A few weeks ago we invited you to experience updates to Snapshot – the center column that shows you answers at a glance. With Snapshot, we’re able to provide a richer set of search results that help you understand the world around you and take action. Since people searches are the second most searched for category, after navigational queries, and represent roughly 10 percent of all searches on Bing, we’re constantly looking for ways to make it easier for you to find the person you’re looking for.

Today, we are releasing a faster way to find people right from the search box. Now if you’re searching for a celebrity, politician, athlete or even a colleague with a publicly available LinkedIn profile, Bing provides a snapshot of information about that person below the search bar. For example, if you’re searching for Michelle Williams, we’ll ask you if you’re looking for Michelle Williams the actress or Michelle Williams the Destiny’s Child singer.

In the milliseconds between keystrokes, Bing lets you narrow down your search by clicking on the correct person. If Bing has information on a person, we let you know by displaying it below the search box. In some instances, multiple people share the same name. When this happens, we’ll provide information for the most relevant people with that name, and help you narrow down your search.

Whether you’re looking to keep tabs on your favorite celebrity or learn more about a colleague’s professional background, Bing just made it easier to find the person you’re looking for. We’re constantly expanding the number of available entities in Snapshot, including people, places and things, so stay tuned for future updates.

This latest evolution of Bing Autosuggest has been co-developed by the Search Technological Center (STC-E) in London, U.K. in close collaboration with the User Experience team in Bellevue, WA. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

– Dan Marantz, Lead Program Manager, Bing Query Formulation UX