Facebook gets more Bing -- and control of display ads

(Microsoft Corp.)

Microsoft said Friday that Bing will power Internet searches for Facebook's 400 million members in an arrangement that returns control of display advertising to the social-networking service.

Bing had previously powered online searches on US Facebook pages.

Microsoft will provide Facebook users full access to Bing features as part of an "expanded cooperation in search," according to Bing general manager Jon Tinter.

"You will start to see the fruits of our expanded relationship show up in the Facebook experience over the weeks and months ahead," Tinter said in a blog post.

The companies mutually agreed that Facebook will take over selling display advertising posted at the website because it "just made more sense" given the unique nature of the website, according to Tinter.

Microsoft's control of display advertising served up at Facebook stretched back to shortly before the US software giant bought a 1.6-percent stake in Facebook in 2007 for 240 million dollars.

That arrangement was inked in a contract that was up for renewal. Microsoft launched its new Bing search engine last year.