Bing to duel Google with Facebook-friendly format

Microsoft’s Bing search engine is heading in a new direction as it drills deeper into Facebook’s social network and Twitter’s messaging service to showcase information unlikely to be found on Google. The changes, unveiled today, will reshape how Bing displays its search results. It represents Microsoft’s most dramatic shift in Internet search format since the software maker introduced Bing as a “decision engine” nearly three years ago. Microsoft Corp. is counting on the new format to loosen Google’s stranglehold on the lucrative Internet search market. In the process, Microsoft hopes to turn a profit in its online division, which has lost more than $6.3 billion since Bing’s June 2009 debut. In 2009 Bing replaced Live Search, a mostly futile attempt to challenge Google. Microsoft touted Bing as a Google alternative that would provide more meaningful results by helping people make important decisions, such as picking a doctor and finding the best time to buy an airline ticket. For the past two years, Bing has been taking advantage of Microsoft’s close relationship with Facebook to make search results more personalized and more relevant to users. But Bing has failed to come up with an approach compelling enough to lure away most Web surfers from Google. Bing is trying to fix that with the latest changes, which come out next month. Microsoft plans a marketing blitz on television and the Internet to promote the changes. Anyone seeking a peek during the next few weeks of testing can click here to sign up for an invitation. The testing period will begin Tuesday.