• Businessweek et al., Wednesday, June 23, 2010 1:50 PM

Further distinguishing itself from Google, Bing is rolling out upwards of 100 new features, the most remarkable of which fall into a new "Bing Entertainment" category.

Quite simply, Bing Entertainment will include "better ways to search for music, movies, TV shows, and games," reports TechCrunch. The new offering will also serve as an entertainment hub, allowing visitors to consume all manner of content from one central location.

"We did travel, health, shopping and local last year," said Yusuf Mehdi, SVP of Microsoft's online audience business. "Now the Web has unlocked all of this entertainment, but for many people they are spending too much time looking for what they want to do instead of enjoying it ... You should be able to watch a show, listen to online music, or play a game with a few clicks."

Nearly 10% of all searches are entertainment related, according to Mehdi, while about 90% of people do at least one entertainment search a month. As such, "The features may help Microsoft gain ground on Google Inc.'s dominant search engine," proposes Bloomberg/Businessweek.

Using Microsoft's Zune music service, Bing will provides one-time access to 5 million full-length songs, and then 30-second clips afterwards. Listeners will also be able to buy the track, read the lyrics and find concert information. "The service also lets users watch 1,500 TV shows and 20,000 full-length episodes of programs posted at Hulu.com, YouTube.com and at the Web sites of cable and TV networks, without ever actually leaving the Microsoft Web site," adds Bloomberg/Businessweek.

And the Hollywood Reporter calls the new entertainment offering "visually intense," and the focus on content sampling "wise."

"Rather than taking on Google head-on, Microsoft has tried to position Bing as a better alternative for accomplishing certain kinds of online tasks," writes The Associated Press. "The strategy seems to be working. Bing is still the No. 3 search engine behind Google and Yahoo, but its share of U.S. Web searches is creeping up."

"Those inroads have been encouraging, with Bing gaining market share," notes BoomTown. "But it has also been costly, with the Online Services division bleeding cash."

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