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Is Bing Really Powering Facebook Places?

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Now that Facebook Places has finished rolling out to the masses (that is if you reside within the US), users are now able to “check in” and checkout where their friends are hanging out throughout the day.

However to my surprise, instead of seeing Bing powering Facebook Places, iPhone users are instead seeing Google Maps dominating the scene.

Bing however was able to provide an explanation as why iLovers were seeing their rival instead of them.

Chris Pendleton of the Bing Maps team offers this explanation: “Bing Maps is the map provider for Facebook Places on Facebook.com. Facebook is using the native Apple iPhone map kit within the SDK which fetches Google Maps for check-ins. Note, this is an Apple API that proxies to Google Maps and not a Google Maps API.” (via TechFlash Mobile)

Since Google Maps is the default maps program for the iPhone, Facebook had no choice but to utilize their frenemy’s application, despite their partnership with Bing.

While users can check in via Facebook’s web app, most users will probably use the native iPhone app instead, which (to Bing’s displeasure) will help push Google Map’s mobile numbers even higher.

Although a future iPhone SDK could change all of this, for now it looks like the Google has once again secured victory, this time against 3 of their biggest rivals (Facebook, Apple and Microsoft).

Originally posted on August 20, 2010 @ 1:41 pm

Is Bing Crippling Facebook Places?

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As every iLover knows, Facebook recently added Facebook Places to their iPhone. However instead of choosing to partner with their frenemy Google, Facebook instead is allowing Bing to power its location feature.

And, while location-based services like this are certainly interesting to me I’m writing this for you because Facebook is using Bing Maps to pinpoint everyone’s location-based experiences on Facebook.com. […]

Select the Places button, find the location where you are and check-in. Just like that, the check-in will flow to your profile on Facebook.com complete with a Bing Map, a pin of your location and any commentary you’ve added to your check-in. Places also includes the ability to see where your friends have checked in, a link to get directions to a place (via Bing Maps) and a Like button for the respective place page. (Bing Community Blog)

While it’s no surprise Facebook chose Bing over Google (due to the latter’s upcoming social network), doing so may have handicapped the service as Bing via iPhone is only available for users within the US, despite the fact that Facebook has a large international audience.

Unless Bing plans on expanding their mobile feature beyond the US borders soon, Facebook’s places will probably fail to be as powerful as Twitter Places (the latter which choose Google Maps for their service).

Although Facebook places has the potential of making location statuses popular among the masses on a scale yet to be seen by any social network, its America only limitation may keep Facebook from being adopted globally (which may benefit rivals like Twitter and the upcoming Google Me).

Originally posted on August 19, 2010 @ 11:16 am

Bing Begins Yahoo! Assimilation

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Bing

After quiting the search engine wars, it looks as if Yahoo! has finally begun handing over its beloved search bar, dignity and any silver medals to Microsoft’s Bing, who (as shown below) eagerly awaits the opportunity to take on Google.

When we announced our intention to enter into a search and advertising relationship with Yahoo! almost a year ago, we began a journey that will help us build a scale search advertising marketplace and provide a real competitive alternative for consumers, publishers and advertisers.

Beginning just a few days ago, we began some important testing across both our systems designed to verify our joint work and make sure we are ready to deliver a quality transition for customers, which we are on track to complete in the US and Canada over the next few months. (Bing Community Blog) [Read more…]

Originally posted on July 22, 2010 @ 5:12 pm

Bing Goes Social, Threatens Google On iPhone

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It looks like Microsoft’s Bing may have just upped the ante for search on the iPhone by fully embracing two of the largest social networks in the US.

Now you can connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts and see combined status updates from your friends from within the Bing app. But that’s easy. When we asked what else we could do with this personal intelligence, we looked at the data behind how people were using their social networks. Turns out that over 40% of the time when people ask ambiguous queries that don’t have a defined answer (like where should I go to eat tonight), social networks are faster at providing a great answer than traditional search engines. (Bing Community Blog)

Although Google has already included Twitter within their search engine results, Bing’s personal integration of Facebook and Twitter should make the latter more relevant against the search Titan (who is looking rather bland).

Social integration wasn’t the only feature Bing offered users, as they have also included a feature that may help the smaller rival compete against Google Goggles. [Read more…]

Originally posted on June 22, 2010 @ 1:47 pm

Bing To Twittersphere: Lets Save The Gulf

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With the Gulf of Mexico fiasco spilling out of control (pun intended), the boys and girls at Bing have offered to help CNN raise funds for the media network’s telethon.

Bing’s fundraising attempts mimic Tumblr’s previous efforts, the latter who became famous for changing their dashboard from blue to black unless a user donated to a specific charity. [Read more…]

Originally posted on June 21, 2010 @ 9:28 pm