Facebook dumps Microsoft Bing

Social networking giant Facebook has gone its separate ways with Microsoft's Bing search engine, in favour of its own internal search engine, Facebook Search. 

The Bing search engine allowed for a broader online search through Bing's engine, from within the site's own search tool. Facebook confirmed it has dropped Bing as its search provider and will no longer include its results on the social network. The decision follows the relaunch of Facebook's own internal search engine last week.

Facebook and Microsoft partnered in January 2013 to bring Bing search results to Graph Search, the social network's search engine, a move that would "show you world class search results for things that don't match your query," according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

According to Reuters, a Facebook spokesperson says "we're not currently showing web search results in Facebook Search because we're focused on helping people find what's been shared with them on Facebook."  The spokesperson says Facebook continues to have a ''great partnership' with Microsoft.

Facebook announced new capabilities for Facebook Search just last week and extended it to mobile after nearly two years in beta. The updated search function now lets you search your and your friends' old posts for keyword-based updates, links, pictures, comments, and videos.

"You've told us the most important thing is being able to find posts you've seen before, and now you can," Tom Stocky, Facebook vice president of search, says in a blog post. "With a quick search, you can get back to a fun video from your graduation, a news article you've been meaning to read, or photos from your friend's wedding last summer." While users likely won't miss the Bing integration, Microsoft could take a hit. According to ComScore, Bing represented 19% of web searches under its Facebook partnership, compared with Google's 67% market share.