MSN Search was launched in the third quarter of 1998, using search results from Inktomi, before switching to other engines like Looksmart and AltaVista the following year.
Franklin Gothic Bold Italic (MSN logo) Segoe ("Search")
Launched:
November 2001
The MSN logo was updated, following the release of Windows XP in November 2001.
A proprietary search indexing system would later be introduced in 2004.
Windows Live Search
2006–2007
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Segoe Bold
Launched:
March 8, 2006 (beta) September 11, 2006 (official)
The first public beta of Windows Live Search was made available on March 8, 2006, and officially replaced MSN Search later on September 11 of the same year.
Live Search
2007–2009
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Segoe
Launched:
March 21, 2007
On March 21, 2007, Microsoft announced that it would separate its search developments from the Windows Live services family, rebranding the service as Live Search.
Blue Echo
2007–2009 (internal)
Designer:
Masha Ishkhanova
Typography:
Custom Typeface
Launched:
2007 (reveal)
Before Microsoft officially settled on "Bing" as the standalone brand name for Live Search, the project was initially called "Blue Echo" and was intended to be hosted on blueecho.com. One reason this name was abandoned was the potential difficulty in typing due to the consecutive "e" characters.
May 28, 2009 (reveal) June 1, 2009 (beta) June 3, 2009 (official)
In 2008, Microsoft recognized that there would be a brand issue as long as the word "Live" remained in the name.[1] The new name for it, Bing, would then be revealed on May 28, 2009.[2] This new "decision engine" would enter beta on June 1 of the same year, before officially replacing Live Search 2 days later.
This logo was applied due to the adoption of the Metro design language, and was first seen with the release of Windows 8 Consumer Preview, released on February 29, 2012.
2013 (unused)
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Segoe (modified)
Launched:
April 29, 2013
Just a few months before the new logo came out, another logo was unveiled on April 29, 2013, at the Design Day 2013 event. The logo can be seen at 30:17 here.
Bing revealed a new logo on September 17, 2013, and it was rolled out in the following weeks. It was still used on the website for a short time after the 2016 logo was introduced, and still can potentially be seen if the Microsoft Reward tab errors on Bing.
2016–2020
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Segoe (modified)
Launched:
January 14, 2016
A new Bing logo was launched on January 14, 2016, and used in tandem with the previous logo until February 2016. It is very similar to the 2013 logo. The logo is still seen on error messages for Bing, on Bing's login page, and on Bing's help page.
2020
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Segoe (modified)
Launched:
April 1, 2020
A new logo influenced by Microsoft's Fluent Design language was used for testing throughout 2020. A blue logo that appeared on search results was also used.
This logo was only used for two days from April 1, 2020, and the previous logo went back into use on April 3, 2020.
Microsoft Bing
2020–present
Designer:
Unknown (based on the current Microsoft logo)
Typography:
Segoe Semibold
Launched:
August 1, 2020 (tease) October 5, 2020 (official)
On August 1, 2020, the new name Microsoft Bing was teased on Bing's website for testing purposes. It officially took effect and fully replaced the original Bing name on October 5 of the same year. The blue version of the unused 2020 logo was also adopted, replacing the 2016 logo (see Microsoft Bing/Icons).
The new logo adopts the current Microsoft logo, with "Bing" affixed after the wordmark in the same font as the latter.
2020–present (secondary)
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Segoe Semibold (modified)
Launched:
October 5, 2020
A modified version of the first 2020 logo, with bolder text. It serves alongside the previous logo. In 2023, after Bing Chat's initial presentation, the logo appeared on the "New Bing" website.
Notes: 1 Became independent from 2007–2022, later becoming a Sony Interactive Entertainment subsidiary in 2022 2 Were moved to work on other Microsoft Software departments 3 consolidated 4 Sold to Take-Two Interactive, later being defunct
Notes: 1 Became independent from 2007–2022, later becoming a Sony Interactive Entertainment subsidiary in 2022 2 Were moved to work on other Microsoft Software departments 3 consolidated 4 Sold to Take-Two Interactive, later being defunct
Notes: 1Nokia phone brand licensing was sold to Human Mobile Devices in 2016. The original Nokia company continues to exist. 2Developer Kit hardware was discontinued in 2023. Azure Kinect technologies continued to be licensed to its partners.
