Microsoft adding AI shopping features to Bing and Edge browser
Microsoft (MSFT) is continuing to pile generative AI tools into its products, announcing a number of new capabilities for its Bing search engine and Edge web browser the company says will make online shopping a bit easier.
The capabilities, which the Windows maker is rolling out today, include AI-powered buyer’s guides, summaries of user reviews and feedback, and the ability to help you request a price match from sellers even after you have your slick new purchase in hand.
Microsoft’s Buying Guide feature is meant to search as a kind of AI-based shopping assistant. In one example, Microsoft explains that users can search Bing for college supplies. The search engine’s generative AI will then pull together a buyer’s guide pointing to various college necessities that you or your college-age teen might need before they head off to school.
The guide can also give specifications for different products, as well as comparison tables for items. So if you’re looking for noise-canceling headphones, you’ll be able to check out a quick rundown of the various features each headset offers.
If you’re more partial to using Google, or even Yahoo, Microsoft says you can also access its Buying Guide option by opening up Bing chat in the top right corner of the Edge browser.
Microsoft says you’ll also be able to follow up via Bing Chat to get AI-powered information on what you should be looking for when it comes to select products and summaries of online customer reviews.
Microsoft’s most interesting offering, though, is the ability to price match your purchases after you get them. Say you end up buying those headphones, but they drop in price. Microsoft says it will monitor the price of your purchase and automatically provide you with the appropriate means to start the process of getting a price match from the retailer.
AI is seemingly all tech companies can talk about in 2023. OpenAI, which Microsoft has invested billions in, kicked off the trend in Nov. 2022, and since then, the Redmond-based software giant, rival Alphabet, (GOOG, GOOGL) Meta (META), Amazon (AMZN), and seemingly every other Silicon Valley firm is all in on the technology.
Alphabet, in particular, has been showing off its AI chops, matching Microsoft’s announcements with similar products of its own. Earlier this month, Google announced it’s using generative AI to power a new tool that will show shoppers how different types of clothes will look on a person with a similar body type and complexion as them.
The idea is to help ensure you don’t regret a purchase the minute you try it on because it doesn’t look like you thought it would.
Google also has its own price comparison tool and provides product insights via its Search Generative Experience, an experimental version of Google Search that adds generative AI responses to search queries.
Daniel Howley is the tech editor at Yahoo Finance. He's been covering the tech industry since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @DanielHowley.
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