Microsoft Announces Live Search for Facebook

After losing its bid to take over rival search engine Yahoo and gain greater influence on the web, Microsoft has shifted its strategy in trying to reach web users. The Redmond-based company announced last week that it will be providing search services and online advertising for social networking giant Facebook.

No, this is not a case of deja vu. Yes, Microsoft is already working alongside Facebook, but this most recent deal augments their outstanding 2006 advertising agreement in which Microsoft acquired 5 per cent of the social networker for $240 million. (Source: nzherald.co.nz)

How will it work?

That's undecided. Microsoft has stated publicly that it is still figuring out how the in-site search engine will work, and where it will be placed on the average profile page.

Instead, most of the speculation surrounds Microsoft's recent tactics in the marketplace. After all, this marks the second significant deal of the sort in recent months. In June, the company announced it had reached an agreement with very popular hardware manufacturer Hewlett-Packard, which will in-future include Microsoft tools on its desktops.

For Facebook users, the announcement should be a welcome one. At this point, people must -- gasp! -- leave their profile pages or heck, even start a new "tab" in order to crawl the Internet. With the Microsoft deal, they can continue "Face stalking" their friends, friends' friends, and exes while searching the web for a new pair of socks.

Greg Sterling, founder of Sterling Market Intelligence, a consulting and research firm, recently told the media "One of the issues with Microsoft search is that people just haven't been exposed to it." By sticking its nose in Facebook's business, the big MS might finally have the right idea in its pursuit of Google. (Source: nytimes.com)

Oh, and world domination.