Microsoft Gets Social
Redmond has big plans for tools and partnerships that will let users consult a circle of friends when conducting Web searches
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Software giant Microsoft is taking its MSN Search division on a comeback tour. The next stop: Social search, a way of making Web search more relevant by incorporating the preferences of like-minded Net surfers.
Microsoft (MSFT) plans to unveil a question-and-answer social-search tool in the coming months, says Justin Osmer, senior product manager for MSN. The feature will let users direct questions to a specific universe, such as a group of friends, rather than to get automated lists of results from a generic search engine.