single view by returning relevant shopping results from the web and from advertisers. In some cases, the shopping experience may use generative AI tools to provide better results for users.  In some instances, Microsoft may receive compensation for users who click on algorithmically generated results, but such compensation has no effect on the ranking or relevance of algorithmically generated results shown to the user.

Bing Shopping also may provide coupons relevant to the user’s query, or where a user allows, based on prior engagement with Shopping experiences.  In some instances, Microsoft may receive revenue for the use of the coupons and purchases through Bing Shopping, although whether a revenue share payment will be obtained is not factored into Bing’s ranking of coupons shown to users.

Users who allow Microsoft to collect and use personal data to personalize and advertise may see results in the Shopping vertical tailored to their interests; users can visit the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard or the Edge shopping toggle to opt-in or out of personalized ads and control the data that influences personalization.

Safety is always the top priority at Bing. We have a number of ways to help keep users safe, including always using a secure https web connection, notifying users if we think a site contains malware, letting users control what they see with SafeSearch, and by integrating with Windows Family Safety to help caregivers protect their children. Our SafeSearch feature helps keep adult content out of search results. Visit the SafeSearch setting to make changes to this experience.

Autosuggest and related suggestions (“suggestions”) are query suggestions provided by Bing to help users use search and chat more conveniently.  Autosuggest is a feature that helps users complete searches faster by predicting the search queries as users start to type in the query box.  Related suggestions is a feature that shows topics that the users might be interested in next to search results (e.g., “People may also ask”).  Bing similarly provides suggestions for conversation topics in its chat experiences.

Suggestions are generated algorithmically and based on the popularity of related searches on Bing, along with other relevance signals such as search history, trends, location, and language. Bing’s suggestions also use natural language generation technology trained on query sets to help predict a user’s intended query.

Before users ever see an improvement or new feature at Bing, we’ve been hard at work behind the scenes. Our researchers often recruit users to try out new features and give us their opinions. Once they’re satisfied, we release the feature to a small set of real users to see how they interact with it. When it gets the green light, we release it to everyone. But it doesn’t end there. After every feature is released, we regularly monitor usage and feedback to evaluate what’s working and how we can improve.

Your feedback helps make Bing better. At the bottom of every Bing page, you’ll see a Feedback link. We don’t require your name or other identifying information when you submit feedback.  This information is shared with teams across Bing to improve your experience and search results. We try to read every piece of feedback you submit. Plus, we can’t help but notice what users like and don't like about Bing as you use the site, such as which links you click on and which searches you have to revise to find what you are looking for, and we use that info when we are working on new or existing features. 

For many common search scenarios, such as looking for local businesses like restaurants, shops, or medical care, in order to provide useful search results, it is essential that Bing understands the user’s language, location, and similar preferences.  At the same time, Bing wants to make sure the user stays in control of their experience.  Users can see what information Bing is using to provide relevant search results and make changes at any time in Bing Settings.

For location, Bing will attempt to identify the area in which you are located using signals like your IP address but you also can update your preferred location at any time here. In some cases, like Maps, it may be important for Bing to understand more specifically where the user is located in order to provide location-dependent services like directions.  Users can also control what specific location information is provided to Microsoft through in-product controls and their device’s operating system.  

If you allow it, we use your search history to help improve results and provide more relevant search results. To control this information, see your Bing search history. [https://www.bing.com/profile/history] 

Users also can access and modify other relevant controls in the Bing Settings experience, such as SafeSearch settings, voice search controls, search suggestions, and personalization options. 

Users logged in to their Microsoft Account also have more robust controls over their location history, search history, and other data collected by Microsoft, in the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard. 

Signing in with your Microsoft account is an easy way to manage your data and adjust controls, including targeted advertising.

To learn more about how Microsoft uses personal data, see Microsoft’s privacy policy.

Certain countries have laws or regulations that apply to search service providers and require search engines to remove links to certain indexed pages from search results. Some of these laws allow specific individuals or entities to demand removal of results (such as for copyright infringement, libel, defamation, personally identifiable information, hate speech, or other personal rights), while others are administered and enforced by local governments.

When Microsoft receives a request or demand, Bing aims to balance its support for freedom of expression and for free access to relevant content with compliance with local laws. We review and assess the request or demand, including the reason and basis for the request or demand, the authority or rights of the requesting party, our applicable policies and our commitments to our users with regard to freedom of expression, human rights, and freedom of information and determine whether and to what extent we should remove access to the content. Examples of legal request areas with global approaches are below.

Child sexual exploitation and assault imagery and related materials

The production and distribution of, and access to, child sexual abuse materials is universally condemned and illegal in most jurisdictions. It is also a violation of Bing and Microsoft policies. Bing works with third party technology and industry groups, law enforcement, and governmental and non-governmental organizations to help stop the spread of this horrific content online. One way we do this is by removing pages that have been reviewed by credible agencies (or identified via Microsoft PhotoDNA content detection tools) and found to contain or relate to the sexual exploitation or abuse of children.

In particular, we remove pages from our index that have been identified by the Internet Watch Foundation (UK), NCMEC (US), and FSM (Germany) as, in their good faith judgment, hosting or providers of access to child sexual abuse material. Removing these links from displayed search results doesn’t block the materials from being accessed on the web or discovered through means other than Bing, but it does reduce the availability of these pages for those who would seek it out or profit from it.

Bing also uses PhotoDNA hash-matching technology to scan images uploaded by users in the visual search feature for potential exploitations and abuse imagery. User activity in Bing is governed by the Microsoft Services Agreement. More information about Microsoft and Bing’s use of PhotoDNA and content moderation practices are available at Digital Safety Moderation and Enforcement. 

Copyright infringement

Bing encourages respect for intellectual property rights, including copyrights, while also recognizing the rights of users to engage in uses that may be permissible under applicable copyright laws. Bing may remove from its search results links to webpages containing material infringing the rights of the owner of copyrighted content, provided we receive a legally sufficient notice of copyright infringement from the copyright owner or its authorized agent.

If you are a rights holder and have an intellectual property concern about a website’s content that is linked to by Bing, or a Bing ad, please see our Report Infringement page.

In certain circumstances relating to quality, safety, and user value, Bing may decide to remove certain results, or we may warn or educate users or provide options for tailoring results.

Spam

Certain pages captured in the Bing index may turn out to be pages of little or no value to users and/or can have characteristics that artificially manipulate the way search and advertising systems work in order to distort their relevance relative to pages that offer more relevant information. Some of these pages include only advertisements and/or links to other websites that contain mostly ads, and no, or only superficial, content relevant to the subject of the search. To improve the search experience for users and deliver more relevant content, Bing might remove such search results, or adjust Bing algorithms to prioritize more useful and relevant pages in search results.

Sensitive personal information, including nonconsensual distribution of intimate images

From time to time, webpages that are publicly available may intentionally or inadvertently contain sensitive personal information posted without the consent of the individual identified or in circumstances that create security or privacy risks. Examples include inadvertent posting of private records, private phone numbers, identification numbers and the like, or intentionally and maliciously posting email passwords, login credentials, credit card numbers, or other data intended to be used for fraud or hacking. Upon verification, Bing will remove such search results.

Another example is when someone shares adult or sexually explicit images of another person online – whether real or a “deepfake” image that is created using AI or other photo editing tools - without that person’s consent.  This is commonly referred to as nonconsensual intimate imagery, or "revenge porn". Microsoft considers this to be a gross invasion of personal privacy. To help victims get back control of their images and their privacy, Bing may remove links to such photos and videos from search results. To report unauthorized online photos and videos, including deepfakes, victims should complete a form on our reporting web page.

As noted in the reporting form, it’s important to remember that information will remain available on the original website even if Bing has removed the link from search results. The website owner is in the best position to address privacy concerns about the information it publishes. Victims will need to contact owners of the website where the content is hosted to remove content from the web.

Adult content

Bing offers a SafeSearch feature, which allows most users to set the type of filtering for adult content that they prefer to apply to their search results. Bing endeavors to avoid delivering content that can be offensive or harmful when it wasn’t requested and provides SafeSearch settings to allow users to customize their search experience. By default, in most countries or regions, SafeSearch is set to Moderate, which restricts visually explicit search results but doesn't restrict explicit text.  Users can choose to change their SafeSearch settings at any time.

Different countries or regions may have different local customs, religious or cultural norms, or local laws regarding the display of adult content (or search results accessing adult content). This may affect default SafeSearch settings for Bing in some countries.

Illegal pharmaceuticals

In furtherance of Bing’s commitment to provide users with trustworthy search results, Bing has taken steps to minimize the likelihood that users are harmed through illegal pharmaceutical sales online. In the US, Bing blocks online pharmacies listed on the FDA's Internet Pharmacy Warning Letters site. The FDA, as the federal regulatory body for the pharmaceutical industry in the United States, maintains this public list of online pharmacies engaged in illegal and unsafe practices. The FDA has more information at BeSafeRx: Know Your Online Pharmacy.

Public service announcements and warnings

For some topics, it can be difficult to find quality information. When we identify these gaps, we sometimes insert helpful content so users can explore a topic faster. These can take many different forms. You might see a ‘public service’ answer, an answer that explains breaking news, or a warning on a particular site known to contain potentially harmful information. To ensure we are getting the details right, we always look for authoritative sources for curated and original content. If we are using a third-party source, we’ll always show their name or website so you’ll know where the data is coming from.

For example, Bing provides links to suicide prevention resources when a user’s query expresses a possible suicide intent. Microsoft Bing also provides warning notices on certain URLs appearing in search results where it has reliable information that the link contains possibly harmful content. Such notices appear on links to sites Microsoft Bing has determined to contain harmful malware that could damage a user’s computer. Microsoft Bing also provides a warning to users in the United States on any link identified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®) as a “Not Recommended Site.” 

In some cases, Bing may discover that certain search topics are returning results not in line with Bing’s principles, such as where bad actors are intentionally manipulating search results to surface low authority content, exploiting a data void, or otherwise violating Bing’s Webmaster Guidelines in an effort to improperly manipulate search results. Prohibited practices are described further at Webmaster Guidelines - Bing Webmaster Tools. When this occurs, Bing may apply additional algorithmic interventions to prevent users from being unexpectedly exposed to harmful or misleading content that they did not evince an intent to search for.  Bing prioritizes interventions on known misinformation trends, topics where there are elevated risks of active manipulations, and areas where there are risks of harm to our users.  

While we do not remove such content entirely from our index, we apply algorithmic interventions so that users without a clear intent to find such information are protected from accidentally being presented with harmful or misleading information. Bing actively monitors manipulation trends in identified high risk areas and deploys mitigation methods as needed to ensure users are provided with high quality, high authority search results. 

Moderation in Copilot in Bing 

Copilot in Bing builds on the existing Bing experience to provide users with a new search interface and conversational experience. Copilot in Bing also include features such as Image Creator from Designer, Copilot Pro and Copilot GPTs and GPT Builder (coming soon). Content that appears in conversational search and similar features is subject to the same moderation principles as other content appearing in search results; where applicable, Bing may remove content in Copilot in Bing that is in violation of applicable laws or Microsoft policies, including the Copilot in Bing terms and Code of Conduct.

We are constantly working to improve our search results. In some cases we may limit how we display content in conversational search or Image Creator in order to prevent users from being unexpectedly exposed to misleading or harmful information.  Users can always view a full set of search results relevant to their query on the main Bing search results page.

All inputs or data provided by users to power Copilot in Bing, as well as use of generated outputs, are subject to the Terms of Use. In certain cases, Copilot Bing may restrict access to the service to users who seriously or repeatedly violate the Terms of Use or Code of Conduct. Users can report problematic content appearing in Copilot in Bing by sending feedback using the “feedback” button which is always available at the bottom of Copilot pages, or using the Report a Concern form, which is linked from the Feedback interface and in Bing Help.

Providing helpful search suggestions

Bing takes steps to ensure that users are not inadvertently led to potentially harmful, offensive, or misleading content via search suggestions.  We set guardrails to prevent users from unexpectedly being exposed to potentially harmful or offensive content by using a combination of proactive and reactive algorithmic and manual interventions. These interventions only apply to search suggestions; users are never prevented from manually entering a search query.

You may turn on and off autosuggest feature in the Bing Setting page (Search - Settings (bing.com))by selecting or unselecting the “See search suggestions as you type” checkbox.

Reporting problematic content

If you find objectionable content on Bing, report it. We value your reports and work continuously to improve your search experience.

For webmasters: appealing webpage content removal decisions

If Bing has removed your site or page from the index and you’ve addressed the issues and would like to have your site re-evaluated, you can appeal using the Bing webmaster tools. Learn more about the process.

User Appeals

Use of all Bing products and features are governed by Microsoft Services Agreement. Persistently engaging in activities that violate the Agreement may result in permanent suspension and/or restriction of a user’s Microsoft Account.

Users may appeal restrictions/suspensions via Bing’s Report a Concern form. Bing’s support team will review the decisions. If the original actions were found to have been taken in error, the actions will be reversed and the notifications will be sent to the affected users, if contact information was provided to Bing.