Microsoft is testing a Bing result format that removes the site name from search snippets and shows only the page’s URL. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable reproduced the test with a screenshot and compared it against the standard layout, which still labels each result with its site name above the link.
The site name is brand real estate: a searcher scans it before reading the description, and it is often the fastest way to judge whether a result comes from a source worth trusting. Google spent years moving in the opposite direction, adding site names and favicons to results to make that branding more visible, not less, so a test that strips it back out runs against that trend.
Google ran a similar removal test roughly a year earlier, per Schwartz’s own reporting, and reverted to showing site names broadly. Bing has not said whether this is a small experiment or a precursor to a wider rollout.
Sites that rely on brand recognition to win the click over unfamiliar competitors in Bing results should watch whether this expands, since a URL-only snippet flattens that advantage.
Search Engine Roundtable’s Barry Schwartz reported this Bing test on September 2, 2026.
