Almost one year ago, Microsoft announced that they had landed a search deal with Facebook and Twitter, allowing real time updates from the social networking sites to appear in the search results. This pushed ever more the "decision engine" idea, as the users decided what trending topics were. Fast forward six months and Microsoft upgraded its search engine to add more integration with Facebook, and improve integration with Twitter. Now, CNET reports, Microsoft and Facebook wish to tie together their search even more.
Several people knowledgeable of the situation shared news that Bing may soon be able to tap into anonymized data that is generated from the various features Facebook uses to integrate the service with other web sites. Facebook's "Like" Button is a fantastic resource to find out what trending topics are hot, even when they are not searched or stated elsewhere.
All of this data would be incredibly aiding to both Bing users, and advertisers on the search engine. For the users, it would allow a more accurate representation of what is popular and what people like. The information would help tweak Bing's search results so that the most liked and most likely relevant data would be placed up first for the user.
Those who place advertisements on the search engine would also get perks. For them, it would show what users are actively into and give advertisers a better concept of their market.
Do not fear that all of your data will be taken without your warning, as the only data that could be mined would be what the user already makes public.
9 Comments - Add comment