Microsoft is testing showing the “See more” button at the top of the Bing local pack, instead of the bottom of the local pack. I suspect this is a test and not a bug, but who knows.

This was spotted by Khushal Bherwani who posted this screenshot on X:

This was spotted first by Sachin Patel in January:

It looks like Bing is testing a new design for map results.@rustybrick pic.twitter.com/Nmdctzw2LO

— Sachin Patel (@SachuPatel53124) January 20, 2025

In comparison, this is what I see for the local pack:

I tried numerous browsers and I cannot trigger this experience.

Forum discussion at X.

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Microsoft is testing using a blue delivery truck icon in some of the ads in the Bing Search results. I guess it is to symbolize that they offer delivery?

This was spotted by Khushal Bherwani who posted this screenshot on X:

Bing loves testing out new icons for its search results. I mean, Bing Search has generally had a pretty cluttered user interface.

Also, spotted a bit earlier by:

pic.twitter.com/uzCCpuBdcw

— Sachin Patel (@SachuPatel53124) March 8, 2025

Forum discussion at X.

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Microsoft is testing showing the local/places listings in green within the Bing search results. Normally, you’d see them in the normal white background color, but here it is in green.

This was spotted by Frank Sandtmann who posted the following screenshot on Mastodon:

In comparison, this is what I see:

Frank wrote, “Bing is getting even more colorful. In this test, it appears that they have ditched the map and are showing Places results in green.”

Forum discussion at Mastodon.

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Microsoft released its Microsoft Advertising trust and safety report, which revealed it removed or restricted over one billion ads. The company also suspended over 475,000 advertiser accounts over the year.

In comparison, Google removed over 5 billion ads and suspended 39.2 million advertiser accounts in their safety report for 2025.

Here are the high-level stats from Microsoft Advertising:

• Removed/Restricted Over 1 Billion Ads
• Suspended Over 475,000 Advertiser Accounts
• Removed 250,000 Ads from Publisher Pages

Microsoft also shared data based on the appeals and consumer alerts. Microsoft said it acted on “rejecting nearly 245,000 ads and 5,000 accounts in response to 70,000 complaints, along with the overturn of over 1.5 million ad rejections and 20,000 accounts in response to 72,000 appeals.”

Forum discussion at X.

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Microsoft Clarity announced their new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server which enables developers, AI users and SEOs to query Clarity Analytics data with natural language prompts via AI.

The announcement listed the following ways users can access and interact with the data using MCP:

• Query analytics data with natural prompts
• Filter by dimensions like Browser, OS, Country/Region, or Device
• Retrieve key metrics: Scroll Depth, Engagement Time, Total Traffic, etc.
• Integrates with Claude for Desktop for AI-powered querying

MCP Server is a software package that needs to be installed and run on a server or a local machine where Node.js 16+ is supported. It’s a Node.js-based server that acts as a bridge between AI tools (like Claude) and Clarity analytics data.

This is a new way to interact with data using natural language, where a user tells the AI client what analytics metric they want to see and for what period of time and the AI interface pulls the data from Microsoft Clarity and displays it.

Micrsoft’s announcement says that this is the beginning of what is possible, sharing that they are encouraging feedback from users about features and improvements they’d like to see.

The current road map of features listed for the future:

“Higher API Limits: Increased daily limits for the Clarity data export API

Predictive Heatmaps: Predict engagement heatmaps by providing an image or a url

Deeper AI integration: Heatmap insights and more given the context

Multi-project support: for enterprise analytics teams

Ecosystem – Support more AI Agents and collaborate with more MCP servers “

Read Microsoft’s announcement:

Introducing the Microsoft Clarity MCP Server: A Smarter Way to Fetch Analytics with AI

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Net Vector

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Microsoft is testing a new pagination bar for its Bing Search results. Instead of the left arrow, page numbers and then right arrow, Bing is testing showing a “Next” button and then a “Prev” button.

We saw the next button before, but it was next to a refresh button. Now it looks a bit cleaner.

Sachin Patel spotted this and posted this screenshot of it on X:

You can compare that to what I see:

Forum discussion at X.

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Microsoft is not only testing removing the name “Microsoft Bing” from its search bar and logo, Microsoft is also testing shortening the underline under the search tab to about half the length.

Saving these pixels are crucial in saving the planet and reducing Microsoft’s carbon footprint in a massive way. Okay, maybe I am joking. But I mean, this story is pretty ridiculous if you ask me. – who cares that it is half of an underline and not a full underline? Well, I do, if I am writing about it.

This one was spotted by Frank Sandtmann who posted this screenshot on Mastodon – I cannot replicate but here is that screenshot:

Compare that to what I see:

Are you going to switch to Bing now?

Forum discussion at Mastodon.

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Microsoft reported its third quarter 2025 earnings and it showed that its search and advertising revenue was up 21%, again. The previous quarter it was up 21% as well, then the quarter before that was up 18%, then 19% but before than it was 12% and 8%.

Microsoft wrote, “Search and news advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 21% (up 23% in constant currency).”

Here are the highlights of the financial report:

• Revenue was $70.1 billion and increased 13% (up 15% in constant currency)
• Operating income was $32.0 billion and increased 16% (up 19% in constant currency)
• Net income was $25.8 billion and increased 18% (up 19% in constant currency)
• Diluted earnings per share was $3.46 and increased 18% (up 19% in constant currency)

Here is how the advertising revenue chart looks specific to search and news advertising revenue increases quarter to quarter (over):

“Cloud and AI are the essential inputs for every business to expand output, reduce costs, and accelerate growth,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. “From AI infra and platforms to apps, we are innovating across the stack to deliver for our customers.”

“We delivered a strong quarter with Microsoft Cloud revenue of $42.4 billion, up 20% (up 22% in constant currency) year-over-year driven by continued demand for our differentiated offerings,” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft.

Forum discussion at X.

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Microsoft Advertising has temporarily suspended the ability for agencies to send out client connection requests. Instead, the agency needs to reach out to Microsoft support and wait 5-7 days to hear back to be able to manage their client’s ad campaigns on Microsoft.

So instead of an agency being able to get running quickly with managing their client’s Microsoft Advertising accounts, they now have a delay of about a week to be able to even get started. This is a temporary issue that Microsoft is looking to address.

Kirk Williams posted about this on LinkedIn and told me, “Microsoft has confirmed it is not a bug, and that it is because of fraudulent activity. I’m unsure whether it’s temporary, but I sure hope so cause this suuuuucks….”

This is the email he received from Microsoft support:

“These requests have been forwarded to our Engineering team, who will handle the linking on your behalf. At this time, due to a recently implemented security measure, agencies are temporarily unable to send new client connection requests directly. This change was introduced proactively by our team to mitigate fraud risks across the platform, and while your account has not triggered any specific concern, the policy is currently applied universally.

I completely understand how this impacts your workflow, especially when managing multiple client accounts, and I truly empathize with the added time this process now requires. Please rest assured that I’ve submitted the request with priority and have also noted your urgency — our team is working hard behind the scenes to get this completed as soon as possible.

While the general processing timeframe for these types of requests is 5–7 business days, this is only an estimate based on typical scenarios. In practice, these are often completed much sooner, and I will personally monitor the progress for you. I’ll be sure to send a follow-up update once the invites have been successfully sent so you can verify them in your Requests Sent dashboard.”

Kirk explained how the process worked previously, he told me, “in the past, we the agency would simply send a request for the CID to the client through Microsoft (how Google MCC links works as well). Now we have to contact MAds support for each request, and they say it will take 5-7 days to process!”

I hope this does not last too long and that Microsoft gets this fixed soon.

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

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Microsoft released its 2025 Annual Work Trend Index this week.

The report claims this is the year companies will move beyond AI experiments and rebuild their core operations around AI.

Microsoft also introduced several new terms that it believes will shape the future of the workplace.

Let’s look at what Microsoft wants to add to your work vocabulary. Remember, Microsoft has invested heavily in AI, so they have good reasons to make these concepts seem normal.

The Microsoft AI Dictionary

1. The “Frontier Firm”

Microsoft says “Frontier Firms” are organizations built around on-demand AI, human-agent teams, and employees who act as “agent bosses.”

The report claims 71% of workers at these AI-forward companies say their organizations are thriving. That’s much higher than the global average of just 37%.

2. “Intelligence on Tap”

This refers to AI that’s easily accessible whenever needed. Microsoft calls it “abundant, affordable, and scalable on-demand.”

The company suggests AI is now a resource that isn’t limited by staff size or expertise but can be purchased and used as needed, conveniently through Microsoft’s products.

3. “The Capacity Gap”

This term refers to the growing disparity between what businesses require and what humans can provide.

Microsoft’s research indicates that 53% of leaders believe productivity must increase, while 80% of workers report a lack of time or energy to complete their work. They suggest that AI tools can fill this gap.

4. “Work Charts”

Forget traditional org charts. Microsoft envisions more flexible “Work Charts” that adapt to business needs by leveraging both human workers and AI.

These structures focus on results rather than rigid hierarchies. They allow companies to use the best mix of human and AI workers for each task.

5. “Human-Agent Ratio”

This term refers to the balance between AI agents and human workers required for optimal results.

Microsoft suggests that leaders need to determine the number of AI agents required for specific roles and the number of humans who should guide those agents. This essentially redefines how companies staff their teams.

6. “Agent Boss”

Perhaps the most interesting term is that of an “agent boss,” someone who builds, assigns tasks to, and manages AI agents to boost their impact and advance their career.

Microsoft predicts that within five years, teams will be training (41%) and managing (36%) AI agents as a regular part of their jobs.

7. “Digital Labor”

This is Microsoft’s preferred term for AI-powered work automation. Microsoft positions AI not as a replacement for humans, but as an addition to the workforce.

The report states that 82% of leaders plan to use digital labor to expand their workforce within the next year and a half.

However, this shift towards AI-powered work automation raises important questions about job displacement, the need for retraining, and the ethical use of AI.

These considerations are crucial as we navigate this new era of work.

Behind the Terminology

These terms reveal Microsoft’s vision for embedding AI deeper into workplace operations, with its products leading the way.

The company also announced updates to Microsoft 365 Copilot, including:

• New Researcher and Analyst agents
• An AI image generator
• Copilot Notebooks
• Enhanced search functions

Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s CMO of AI at Work, states in the report:

“2025 will be remembered as the year the Frontier Firm was born — the moment companies moved beyond experimenting with AI and began rebuilding around it.”

Looking Ahead

While Microsoft’s terms may or may not stick, the trends it describes are already changing digital marketing.

Whether you embrace the title “agent boss” or not, knowing how to use AI tools while maintaining human creativity will likely become essential in the changing marketing workforce.

Will Microsoft’s vision of “Frontier Firms” happen exactly as they describe? Time and the number of people who adopt these ideas will tell.

Featured Image: Drawlab19/Shutterstock

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