Microsoft Bing is getting a new “Deep Search” feature powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4. The feature is designed to give users more relevant and comprehensive answers to complex search queries. Microsoft notes that Deep Search is not a replacement for Bing’s existing web search, and is instead an enhancement the allows for deeper exploration of the web.
In a blog post, Microsoft explains that the new feature builds on Bing’s current web index and ranking system and enhances them with GPT-4, which takes the search query and turns it into a more comprehensive description of what the results should include. “>> Here micrososft explains that the feature is based on GPT-4 which enhances Bing’s web index and ranking system by turning the search query into a more comprehensive description of the results.”
For instance, say a user is looking into loyalty programs in different countries and enters the query: “how do points systems work in Japan.” Deep Search would take the query and expand it into the following:
With this expanded description, you are able to explain your intent better than you could with just a few words. >> The expanded description enables better explanation of the user’s intention.”
In instances where your search query is more ambiguous, Deep Search will find all of the possible intents and creates a comprehensive description for each of them. Deep Search then displays these intents to you, allowing you to select the right one. >> If a search query is ambiguous, Deep Search will identify and create comprehensive descriptions for all possible intents and display them so the user can select the right one.”
Image Credits: Bing
Once the expanded description has been created, Bing will pull relevant results that often don’t show up in typical search results, Microsoft says. Deep Search finds pages that might match the expanded query, rewrites the query, and then searches for those variations too. >> After creating the expanded description, Bing retrieves relevant results that may not typically appear in regular search, as it searches for pages matching the expanded query variations.”
Sticking with the same loyalty points query example above, Deep Search may also searching for things like “loyalty card programs Japan,” “best loyalty cards for travelers in Japans,” “comparison of loyalty programs by category in Japan, “redeeming loyalty cards in Japan” ” and “managing loyalty points withe phone apps.”>> Using the same loyalty points query as an example, Deep Search may also look for related terms and phrases.”
“By doing this, Deep Search can find results that cover different aspects of my query, even if they don’t explicitly include the original keywords,” Microsoft wrote in the blog post. “Regular searches on Bing already consider millions of web pages for each search and Deep Search does ten times that to find results that are more informative and specific than the ones that rank higher in normal search.” >> Deep Search broadens search results to cover different aspects of a query, even without the original keywords.”
Once Deep Search has collected web pages, it ranks them based on how well they match the expanded description. When ranking, Deep Search considers how well the topic matches the query, whether it has an appropriate level of details, how trustworthy the page is, and how new and popular it is. >> After collecting web pages, Deep Search ranks them according to their relevance and appropriateness to the query.”
Microsoft notes that Deep Search is optional and can take up to thirty seconds to complete, which is why it’s not meant for every query or user. For users who don’t want more comprehensive answers, they can get regular Bing search results instantly. >> Deep Search is optional and may take up to thirty seconds to complete, so for users who prefer quicker results, regular Bing search is still available.”