Yakkstr

My thoughts on Microsoft copying Google's search results

If you haven't heard the news, Microsoft has been caught copying Google's search results. I've read a lot of commentary on this (here, here, here, and here), but there are two significant issues that aren't getting much attention.

Microsoft is copying these search results because their browser or their plugin sends peoples searches to Microsoft which I doubt most users realize. Do you sense big brother watching you now? Google also has an eery big brother vibe that has been increasing over time, and it's becoming more pronounced as I'm flooded with ad sense ads related to recent searches I've done. Google knew this story would get a lot of media attention, but by bringing it to light they are reopening the big brother conversation and they won't come out looking good on that front.

The second issue is why they care. Microsoft's bing is clearly an inferior search product, yet it's market share is rising. Some metrics show they they've risen to 29% market share. How does a clearly inferior product accomplish that? Because Bing is the default search engine on new windows computers and many users don't bother changing it. That is the real problem google faces with this issue. Maybe they should start investing in a user friendly desktop operating system.

report |
travelr712 said about 1 year ago ...

they already are developing one. google wrote android, which is the only rival for iphone and now ipad, and will most likely outdistance apple because android, like microsoft, is platform independant, and iphone os only works on apple hardware and apple partner carriers. even the claim that google made is mostly media driven hype with very little substance, because google does the same thing ms does, captures data from its customer's searches. yahoo, amazon, etc. do that, that's how they generate those 'most searched' lists. the telling factor for that is that it took 'several weeks' for the implanted search site from google to show up in bing. if bing was hijacking google's engine, it would have been immediate. i think this is just a google marketing ploy, keeping their name in the media as 'the good guy' and making ms look bad.

wombat said about 1 year ago ...

If I wrote a blog about clocks or pickles, I would probably see ads for clocks or pickles up there before the comments. What amazes me is the speed that they do this--not a couple of days later---but instantly. You have "Do You Sell AdWords?" and a couple of other related subjects that I see now on this page. One is by google, but the other two are ones I haven't heard of. Did they coattail google to get here?

reckoner said about 1 year ago ...

android isn't a desktop OS, it's for phones and now tablets.

@wombat I'm not sure exactly what your asking, but the ads on here are from google. Google knows what you search for and will show you ads based on what you've searched for. It's a tag big brotherish isn't it?

Join our friendly Yakkstr community in 1 Easy Step
  • Meet Like Minded People
  • Share your thoughts with others who share your interests
  • No assholes to deal with, we keep them out
Join Now by writing your first comment below


Related Posts
Thoughts on Kindness
and how it's not just something that happens.
11 comments
last by wombat 11 months ago
A Trip to My "Happy Place"
4 comments
last by paper 6 months ago
Thoughts on Love
PB: Good morning Uni: morning PB: Hey its been really rough here with deprived sleep so : if I am mean towards you or wrong you in anyway I am sorry Uni: you never are : and why aren't you sleeping? PB: I just realise I
4 comments
last by uniquely-learning 8 days ago
Finding Neverland
You could count me as one of those bloggers, that has a hard time commenting because I simply do not want to say the wrong thing. Or my mind needs to write a lot of scattered thoughts first and puzzle them together before I can deliver a whole vivid
2 comments
last by paper 6 months ago
Thoughts on 365 and Experimenting with Formatting
writing about a personal project and trying out formmatting in yakkstr
3 comments
last by paper about 1 year ago
Tid Bits
from my buddy at the pie shop.
15 comments
last by moonriver over 1 year ago
Family, Beers, Home Tomorrow
I feel like I used up all of my tags in the title. A touch happier post, again
4 comments
last by torrentdeheart over 1 year ago
My Life After Death Experiences
Some specific experiences of the paranormal after the death of my son, who died in a car accident in 2003.
5 comments
last by wombat 10 months ago
Thoughts on New Year's Eve (31.12.11)
20:48 Saturday I am shaking my head and chiding myself silently because I am SERIOUSLY trying to come up with other words to describe how I feel, than feeling "blessed" and being very grateful for this feeling. It's ridi
11 comments
last by paper about 1 month ago

Remember me

New? Sign up here.
ddonnell commented 3 months ago on
Why I don't use the JVM
amen linbsd read the rest
ddonnell commented 3 months ago on
Why I don't use the JVM
@jasonspak, I tried to do that, and I can't get it to use under 100MB. Permgen alone was close to read the rest
ddonnell commented 3 months ago on
Why I don't use the JVM
Hi anonymous. I should have reserved that username ;) PHP, Ruby, Python .... yeah, use one of these for web apps. It also bugs me that the JVM isn't as unix friendly as I would read the rest
ddonnell commented 10 months ago on
Get a deal a day
haha, thanks read the rest
ddonnell commented 10 months ago on
MIT Skip Lists Lecture
you can always ask here for read the rest
ddonnell commented 10 months ago on
MIT Skip Lists Lecture
It's entry level assuming some foundation. I forget the specifics, but I was required to take a certain amount of math before taking it, so if you go to college for it you'll be forced to take enough math before getting to these classes. Btw, I think the read the rest
ddonnell commented about 1 year ago on
OLPC: these are so cool
gr, youtube changed their embed code and it doesn't work on yakkstr. There is supposed to be a video there. [Here's the video read the rest
ddonnell commented about 1 year ago on
url-normalizer
hehe, it won't. It's for programmers to use. I might use it on this site for some far off ideas I have. I need to get the private posts working read the rest
ddonnell commented over 1 year ago on
James Toney vs. Randy Couture
here we go, fight about to read the rest
ddonnell commented over 1 year ago on
James Toney vs. Randy Couture
I don't see this fight being that great either way. There are only two possible options I see, toney catches randy and it's a short fight. Randy controls toney and finishes him quick. But, I'm really excited about the edgar v penn rematch, and the read the rest