Microsoft will pay content providers to shun Google -- and get in bed with Bing
In a marketing ploy so draconian and heavy-handed as to be reminiscent of the original XBox launch, Microsoft is now offering to pay-off publishers if they delist their content from Google's indexes.Sounds crazy, but it's true. Microsoft has approached News Corp and offered to pay them to de-list from Google's search indexes. So you have some idea of how big a deal this is, News Corp owns Fox, the Wall Street Journal, MySpace and dozens of other publishers and news sources around the world. They are the second biggest media group in the world after Disney.
Google have already gone on the record and said that news content isn't a huge money-spinner for them, but it begs the question: how much money is Microsoft willing to throw around?
They have one of the largest cash reserves in the world. And let's face it, content providers drive the Internet. If Microsoft is really this serious about securing a slice of the search pie, you might begin to see 'Bing exclusive' content very soon.
It won't stop with News Corp -- slowly but surely searching for news on Google will become impossible. And then MySpace music pages won't turn up in your searches either. What if they go to the adult content providers...? What if Bing's new slogan becomes 'the only place to find porn on the Internet'? WHAT IF?
[via The Business Insider]
Comments
42
Subscribe to commentsToddNov 23rd 2009 10:14AM
Yes, cut deals to wall up useless content on an equally useless search engine. Go away Rupert Murdoch, and all other old dinosaurs that don't get it. Please "get in bed" with Ballmer.
I cite Mr. DeWitt Clinton comment:
"Taking newspapers off the public web is like Howard Stern moving to satellite radio. You remember Howard Stern, don't you?"
http://twitter.com/dewitt/status/5968690828
Sebastian AnthonyNov 23rd 2009 10:36AM
Haha... nice analogy indeed.
Problem is... the industry is still run by dinosaurs like Murdoch.
We might just see a 'last gasp' effort from those media conglomerates. And it ain't gonna be pretty.
Eric DiazNov 23rd 2009 10:36AM
I dont think that will happen.
They would risk getting Anti-trust regulators on them again.
And i think Google would win in a money power struggle.
Last i checked they (Google) were the bigger company.
I think its good that Rupert Murdoch took his sites off Google who needs his right wing crap.
Sebastian AnthonyNov 23rd 2009 10:41AM
I didn't think they were comparable?
Google's 2008 revenue: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=GOOG&annual ($21 bil)
Microsoft's 2008 revenue: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=MSFT&annual ($58 bil)
revolutionNov 23rd 2009 10:49AM
'Get in bed', 'the only place to find porn on the Internet'? What is this, Gizmodo?
Sebastian AnthonyNov 23rd 2009 10:54AM
In my defence, I didn't write the title. A lead that will remain unnamed did.
But I did the bit at the end.
Gizmodo are cool, no??
fikhlNov 23rd 2009 11:00AM
"Gizmodo are cool, no??"
No sir, not at all!
Sebastian AnthonyNov 23rd 2009 11:05AM
Damn...
OK, I'll tell my lead to shove the sexual innuendo up his ass.
BorderRuffianNov 23rd 2009 11:00AM
Well that seals it. Bing doing a deal with News Corp will keep me on Google. That way I won't have to put up with Faux News articles in my searches.
sitrucNov 23rd 2009 11:22AM
Isn't this exactly what Mark Cuban was talking about a week or two ago?
frankNov 23rd 2009 11:31AM
Microsoft *IS* now offering
god, seriously, are you writing a professional media or on your myspace page?
Sebastian AnthonyNov 23rd 2009 11:38AM
Thanks for the correction. Is grammar really get you that angry? You should get out more.
frankNov 23rd 2009 1:13PM
sebastian,
been unemployed for a few months from the publishing industry, end up sitting around all day in the house despite my best efforts, c'est la vie
Sebastian AnthonyNov 23rd 2009 1:22PM
Ah... OK, well that explains it fairly well then. I hope you find employment soon.
I just hope you weren't an editor or proof reader... you must see errors in the Grammatical Matrix everywhere you look!
frankNov 24th 2009 10:34AM
editor
PC-VIPNov 23rd 2009 12:19PM
Sebastian: blasting your commenters for what they say may be funny on your personal page, but doing it here just makes your employer look bad. "He should get out more"? REALLY?
The anti-trust thing notwithstanding, if MS can pull this off it would be a real coup for them, and potentially a way to finally get somewhere in their war with Google.
And this story, which has been bouncing around for almost a day now, is not a story yet. Murdoch IS going to succeed more than we might think/like with this initiative ( http://answerguy.com/2009/11/18/rupert-murdoch-kindle-business-change-save-newspapers/ ), but the Microsoft angle is . . . not yet important.
Not YET.
Sebastian AnthonyNov 23rd 2009 12:24PM
Hm, so he can be rude, but I can't? Hopefully he'll just rephrase his corrections in the future. Do you really think there's a special place in Heaven for grammar trolls...?
This was written yesterday, back when it was more pertinent -- but published this morning.
Of course it's a story! It's interesting to people. It's new(s). Are you the Big Story Decider in the sky now or something?
Grant RobertsonNov 23rd 2009 12:47PM
Yes. And he's also the lead web patrol officer for the Society for the Prevention of Snarky Commenter Replies. The SPSCR doesn't take kindly to bloggers who choose to take comic jabs at the commenters who take anonymous jabs at them and their editing mistakes. They've recently teamed with Readers Who Constantly Re-evaluate Your Editorial Mission for Fun and Luls -- so it appears he's doing dual duty. Poor over-worked guy.
Sebastian AnthonyNov 23rd 2009 12:57PM
But SOMEONE's gotta do it! Poor guy.
Marty K.Nov 23rd 2009 2:07PM
Sebastian,
"Is grammar really get you that angry? You should get out more."
"[Y]ou must see errors in the Grammatical Matrix everywhere you look!"
"Hm, so he can be rude, but I can't?"
" Do you really think there's a special place in Heaven for grammar trolls...?"
"Are you the Big Story Decider in the sky now or something?"
And that's just on one comment page. You can be rude too, of course, but it doesn't mean that you have to. The "yeah, but he started it!" defence doesn't really work past 5th grade or so. There is a thing called professionalism, and your pettiness, name-calling and willingness to feed the so-called trolls has no place in it. That is, of course, unless you actually want the quality of the comments here to slowly devolve into that of Youtube, in which case -- GO TEAM! . (I can't wait to see what "title" I'll get in a sad attempt to deflect the issue).