Last week, Microsoft introduced a revolutionary new version of Bing, largely based on OpenAI's language model, similar to the popular ChatGPT tool. The new Bing has been in limited preview for over a week, and it seems to have a lot of potential, which Microsoft is looking to turn into revenue. According to a new report, Microsoft recently met with advertisers to promote the new Bing, telling them that it will offer a new way for ads to be delivered to users, according to a report from Reuters.
The first example of how ads will show up in the new Bing is fairly straightforward. Microsoft will be taking the existing, regular ads on Bing, and bringing them up in the new Bing chatbot's responses. Links from Bing's results are collected at the bottom of each response, making them fairly easy to click. In fact, this already seems to be happening if you ask Bing a question right now.
Microsoft is also planning another ad format where ads might show up based on a user's queries. The example provided in the report relates to hotels. If a user asks Bing about the best hotels in Mexico, hotel ads might pop up. These ads won't necessarily be limited to links in Bing's responses, either, and they could expand to fill the top of the page, making them even more visible to users.
The new Bing has generated a lot of interest in the tech community, and it could be Microsoft's chance to finally have a proper rival to Google's search engine. That kind of attention is likely to have the interest of advertisers, so it's only natural that Microsoft would try to capitalize on it by implementing ads. It remains to be seen if the new Bing can compete with Google, which is testing its own language model for search, called Bard.
Following the initial wave of surprise and excitement, some of the reports regarding the new Bing chatbot have been slightly less positive. Some examples have shown the AI displaying inaccurate and false information, while others have led to very awkward conversations. Microsoft has also acknowledged that the bot can respond in a more aggressive tone if persistently pushed by users, so it's working to improve that. Considering the preview has only been available for a week, some issues are to be expected, but the company will likely have to iron them out before the service can become widely available and profitable.
Source: Reuters