Microsoft's Bing search engine is slowly expanding its market share, and its underlying technology is becoming increasingly embedded into Microsoft's other products including Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone's Cortana personal assistant. But there has been a major sticking point among its users: in many markets around the world, it's just not that great.

In the US, Bing and Bing-driven services provide good search results, extensive local information, and structured results. In the rest of the world, however, much of this rich information is absent. With the Windows Phone platform finding its greatest success outside the borders of the US, the apparent lack of attention paid to international markets has been a notable and surprising omission.

A Microsoft job posting reported on by WPCentral shows that this could at last be set to change. The job description notes that "Bing is embarking on the most ambitious geographic and product expansion in its history," and it suggests that priorities have changed: "International is now front and center at Bing." The company is planning a massive expansion in Bing's reach, the goal being to "make Bing a quality product in 75 markets around the world."

Microsoft is looking for a Business Development Manager to make both search and content deals for Bing on Web, mobile, and Xbox.

Windows Phone, in particular, has been in the peculiar position of achieving most market success in the markets where it's least well supported. Cortana's limited availability—she'll initially launch in the US, UK, and China—repeats this pattern. It's likely to be some time before the results of these new priorities really become visible. Nonetheless, it's the kind of prioritization that Microsoft should be making.