Fresh off of adding 150 million doctors, lawyers, and professionals, Bing has expanded its Snapshot feature again. Now Bing searchers get quick access to information about medications and certain foods, Bing announced on its Search Blog.
Searching for Medication
Say your doctor has told you that a specific antibiotic or medication is recommended for you. If you’re unsure of what exactly the drug is all you have to do is visit Bing.com and complete your search.
Below is a snapshot of a search that I completed, [What is Benedryl?]. Not only do the results provide a description of the drug, but also known side effects, different brand names, potential risks, and much more. You’ll also notice that there is a direct link to the source(s) of information.
Learning More About Nutrition
Based on the few searches that I conducted, your chances of getting a Snapshot in your search results largely depends on the type of food you’re looking for.
For example, I wanted to know if Pomegranate’s were a good source of antioxidants but when I completed a related search there was no Snapshot present. However, when I simply typed in pomegranates a Snapshot with relevant information appeared in my results.
The second food related search that I ran in Bing was [how many calories are in an avocado?]. In the image below you’ll see that the nutrition facts are clearly laid out in a chart similar to what we are used to seeing with prepackaged foods.
Bing’s Snapshot results look like they’ll be a helpful resource for those looking to eat healthier on the go. Simply, if you’re making your shopping list or are at the grocery store you can quickly search Bing for a particular food and determine if it’s the healthiest choice.
With this new feature, Bing is playing a bit of catch-up, as Google started showing nutritional facts in its search results last May.
What Do You Think?
Bing is covering their bases by linking to the informational source. However, what do you think the response from users will be if the information isn’t accurate or is misleading? As a user it’s imperative that you don’t take all results at face value and instead consider the source.