The much-rumoured incorporation of Microsoft’s search engine Bing into Facebook is happening. The way the alliance will change search is interesting, and very worrying for Google. “When you search for something on Bing or in web results on Facebook (powered by Bing), you’ll be able to see your friends’ faces next to web pages they’ve liked,” said COO Bret Taylor on the Facebook blog. “So, you can lean on friends to figure out the best websites for your search.”
Microsoft was one of the earliest investors in Facebook and owns a small percentage of the company. What’s most interesting is that Bing’s mapping technology powers Facebook Places and combined with the Facebook ‘Like’ button the future of search has just become very personalised.
While Google’s search results are based on a universal algorithm and ad word rankings, Facebook searches will be heavily influenced by a person’s likes, dislikes and what their friends recommend. The kind of information Facebook will be able to gleam from its new search feature will prove extremely interesting to marketers looking to target people with personal, geographical, relevant, real time ad messages.
In 2006, Bjergegaard co-founded Rainmaking Ltd., a ‘start-up factory’ that launches start-up companies, builds them into solid businesses and eventually exits them. Rainmaking has so far launched 15 start-up companies
Stephen Conmy
- Editor and co-founder of Digital Times, co-founder of The Appys, writer and publisher.