The new capabilities build on existing links Bing has to both Twitter and Facebook, highlighting the increased importance of meshing search engines with social networking sites. For some queries, input from people's social circle is very valuable and relevant.

Bing Social already had a section for people interested in searching only through public posts and status updates from Twitter and Facebook. Now, Twitter content will appear in Bing News search results.

"Search for a news item and immediately see what people are tweeting on the topic," wrote Betsy Aoki, a Bing senior program manager, .

Meanwhile, Bing now displays a Facebook box in which logged in users can type in a status update and post it to their Facebook profile without leaving the Bing interface.

The feature is now specifically available for "overview" pages in Bing Entertainment, a section of the site that offers information digests on movies, actors, singers and other entertainment categories.