Facebook cuts display ad ties with Microsoft

Popular social site Facebook cut display ad ties with Microsoft Corp., but it is keeping its search relationship alive.  Microsoft, which bought a 1.6% stake in Facebook in 2007, has sold the network's display ads for the past three years.

“Given the kinds of advertisements that make sense within a product as unique as Facebook, it just made more sense for them to take the lead on this part of their advertising strategy,” explained Jon Tinter, general manager, Bing, in a blog post on February 5.

Despite that, it will continue to power Web search results on Facebook, according to Tinter, and run search-based text ads. It will also enhance the search experience, he said.

“We have deepened our joint work together on web search to provide even more compelling experiences to Facebook users with Bing,” Tinter said. “As part of this expanded cooperation in search, our two companies will soon provide Facebook users with a more complete search experience by providing full access to great Bing features beyond a set of links, including richer answers combined with tools that help customers make faster, smarter decisions.” He added that, “We are extending our cooperation outside the US, bringing the Bing-Facebook search integration to the more than 400 million people using Facebook around the world.”