Microsoft struck a deal with Facebook and Twitter that adds social search capabilities to the Bing search engine. The move may make it harder for Google to gain a firm foothold in the social networking arena.
With Twitter, Microsoft agreed to display real-time Twitter messages in Bing's News section. With Facebook, logged-in users will see a Facebook box on Bing in which they can update their status on their Facebook profile without leaving the Bing interface. This makes it much easier for users to share what they've found with their social network.
The Facebook feature is specific to “overview” pages in Bing Entertainment. “Whether it's a movie, a video game or even an artist, now you share your thoughts with just one click,” wrote Betsy Aoki, a Bing senior program manager, in a blog post.
What do these deals mean? First, there's less of a chance now that Google will buy Twitter. Second, it appears that Facebook is choosing sides...and it's leaning toward Microsoft. Third, if Google hopes to be successful in the online social sphere, it will probably have to build it rather than buy it. So far, it has had only limited success in this avenue. Could the future of the web belong to Microsoft after all? Only time will tell.
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