Microsoft adds Ping to Bing, leaves Windows Live in dark

Microsoft is adding a Web 2.0-stylie sharing feature to its Bing search engine.

Bing & Ping will allow web surfers to share some of their Bing searches with social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

However, Microsoft isn't making the service available to its own piddly Web 2.0 effort - Windows Live - at least not yet.

All of which has left a few users grumbling about Microsoft's odd decision to leave its own social networking site off the Bing & Ping VIP list.

At the moment users will be able to share things like film times, flight statuses and sports scores with their Facebook, Twitter and email chumps.

But they can't share that same day-to-day information with users of the Windows Live service.

"No, sorry, without any interaction with other MS apps or services it's pointless for me," noted one comment from Windows Live user Peter on Microsoft's Bing & Ping blog post.

Others, reasonably enough, asked why Windows Live hadn't been included in the sharing feature.

So far Microsoft's response has simply been to say that "this is great feedback!" and it will be passed along to the Bing team.

Anyone wanting to play with Bing & Ping needs to be signed up to Facebook first, as you'll need to become a fan of the new feature.

Of course Microsoft performed an intriguing act of corporate anilingus in 2007 when it slapped a $15bn value on boyman Mark Zuckerberg's online property. Facebook's value currently sits at around the $6.5bn mark, even though the site is still struggling to actually make some money out of itself. ®