err0r Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday it will start pulling information from Facebook Inc. users into its Internet search results, in a bid to boost its upstart Bing engine that's competing with market leader Google Inc. Microsoft and closely held Facebook announced the new facet of their ongoing partnership at an event in Microsoft's Silicon Valley offices. Under the terms of the partnership, Bing users signed into Facebook will be able to see search results instantly populated with information from their contacts on the social-networking service, including opinions and advice on restaurants, books and films. In turn, Bing search results are to become available on Facebook users' pages. Microsoft has been partnering in different ways with Facebook since 2006, and purchased a small ownership stake in the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company in 2007. Microsoft stressed that as a privacy consideration, Bing's integration with Facebook will be optional for users. The integration should make Bing a more efficient means of helping users find specific information and people, while making decisions easier, Microsoft said. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who spoke alongside Microsoft search executives, said the Redmond, Wash.-based company is an ideal partner due to its hunger to knock Google off its pedestal. "They really are the underdog here," Zuckerberg added. "They're incentivized to go all out and innovate." Microsoft recently sealed a partnership with Yahoo Inc. that has Bing powering the search results on Yahoo's pages. According to recent data from Experian Hitwise, Microsoft's share of the U.S. search market in September, including searches on Yahoo, amounted to roughly 24%, compared with Google's 72%. Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's senior vice president, demonstrated ways that Bing's tie-up with Facebook could help search users find a person who may not necessarily be well known. In addition, he showed ways the alliance could help a Bing user searching for a car or restaurant take the opinions of Facebook contacts into account, as part of Bing search results. Mehdi also estimated that some 4% of search queries are done for people. "We really admire and have been impressed with the way Facebook has pressed the Web to be more open and be more social," Mehdi said. "This is the start of what we think is a new chapter in search and social." Facebook's privacy policies have long come under close scrutiny. Asked about the privacy implications of the Microsoft tie-up, Zuckerberg replied that Bing users won't gain access to any information about Facebook users that hasn't already been made available to other contacts on the social-networking service. "Everything is going to be social, eventually," he said. Source: John Letzing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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