Microsoft to launch Bing with $100m ad campaign

The internet giant is planning a $100m multimedia advertising push created by JWT to promote the new search engine, in a bid to draw web users away from Google.

Named Kumo in development, the service will initially launch in beta version in the UK and include images and videos in the results, alongside an additional column of related queries and filtering options, as well as a content preview.

Microsoft's search engine will be more focused around social media, while the homepage will include index links to search categories such as shopping, travel, news, maps, video and images.

In addition, the Microsoft-owned shopping and comparison site Ciao will be incorporated into Bing. MSN's shopping portal will feature as a new shopping facility from 3 June and will be available in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Italy and Sweden.

It also provides access to more than five million consumer reviews, in both text and video formats, enabling users to engage with Ciao's 2.7 million international community.