WebProNews

Microsoft Sells Fast Search & Transfer Businesses

Perhaps Yahoo has started a trend.  Yesterday, we learned that the company will shut down part of a business it bought two and a half years ago.  Today, there's word that Microsoft's sold some things it picked up while acquiring Fast Search & Transfer in early 2008.

Bing Launches New Maps with Apps

Microsoft has announced the launch of a new Bing Maps beta, which incorporates Streetside and Photosynth imagery. "The new Bing Maps experience also features innovative new mapping applications such as Twitter Maps for real-time updates by area and Local Lens featuring hyperlocal, neighborhood content," a representative for Bing tells WebProNews. There are a number of interesting apps available, which is easily the most interesting part about Bing's new Maps experience:

Microsoft Launches Twitter-Esque Service In China

Microsoft has launched a new service in China, and although it's based on Windows Live Messenger, comparisons to a site that's popular elsewhere in the world have become inevitable.  MSN Juku, which is in beta, seems a little bit similar to Twitter.

Gates Foundation Gives $3.4 Million For Library Broadband

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have committed nearly $3.4 million in grants to improve Internet connections for libraries in five states. Nationally, libraries report that demand for high-speed Internet access is growing faster than their ability to provide increased bandwidth. An American Library Association study found that 60 percent of all libraries say their current Internet speed is insufficient.

Link Building for Bing Rankings: Dos and Don'ts

It's easy for businesses to get caught up in Google's expectations for their sites, when trying to market through search. That's certainly a wise thing to do, considering Google dominates the search market by a huge margin. Still, there are other search engines that people are using, and it is also wise to make sure your site is performing to the best of its ability in those too.

Is it Really Crazy to Block Google?

After all is said and done Rupert Murdoch may still be seen as the sly old fox that really knew best. Many bloggers and journalists have pounded the insanity of Murdoch's suggestion that News Corp publications might strike an exclusive indexing deal with Bing and delist itself from Google's search engine.

Death, Disease, Money, and Twitter on Bing

Microsoft's Bing has revealed a top ten list of the most popular trending topics of 2009. To determine these, Bing analyzed billions of search queries and developed the list based on searches made with the Bing search (I mean decision) engine.

Microsoft Takes Users Behind Bing

Microsoft has launched a new site for Bing, where users can go to find out the latest features that have been implemented into the search engine (excuse me, "decision engine"). The site's called Behind Bing.

Australia, Canada Approve Microsoft-Yahoo Deal

We'll admit it: so far, most conversations concerning the Microsoft-Yahoo deal and antitrust issues have related to the U.S. and Europe.  Still, two potential roadblocks were eliminated yesterday when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau signaled their intent not to oppose the partnership.

Report: Microsoft, News Corp. Plotting Against Google

The companies behind search engines sometimes try to attract more traffic by advertising.  Establishing a partnership is another strategy, as is improving the actual search results.  Microsoft might be ready to try something a little different, however, as a new report's indicated that the company is interested in making Google's results worse.