Microsoft's Real-Time Polling Platform Bing Pulse Goes Public

Microsoft's real-time polling platform Bing Pulse - version 2.0 of the search engine's analytics platform - has been made public. Bing Pulse has been empowering major news outlets for the last two years. 

Bing Pulse allows event organizers and media outlets to gauge consumer sentiment. It offers public/audiences to chime in and vote on topics. For admins, it provides a dashboard were polling can be reviewed in real time.

Results can be integrated into video feeds or embedded on the website or, can be kept secret while analyzing them and shared later. 

"Participants can make their voices heard, and make more informed decisions about the content they're viewing by understanding others' reactions to events unfolding in real-time. Bing Pulse 2.0's self-serve technology enables event producers and organizers to bring these benefits to participants at events of any size -- from 10 people at a nonprofit meeting to 5,000 people gathered in a Vegas ballroom to millions watching a nationally broadcast show," said a Bing Pulse team representative in a statement.

Despite Bing Pulse being upgraded to version 2.0, the Big Data Platform remains in beta testing period. All versions of Bing Pulse during the beta can be used for free until Jan. 31, 2015. However the price of the service is expected to be between $200 and $1000 once it is released officially.