Why Microsoft wants to buy - then trash - Google

The Inquirer ^ | 11/11/2003 | The Letterman

[justlurking]

Letter of the day

By The Letterman: Tuesday 11 November 2003, 10:28

Subject: Imagine Life Without Google

Microsoft really, really wants Google. It wants Google for one reason, namely, to strip it naked and to castrate it. Microsoft wants to put an end to people being able to use the power of Google, especially as to the way that we all can use Google as a tool which makes the Internet particularly useful in helping us all to get through our days without depending on Microsoft.

Here's an exercise for all to try. Search Google for "Linux Windows". That gets you about 14 million pages, even with the English preference or filter turned on. Now, go to msn.com and search the Microsoft way for the same two words. You get exactly 18 pages. The word censorship doesn't seem to do justice to what Microsoft has done to a msn user who wants to compare Linux with Windows, does it?

Here's another exercise. Search msn for Linux. Note that the third item returned is tech.msn.com and that the page no longer exists. The fourth item deals with this topic "Alternatives to Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP. Learn about the Microsoft alternatives and how to move to them from open source products."

The mind boggles at the amount of fear that Microsoft has that people who search the Internet for knowledge, answers and understanding. Microsoft's fear is so great that it is willing to subvert what is truly one of the great inventions of history, searching the Internet, to a mere tool with one purpose, namely, to trick us all into buying Microsoft's software.

I am compelled to describe that this particular Microsoft stunt is patently, totally, absolutely, completely perverse. I can well imagine that the founders of Google could not have been able to sleep at night for the rest of their lives if they had allowed Microsoft to buy and cynically subvert their creation. After all, they already have more money than they can possibly spend in their lifetimes, they have a fantastic life of creative fulfillment ahead of them and they do have, well, their pride.

A hearty thanks to the founders of Google, then, for not selling Google to Microsoft, whatever their specific reasons were for not doing so. And, for the rest of us, a lesson in what the Internet and its resultant technologies would end up being used for if Microsoft had its way. To all the users of msn and its so-called "search" feature, I have to say, wake up & smell the coffee, kids.

Harry Fletcher

[justlurking]

Actually, I get only 16 pages on msn.com. And, check out the the search for "linux" on msn.com. You'll get 365 entries, and the first five are:

1. A link to Amazon/MSN shopping to buy Linux software.
2. A link to eBay to buy Linux software and accessories.
3. A link to "Introducing Linux" at tech.msn.com, which no longer exists.
4. A link to "Migrating From Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP" at microsoft.com, to "Learn about the Microsoft alternatives and how to move to them from open source products".
5. And finally, a link to the Linux Home Page at Linux Online!

I should note that the first four links are "featured sites", and the fifth is the first "web directory site". You have to look closely to see the subtitles -- they are in grey and get lost among the more noticeable text.

[anniegetyourgun]

I just want to get in on the Google IPO.

[4mycountry]

LEAVE MY GOOGLE ALONE!! *death grips google*

[Quix]

THANKS.

Not surprised.

[Paul_B]

It's very easy, indeed, to hate MS. May its tribe decrease. Greatly.

[Positive]

I went to the General Motors site and searched for Thunderbird...no hits.

I went to the Ford site and searched for Chevrolet...no hits.

I know, I'm being a smart-ass, but since MSN is MicroSoft's network, why should you expect anything more than you're getting?

I propose that if MSFT buys then trashes Google, there will be all the alternatives one might hope for...

[justlurking]

I know, I'm being a smart-ass, but since MSN is MicroSoft's network, why should you expect anything more than you're getting?

Microsoft can do whatever they want with their search engine. But, users deserve to know that MSN's "web search" is a search that is biased against people/sites that Microsoft doesn't like.

What other searches are being censored by Microsoft?

[omega4412]

"I went to the General Motors site and searched for Thunderbird...no hits.
I went to the Ford site and searched for Chevrolet...no hits."

I went to the newspaper and searched for conservative ideas... no hits

[toddst]

I propose that if MSFT buys then trashes Google, there will be all the alternatives one might hope for...

Perhaps. However, Microsoft has alienated many people with heavy-handed behavior and I don't want to depend on them for much of anything. Apparently I have a great deal of company.

[savedbygrace]

The logic of your exercise escapes me. The Ford & GM searches are not claiming to search "the internet" are they?

[NewRomeTacitus]

It's no secret that Microsoft's .NET is the opener in their scheme to be everyone's mandatory portal to the internet. Their only problem with Google is that they didn't undermine it before it became hugely popular and profitable on its own.

[Positive]

"What other searches are being censored by Microsoft?"

Based on the original post, I would guess that you might get fewer hits for "wordperfect" on MSN than you would on Google and that the same would apply to most other direct MSFT competition.

[Positive]

"The logic of your exercise escapes me. The Ford & GM searches are not claiming to search "the internet" are they?"

Of course they're not, but I would not ask a GM dealer for information on a Ford unless I wanted to find out why I should not buy one...that's the point.

Killjoy.

[Servant of the 9]

Microsoft would have to eliminate not only Google but all possible Google clones. Since they can't do that, they won't waste their money.
Google, Amazon, eBay or Yahoo would have a clone up and running in 90 days.

So9

[Eaker]

A search on my name "Eaker" yields 38,800 hits on Google. The same search at MSN yields 9099 hits.

I know Microsoft doesn't have its eye on me.

Perhaps the parameters are different.

On Google I am hits #2 then #3; on MSN I show up as #5 & #31. I did not look further.

[mikegi]

This guy is either being purposely deceptive or simply ignorant. Click on his search then go to the second page. It says, "Results 16-30 of about 8897867 containing 'linux windows'". If the author would remove his Linux blinders he would have noticed that the first set of listings is for "WEB DIRECTORY SITES - ABOUT". That's what the 1-15 of 16 is referring to. Click on "Next" to get to the "WEB PAGES - ABOUT" section which includes 8 million hits. Another Microsoft conspiracy theory down the drain.

[palmer]

In Google:
windows versus linux Results 1 - 10 of about 207,000
In msn.com:
windows versus linux (all the words option) Results 1-15 of about 82326

Superficially the same, but the google results have "what works best" results at the top. The MSN results have less useful results at the top. MSN seems to have a much poorer grasp of significance of search terms within documents.

[lelio]

Of course they're not, but I would not ask a GM dealer for information on a Ford unless I wanted to find out why I should not buy one...that's the point.

The trouble is that Google's become the defacto search engine for a majority of internet users. I haven't used another search engine in years, and I use Google dozens of times a day.

However its no secret on how to make a search engine so I expect the market to respond to MSFT's buying google with a project sponsored by Sun or IBM.

[savedbygrace]

But when you do a search, you're not asking Microsoft, you're asking a search engine. The search is billed as an internet search, so it should search the internet, not be a marketing tool of Microsoft.

It is juvenile to filter the search results like this.

[David1]

I think I have finally found a way to become a billionaire. If Microsoft trashes google, I will somehow recreate google with my own search engine site. If my site becomes as successful as google, I will not sell it to Microsoft for anything less than a billion dollars./ End of Dream ;-))