Google Battles on with Bing, Announcing its own Twitter Deal

All of this means that the "10 Blue Links" to which we've grown accustomed could be changing in a big way, and the ways we use social networking could change, too. I'm left with some questions on how this will affect consumers, but I'll try to piece together what I can from what we've learned:

How will all this stuff work?

You can try the beta of Bing's Twitter search now. It's similar to searching on Twitter itself, but you can see the top links being shared, which is useful for tracking down hot stories. Microsoft hasn't been specific about its Facebook integration plans, and Google has been similarly cagey about how Twitter integration will work when it launches "in the coming months." Google did, however, show off Social Search: if you're using Google Profile and have friends in Google Contacts, a Web search will bring up results from FriendFeed and other social networking service, mid-way down the page.

What's the benefit for consumers?

With Twitter, Google sees utility in "real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort," while Microsoft says it wants to keep tabs on "all the latest chatter," such as breaking news, celebrity gossip, and sports talk. These are different philosophies, and how you benefit will probably depend on what you personally like or dislike about social networking.

How will Google and Bing add value to Twitter and Facebook?In other words, how will searching on Google and Bing be better than using Twitter and Facebook directly? Much of that remains to be seen, but so far, I like how Bing is pulling up top links from Twitter searches. I'd like to see more things along that line, where data is used in clever ways instead of merely indexed for searches.

How will privacy be protected?

Microsoft told the Telegraph that it has to be "very careful about making sure the correct data is streamed," because not all Facebook data is public. I don't know how challenging this will be, but a single snafu could be catastrophic. Google and Microsoft will have to be equally careful with Twitter users who've locked their status updates.