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Confirmed: Bing 411 Closing June 1st

Barry Schwartz on May 10, 2012 at 9:34 am

Microsoft is closing down their toll-free voice search program named Bing 411.

I have confirmed the Bing 411 service is closing by calling the service and hearing immediately the message:

Bing 411: On June 1st, we are discontinuing the Bing 411 service.

There were reports of this via LiveSide where they said they “received a tip” on this news. But this is indeed happening and Bing is closing down their 411 service.

Google shut down their GOOG-411 service back in 2010. Bing kept theirs live hoping to fill that void, but clearly with the rise of smartphones and voice search embedded on those devices, the need to dial an 800 number to do a search has become extinct.

Postscript: Bing has extended this service until July 1st to give their customers more time to transition elsewhere.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on SEM topics.