Bing and your browser

Hey folks! Last week we brought you Bing, the world’s first decision engine, to help you make important decisions faster. To that end, we’d like to show you how to set Bing as your search default on Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers, and to highlight how Bing can be tightly integrated into these browsers.

 

 

Internet Explorer 8

 

If you have already installed IE8, you can add Bing from the add-ons Gallery by clicking here. When you click the button Add to Internet Explorer, you will get the following pop-up:

 

Select Make this my default search provider to set Bing as your IE search default, then click Add and you are all set to use Bing as your default search engine!

 

If you are installing IE8 for the first time, you have a couple of options:

(a) If Live Search is already your default search engine, you will be upgraded automatically to Bing.
(b) If Live Search wasn’t your default setting, click Choose custom settings, then select Bing as your default search engine.

 

Bing integrates with IE8’s latest features, including accelerators, web slices, and visual suggestions. For example, start typing a query in the IE8 search box and Bing will return rich auto-suggestions -- including Instant Answers -- such as Weather or Flight Status information, as shown below.

 

To find all Bing features for IE8, including our Weather, Finance, and Traffic web slices, and Translate, Map, Shop and Save accelerators, just click here.

 

 

 

Internet Explorer 7

 

If you are using IE7, click Find More Providers on the drop-down under the search box, then select Bing from the search guide page. You will get the following dialog:

 

Set Bing as your default search provider by checking the Make this my default search provider box.

 

 

Mozilla Firefox

 

Due to popular demand we created a Live Search provider for Firefox. With the launch of Bing, we have upgraded our provider. You can install it here. When you click Add to Firefox and then accept the End User License Agreement, you will see the dialog shown below. Select Start using it right away.

 

When you use Bing with Firefox, you also get auto-suggestions right in the search box.

A few other ways to add Bing to your IE or Firefox browser

 

If you check out our cool home page from a Firefox browser and you do not have Bing as a search provider, just click Add Bing to your browser at the top right of the page and follow the instructions.

 

Both IE8 and Firefox support search provider auto-discovery. This means that if you do not have Bing
as a search provider and you are visiting MSN.com, you will see the IE8 Search Box arrow gleam . Click on the arrow and select Add Search Provider from the drop-down. Then follow the steps in the IE8 section.

 

 

Bing is also available on Chrome, but…

 

There’s a bit of additional work that you have to do to set Bing as your default search engine with Chrome.

 

Click on on the top right of the Chrome browser, select Options, and from the Basics tab, click Manage. The Search Engines window will appear, which lists all your search default options. Now click the Add button and fill in the Add Search Engine window exactly as shown in this screenshot (Name: Bing; Keyword: bing.com; URL: http://www.bing.com/search?q=%s)

 

 

Click Ok. You’ll go back to the Search Engines window. Select Bing and click Make Default. Click Close to exit and start using Bing on Chrome. (By the way: currently Chrome does not offer query autosuggest from other search providers, so you cannot use this Bing feature in Chrome.)

 

 

Now you know how to set Bing as your default search provider for IE, Firefox, and Chrome. And if installing the Bing toolbar seems like too much work, you can always set Bing as your default home page.

 

 

We are excited about how Bing will help you, and we’re always interested to hear what you think.

 

 

Debapriya Ray, Beatrice Oltean, Alessandro Catorcini, Bill Pardi, Bing