Social networks such as Friendster (http://www.friendster.com), Linked In (http://www.linkedin.com) and orkut (http://www.orkut.com) have been all the rage this year, allowing people to pal around online with friends and make new social and business connections based on discovering similar interests.

Now comes a new twist: Friendster today took the wraps off of a web search service that not only keeps track of your own history, but also highlights search results that members of your network have viewed. The idea is that the information your friends turn up while searching will also be useful to you.

Well... maybe. In today's SearchDay article, Friendster, Eurekster Team Up for Personalized Search (http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3445791), I look at the new Friendster search and come away with mixed conclusions about its usefulness as an information finding tool.

Search marketers should take note, however: Eurekster CEO Steven E. Marder says that the new search capabilities on Friendster have begun yielding extremely high conversion rates "in excess of industry norms."

Comments welcome!