Posted 08/08/08 at 05:02:16 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Just in time for the start of the Olympics, Neowin.net reports that Microsoft's Live Search has added many new features to help you keep track of what's happening in Beijing:

• Live Search News now includes a direct link to Beijing 2008 Olympics news.
• The new xRank Live Search page features an Olympics category where you can track  the popularity and news coverage of individual athletes.
• Select Video from the Live Search home page and enter Olympics (or follow this link) to search for Olympics-related videos.
• Enter an Olympic athlete's name in Live Search, and Live Search will display Olympics-related information first, a feature Microsoft calls Athlete Instant Answer.
• Microsoft has also tweaked how searches for Olympics-related keywords work. Search for events such as "swimming" or "USA basketball" and you'll see the latest medal count for the event or the country once the events begin, a feature know as Medal Instant Answer.
• And, to round off the Olympic-friendly repackaging of Live Search for Beijing 2008, Microsoft plans to display various Olympics-related images as backgrounds on the Live Search home page http://www.live.com/.

Note that some of these features might not take effect until Olympics competition begins.

The changes to Live Search are convenient if you're a fan of the Olympics, but how do you feel about a search engine's tweaking its results according to current events? Do you like the idea, or does it smack of a bit of "Big Brother?" We'll take your feedback after the jump.

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