Bing Maps seen wearing creepy mask that makes it look a bit like ...

Microsoft’s Bing, still lagging Google by a country mile even with Yahoo!, has unveiled some suspiciously Google-like updates.

Destinations on Bing Maps now come with results cards, giving relevant information. That means if you’re looking for a shop or restaurant, you get hours of operation and nearby services.

Bing Maps' travel directions also come with different routes based on local traffic, rather than giving you just one choice.

Also updated is the map view: Bing Maps now take up the entire browser window, meaning the left-hand information column which had previously obscured maps has gone.

Details for a location now pop up when clicked, too.

You can view more here.

Bing was briefly the province of Satya Nadella – he led engineering on Microsoft’s search and online ads platform, as well as on MSN.

Back then, Nadella was hot on floating forthcoming new features as flights and trying to differentiate Bing against Google as a more “quality” and ordered experience, which it called a “decision engine”.

For all that, Bing still lags Google, while the latter has nabbed a few ideas from Bing without even thanking it for the effort. ®