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Facebook Adds Microsoft Bing as Search Engine
Samir Makwana, Oct 14, 2010 1528 hrs ISTMicrosoft makes Bing search more social by pulling Facebook Likes into the search results
Facebook has partnered with Microsoft to add Bing as the web search engine inside the social network and also for populating user data. Facebook's chief technology officer Bret Tylon noted on the official Facebook blog, "We're partnering with Bing to give you a way to bring your friends' recommendations to online search." Both Bing and web results in Facebook would by default show the data of all the pages that your friends have hit the 'Like' button for. This feature would be rolled out for U.S. users in the coming weeks.
Looks like Microsoft and Facebook wanted to join hands to stay ahead in the web search battle. After Google integrated and favored Twitter for its real-time search momentum, Microsoft and Facebook got sidelined in terms of web search. Just in case you've forgotten or don't know yet, in 2007, Microsoft had invested $240 million to buy a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook. Facebook choosing Bing over Google gives a kind of exclusivity to Bing as well as Facebook at the same time.
Facebook Profile Search
When you go to Bing and search for an old friend, a relative, ex-colleague or anyone else, the search results will show Facebook users with that particular name on the top. Based on your Facebook connections, Bing will show the most relevant results. The Facebook search result in Bing would offer you links to add that person as a friend or send a message on Facebook.
Like Referential
As simple as it can get - whatever pages your friends and their friends have liked on Facebook and shared it on the web, will appear at the top of Bing search results. So now, if you search for stuff like a movie DVD or a book you wish to buy on Bing, it will show you results based on the recommendations of your friends.
Watch this video for more clarity.
How do you turn off Bing scouting your Facebook friends?
Thankfully, Facebook and Bing have offered options to turn off the social aspect of Bing and turn off Bing's features on Facebook. So, if you're logged into Facebook, it will take you to search at least five arbitrary things on Bing till you see "Bing just got better with your Facebook friends" on the top right corner of Bing page. Just click on the "Disable" link in that box and Bing will stop showing you Facebook search results on the top.
On Facebook, all you have to do is visit this link and block Bing from getting any information about you.
For details on these new Bing-Facebook features, click here.
Looks like Microsoft and Facebook wanted to join hands to stay ahead in the web search battle. After Google integrated and favored Twitter for its real-time search momentum, Microsoft and Facebook got sidelined in terms of web search. Just in case you've forgotten or don't know yet, in 2007, Microsoft had invested $240 million to buy a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook. Facebook choosing Bing over Google gives a kind of exclusivity to Bing as well as Facebook at the same time.
Facebook Profile Search
When you go to Bing and search for an old friend, a relative, ex-colleague or anyone else, the search results will show Facebook users with that particular name on the top. Based on your Facebook connections, Bing will show the most relevant results. The Facebook search result in Bing would offer you links to add that person as a friend or send a message on Facebook.
Like Referential
As simple as it can get - whatever pages your friends and their friends have liked on Facebook and shared it on the web, will appear at the top of Bing search results. So now, if you search for stuff like a movie DVD or a book you wish to buy on Bing, it will show you results based on the recommendations of your friends.
Watch this video for more clarity.
How do you turn off Bing scouting your Facebook friends?
Thankfully, Facebook and Bing have offered options to turn off the social aspect of Bing and turn off Bing's features on Facebook. So, if you're logged into Facebook, it will take you to search at least five arbitrary things on Bing till you see "Bing just got better with your Facebook friends" on the top right corner of Bing page. Just click on the "Disable" link in that box and Bing will stop showing you Facebook search results on the top.
On Facebook, all you have to do is visit this link and block Bing from getting any information about you.
For details on these new Bing-Facebook features, click here.
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(1) Comments
Stacy
,Los Angeles, on Oct 15, 2010 03:15 AM
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