Google v. Bing(?)

In recent news, you may have heard that Google operated a sting to catch Microsoft's search engine, Bing, copying Google's search results on Internet Explorer and implementing them in Bing's search results. To do this, Google created a specific webpage that would appear if words like “hiybbprqag” and “mbzrxpgjys” were typed into Bing. Bing is contesting the allegations of "copying" and says that it merely monitored users, a fair online practice according to Bing's Harry Shum. Bing doesn't deny that it monitors its users' browsing online, rather the search engine argues that it oversees all of the internet activity across the web, not just when Internet Explorer users search through Google. This is called a clickstream, which Bing observes over time, tracking results of each user in the webpage's URL. This search signal, and not Google signal, is an aggregation of all the different searches that users perform, including those on other sites like Yahoo. To Bing, it is irrelevant if Google is a popular search, because the intention is not to solely perform a Google search. Bing can also show that only about 9% of the specific searches for nonsensical words that Google performed were found using Bing. Where does this leave the case? Well, Google has adamantly stood by its original purpose for bringing these search results to light, the engineers behind Google search believe that it is plainly unfair for Bing to copy any of its search results.

Given the extent of copied material, it seems less likely that Google will pursue a challenge in court. Instead, Google may choose to use these facts to further emphasize its prominence among search engines, allowing it to propel its image among users who may not be dedicated Google searchers.

For a more in-depth analysis of this case, please visit http://searchengineland.com/bing-why-googles-wrong-in-its-accusations-63279.