Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has admitted publicly that it did a poor job of making people aware of the features in its old search engine. With the rollout of Bing, it’s becoming crystal clear just how unfamiliar people were with Live Search. Features that had long existed in Live Search are suddenly getting noticed and being branded as “new.”
Five examples:

—Smart motion previews: Internet safety experts are up in arms, according to a Fox News story, because Bing’s video search lets visitors preview videos by hovering their cursors over a thumbnail —potentially providing a way for children to watch porn without having to navigate to a porn site. But, according to Bing Search GM Mike Nichols, who responded to the controversy in a blog post Thursday, the feature has actually existed for “well more than a year.”

SEE ALSO: Interview: Microsoft Search Director Weitz On The Strategy Behind ‘Bing’

—Bing 411: TechCrunch said that Bing 411—a feature that lets users call a number to get local information—was a “direct swipe” at a similar Google (NSDQ: GOOG) product and had been “lost in all the excitement” around the launch of Bing. Other publications also covered the supposed “introduction” of Bing 411. But the product had existed under the name Live Search 411 since October 2007.

Three more, after the jump…