Big Bing Update Mixes Facebook Friends, Experts in Results - huckstepeareeter

Microsoft's Bing is about to get a stellar overhaul, with a new sidebar that shows information from Facebook and otherwise social networks.

The "new Bing," as Microsoft calls it, consists of three columns on the search results page. The far left column is the widest of the three, and lists traditionalistic search links. Midmost, a "Snapshot" pane shows pertinent information directly connected the search page, such as eating house reviews, maps and hotel room rates. On the far right, a gray "Sidebar" shows social search results.

The Sidebar is the most engrossing break of the makeover. Users can ask round questions to their Facebook friends directly from the search page, and see a list of who might know virtually a given topic. From the Sidebar, users pot add comments on Facebook and pin Bing searches to their posts.

The Sidebar also suggests "acme experts and enthusiasts" with noesis about a topic, based on their public postings on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Quora, LinkedIn, Blogger and even Google+. On the bottom one-half the Sidebar, an activity feed shows posts from Facebook friends who've chosen to contribution with Bing.

The inexperienced Bing is clearly an assault on the way Google handles societal search. With Google's "Search Advantageous Your World," Google+ information gets prominent treatment in the main hunt column. Many Google searches now show an option for "personal results" at the top of the page, and other search results may follow affected by the user's Google+ contacts.

In a blog post, Bing's Derrick Connell and Harass Shum make a not-so-subtle jab at Google's draw near, though they don't mention the companion by name. "Instead of cluttering your results with social updates, we're honoring the purity of the core web results making it easier to focus on the links you need to flummox things through with," they write.

IT helps that Microsoft has access to Facebook. The two companies have a rich history–Microsoft was an early investor in Facebook--resulting in several ware partnerships through the years. Google, meanwhile, has ventured out on its own with Google+, but the network is not closely as popular as Facebook. Google is nerve-racking to prop up its social network by integrating it with other products, but critics have slammed that approach, saying the company has lost focus on center search.

At a glance, Bing's Sidebar seems like a more sensible way to wed social networking and traditional search, but I haven't actually tried IT. Microsoft says it wish roll prohibited the recent Bing in the coming days. Users who want to be first in contrast can sign up for an email alert.

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