Bing Revamps Search To Be More Facebook Friendly

Bing, the world’s first “decision engine,” announced big changes today that Microsoft hopes will help the search engine compete with giant Google. Bing’s new search engine will be deeply integrated with Facebook and Twitter.

Lisa Gurry, Bing’s senior director, said:

“This is a big, bold bet that we think is going to surprise a lot of people. It’s a fundamentally different way of looking at search.”

The changes will come out next month and if you want to be one of the first to try out the new system you can sign up for an invitation at bing.com/new.

So what will be different?

According to Fox, Bing’s search results will come in three columns instead of one. The left column will be similar to the search results that Bing currently gives. The middle column will focus on tasks, like getting directions, making reservations, or buying movie tickets. The final column will be Bing’s new bread and butter. The social search.

The third column, “Sidebar,” will allow people to draw search results based on their Facebook preferences. If you are signed into Facebook, you’ll be able to pose questions to friends and even post results to Facebook without leaving the site.

Gurry said:

“Different parts of the social graph are good for different reasons. When I am looking for advice about a movie, I probably don’t want to see a recommendation from one of my `foodie’ friends. What Bing is doing looks like a very elegant approach, but it remains to be seen if people are going to like it.”

The Associated Press gives an example of how the third column will work. Searching for a specific hotel will result in a list of friends who have been to that hotel or that city. You can then use the third column to send a message to a specific friend.

Bing may be trying to get the upper hand on Google but the company said that it isn’t trying to favor one social product over the other. The new Bing search will incorporate results from Facebook, Twitter, and even Google +.

What do you think about Bing’s new search? Do you think Bing will be able to increase its popularity with the new tools?