Bing to integrate Facebook friend data

Microsoft's Bing search engine will integrate data from Facebook to bring more personalised search results.

Microsoft is hoping that tying Bing into Facebook will increase the search engine's popularity as it battles it out for market share against Google.

Essentially, the search engine will factor in Facebook friend recommendations into its search functionality, to personalise your results

Fuelled by emotions?

"The best decisions are not just fuelled by facts, they require the opinions and emotions of your friends," said Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president, Bing.

"Search is now more than a fact finder — we're marrying fact-based search results with your friends' street smarts to combine the best data on the Web with the opinions of the people you trust the most and the collective IQ of the Web."

With relationships fractious between Facebook and Google at the moment – with bickering over the use of open data turning into unsavoury smear campaigns from the former – Microsoft is keen to take advantage.

Splashing the MS cash

The Redmond-based software giant is making some massive deals at the current time, using its deep pockets to try to buy market share in key areas such as phone OS (with Nokia), video calls (with the purchase of Skype) and search, with an agreement with China's Baidu coming soon and now a Facebook tie in.

"Starting today, you can receive personalized search results based on the opinions of your friends by simply signing into Facebook,"stated the Bing blog.

"New features make it easier to see what your Facebook friends "like" across the web, incorporate the collective know-how of the web into your search results, and begin adding a more conversational aspect to your searches.

"Decisions can now be made with more than facts, now the opinions of your trusted friends and the collective wisdom of the web."