The Google/Bing search controversy is still bubbling along nicely with Google’s Matt Cutts taking to his blog to further poke Microsoft about what Google claims is its policy of baking info from Google search results into its process. After being rather nice about Bing and the crew that works there, Cutts gets to the meat of the issue saying that he is surprised with how vehemently Microsoft has denied using any Google info and showing a raft of screenshots to prove his point…
Cutts says: “I don’t think the average consumer realises that if they say: ‘Yes, show me suggested sites’, that they’re granting Microsoft permission to send their queries and clicks on Google to Microsoft which will then be used in Bing’s ranking…I don’t think that IE8′s disclosure is clear and conspicuous enough that a resonable consumer could make an informer choice…”
He goes on to suggest that the Microsoft defence against Google’s claims has been weak and quotes a post by Nate Silver who says:
“Microsoft’s defense boils down to this: Google results are just one of the many ingredients we use. For two reaons, this arguement is not necessarily convincing. First, not all inputs are necessarily equal. It could be, for instance, that the Google results are weighted so heavily that they are as important as the other 999 inputs combined…second, it is problematic for Microsoft to describe Google results as just one of many ‘signals and features’. Google results are not any ordinary kind of input; instead they are more of a finished (albeit ever-evolving) product.”
Cutts challenges Microsoft to stop using Google clicks are part of Bing rankings: “Bings engineers deserve to know that when they beat Google on a query, it’s due entirely to their hard work. Unless Microsoft changes its practices, there will always be a question mark.”
Check out the video below to see the Google and Microsoft folk debate the issue. Warning: it is a long video.
Out now | £free | Google/Bing (via Matt Cutts)
