Talk about multitasking.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is gearing up to take on Google’s popular e-mail service at the same time the social-networking site struck a new deal with Microsoft that will give it back its display ad sales in exchange for giving Microsoft’s Bing a bigger search presence on its site.
In doing battle with Google’s Gmail, Facebook is working on a new e-mail program that will include more features and functionality, according to a report on TechCrunch, an industry blog.
The project, known as Titan, is supposed to make Facebook’s messaging system more competitive with Google’s Gmail.
In preparation for these changes, Facebook launched a newly redesigned home page late Thursday. The new look makes it easier to see messages and includes a more prominent search box at the top of the screen.
Meanwhile, the search-engine and ad-display changes are part of an advertising agreement that Facebook and Microsoft struck in 2007, when Microsoft invested $240 million in exchange for a small ownership stake.
Although Facebook hasn’t figured out what kinds of ads work best on its site, the site generates a huge number of page views and Facebook is taking a close look at how to turn those into a profit machine. Gaining control over its Web banners and other display ad sales gives it more room to maneuver.
“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,” Jon Tinter, Bing’s general manager, said in a blog posting.
Microsoft said it will now power Web search for Facebook outside the US, bringing Bing to the more than 400 million people using Facebook around the world. The original deal covered only the US but made Microsoft Facebook’s exclusive ad partner.
Microsoft also said it would integrate more Bing features into Facebook “beyond a set of links” under the expanded deal.
The company wouldn’t comment on the financial terms. Microsoft didn’t give a firm timetable, saying the expanded partnership would roll out in the weeks and months ahead.