Microsoft slides Bing search into Hotmail

Bing users can run a search from within a Hotmail message and add the results

Microsoft has added the ability to send Bing search results through Hotmail. The company said in a blog post that it will add the feature to its webmail service, allowing users to run a Bing search from within a Hotmail message and then add the search results.

The new feature is based on Quick Add, a Hotmail component unveiled in February. The feature allows users to insert various types of web content into the body of an email.

"With Hotmail's quick add feature, now enhanced with Bing, you can easily search, find and insert content from the web straight into your email messages, " wrote the Hotmail development team.

"With just one click you can add restaurant reviews, movie times, images, videos, maps and more."

Microsoft hopes that the feature will improve user adoption for Bing. The search engine was launched to much fanfare last month and was able to quickly pick up ground on rival search engines Google and Yahoo.