Microsoft on Tuesday formerly introduced a redesigned version of its MSN Web portal. The new site features a simplified design, tighter integration with social networks and a more prominent link to the company's Bing search engine.

"The new MSN homepage cuts through the clutter with a clean, new design and offers search, news, local and social networking, all in one place," said Erik Jorgensen, Microsoft's corporate VP for MSN, in a blog post.

Jorgensen said Microsoft is rolling out the redesign in phases, "but all of our 100 million customers in the US will have the new homepage within the next few weeks," he added.

In designing the new page, Jorgensen said Microsoft elicited more than 70,000 pieces of consumer feedback, which ultimately led to about 30 new updates.

"Today marks an important milestone for us, but we're going to keep working hard to hear your feedback and deliver more great experiences across MSN," he said.

Among the more noticeable improvements on the new MSN is a revamped social networking module that automatically imports updates from a number of popular networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live.

"Social networking is handy to have on the homepage," wrote Jorgenesen.

The MSN refresh also adds a feature to Bing called TrendWatch that tells viewers what's hot on Twitter, and it provides a Local model that emphasizes content relevant to particular cities and regions.

Microsoft is hoping the redesign will attract more Web users to its homepage, which in turn should lead to increased search traffic for Bing.

Google currently controls 65.4% of the U.S. search traffic market, while Microsoft sites own a share of just 11.3%, according to market watcher comScore. Yahoo, with whom Microsoft recently struck a search alliance, is in second place, with a 17% share.

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