- Image via Wikipedia
In a bid to make Web search results more personal, Microsoft’s Bing search engine has started showing users in the United States which sites and products their Facebook friends like. This is part of a 4 year partnership deal between both organisations and another strategy by Bing to challenge Google and others in the search engine market.
The new service uses a Facebook feature that allows third-party Websites to embed a “Like” button on their Web pages so that a connection can be made between a user-profile and an external site when the button is clicked. These connections are then used to create personalised results such that for example, a Bing user searching for a movie Cinema is showed results which includes a separate box alongside traditional links that includes Cinemas his or her Facebook friends liked.
Just like the Bing feature that allow users to search Facebook contacts using Bing, this function is optional and will only work when users are either logged into Facebook or have cookies on their computers that store Facebook data. However, Facebook maintains that no private data was shared in both features.
Talking Point
Can this deal help Microsoft’s Bing leap in front of Google and Yahoo as the most popular search engine?
I think this feature is going to help Bing to increase the popularity in search engine, but I dont think this deal can land Bing in front of Google, but it will help to close the gap with Google.
It won’t land Bing in front of Google. Maybe down the road, but now at this moment.
Yawns.. this is a ho-hum feature. Bing is just trying desperately to grab some headlines, that’s all.