• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 13, 2014

Since living the American dream means having enough understanding about propositions, measures and candidates during an election year to cast a vote, Microsoft launched Bing Elections Monday to help Americans get educated on the issues to vote in November.

The company will also use its analytics technology that supports paid-search advertising to forecast this year's outcome of political elections.

Americans are feeling the pressure to make the correct decisions. Those who don't feel comfortable voting in the November election are not alone. Half of people participating in a survey conducted on behalf of Bing said they don't feel confident about voting this November, with 70% admitting they don't feel informed on all the issues. In fact, one in 10 eligible voters get derailed from making it to the polls because they are uninformed.

Watching political ads on television does not educate voters to both sides. They bring awareness to issues, but viewpoints are skewed and opinionated. Although 3 million political ads aired on television in 2012 at a cost of $2 billion, three-quarters appealed to anger and negativity, and 60% were funded by outside groups with their own agendas.

Earlier this year, Bing proved its forecast technology by predicting the outcome of shows like "American Idol," as well as the World Cup and NFL games. Now it will use the technology to predict the U.S. political agendas. An interactive map enables voters to search for election-related topics. Each state shows the party predicted to win the Senate, House and gubernatorial races. Votes can zoom into a district and to get more information on candidate and their odds of winning. 

Derrick Connell, corporate vice president of Bing, explains that the voter guide -- available in major metropolitan areas -- will offer a side-by-side comparison of candidates’ positions and a tracker to find the nearest polling sites in a specific area.

Bing also will roll out a feature called "My Ballot" based on location to display everything that will appear on the local ballot. It will allow voters to compare candidates, analyze propositions and view Bing's predictions as to the candidate most likely to win the elections. Accuracy and information also could have a positive influence on advertising sales across Microsoft portals and platforms.