Microsoft paying news outlets to bail on Google

Jacqueline DiOrio 23 Nov, 2009 at 4:05pm ET Article published in Tech

A report from the Financial Times reveals that Microsoft has offered major news corporations significant money to abandon Google in favor of an exclusive agreement with Bing.

The report confirms prior rumblings that Microsoft had approached Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp with a large sum in exchange for the news conglomerate’s agreement to delist itself from Google search results.

Google, for its part, has expressed no particular concern over the events.

“Economically it’s (News) not a big part of how we generate revenue,” says Google UK Director Matt Brittin.

Microsoft seems willing to spend considerably to draw users away from Google, but only time will tell if the gambit plays out in their favor.

Comments

23 Nov 2009 ~ 4:13pm Cliff_Forster Ethics concerns?
23 Nov 2009 ~ 4:32pm Linc Wow, Microsoft is indeed determined to drive itself into the ground with all the force it can muster.

I don't think it's an ethics concern; it's a concern for MS's shareholders about how it's going to further damage its non-Windows finances.
23 Nov 2009 ~ 5:08pm QCH Ethical... not sure but didn't Intel use similar tactics against AMD? Hmmmmm what was the EU fine for that again?
23 Nov 2009 ~ 5:16pm Cliff_Forster

QCH wrote:

Ethical... not sure but didn't Intel use similar tactics against AMD? Hmmmmm what was the EU fine for that again?

That is what I am thinking. Paying someone not to use the other guy? Just seems wrong to me.
23 Nov 2009 ~ 5:19pm shwaip Eh, they can have News Corp.
23 Nov 2009 ~ 5:29pm Butters

shwaip wrote:

Eh, they can have News Corp.

Thank you, I wasn't going to say it.
24 Nov 2009 ~ 4:09pm airbornflght What they are attempting to do is roll back history and limit consumer choice.

I don't much like the idea of going to the store for food and being told which brands I may purchase.
24 Nov 2009 ~ 4:28pm Grimnoc

airbornflght wrote:

I don't much like the idea of going to the store for food and being told which brands I may purchase.

Then go to a different store. This happens naturally in stores all the time as some carry brands that others do not.
24 Nov 2009 ~ 4:36pm Grimnoc

Cliff_Forster wrote:

Ethics concerns?

Nope. Not in the slightest. It would become an ethical concern if Google were forced to index or display results they would otherwise choose not to(for whatever reason that may be).
24 Nov 2009 ~ 7:03pm TheHeartSmasher

Grimnoc wrote:

Nope. Not in the slightest. It would become an ethical concern if Google were forced to index or display results they would otherwise choose not to(for whatever reason that may be).

Yeah the whole safe search service that google provides would have to killed if they where forced to show all indexed material without some sort of warning. I think if Microsoft where able to innovate better ideas they would not have ideas of paying off sites to remove their indexing from Google. As in the end it hurts the end the end user and will decrease traffic from those that remove their results from Google search. One rule of business that many large companies keep forgetting is if you want to beat the other guy you should work hard at it and innovate to keep ahead of your competitor. Google did this and now they are number 1 in the search engine game. I don't know about you guys but when I use Bing I don't always find what I am looking for when compared to what I get when I use Google.
24 Nov 2009 ~ 8:14pm Grimnoc

Grimnoc wrote:

Nope. Not in the slightest. It would become an ethical concern if Google were forced to index or display results they would otherwise choose not to(for whatever reason that may be).

Upon re-reading the initial article this makes no sense. What I meant to communicate was that if a search engine (such as Bing or Google) decides on their own to not list something (for whatever reason) it is not unethical. It however would be unethical to force them to list something they would otherwise choose not to (for whatever reason).
23 Dec 2009 ~ 9:26pm Savage Of course it is wrong to pay off businesses to favor your products!!! WTF!!!! Why is it that this is allowed in the first place!! It is politics! They have been allowed to do these things because of less regulation.
24 Dec 2009 ~ 6:10am Snarkasm Only wrong if you're a monopoly, etc