Microsoft Testing “Bing Saves” Search Bookmarking Feature

Microsoft appears to be testing a new feature for Bing: Bing Saves. According to a Neowin community member who saw the beta, it’s a way to click and bookmark a search result for later retrieval from a personal Microsoft account.

Below is a screenshot of the feature from Neowin.

The utility of such a feature is fairly self evident. Users can create a personalized “index” or repository of sites and URLs for later reference and use. What’s interesting is that search bookmarking and “personal web” databases existed for several years and were mostly discontinued for lack of adoption.

One of the more prominent examples was Yahoo’s MyWeb service, which allowed users to save cached webpages to a personal account. Yahoo later tried to turn it into a full blown social search site, which didn’t work.

At one point Yahoo also owned Del.icio.us, which offered a similar link bookmarking capability.

Yahoo MyWeb Image Credit

Google Bookmarks, which is still live but rarely used, is another similar feature that allows users to create a list of remembered URLs for later reference. In addition, about six years ago Ask offered “My Jeeves,” allowing users to create a personal database of links.

Beyond Ask there were a number of non-search affiliated personal web or bookmarking services, including Spurl and Furl. I’m sure I’m missing a range of others. Feel free to identify them in the comments.

All of this personal web/search bookmarking was popular in the 2005 – 2008 timeframe. However, Yahoo shut down MyWeb in 2009 and sold Delicious in 2011.

As a former, heavy MyWeb user, I think the value of these services is quite real. They never became mainstream, however. Perhaps, it’s time for another go.