Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results

[Daniel Deegan]

I just came across a pretty interesting and amazing story. Basically Google suspected that Microsoft was flat out copying Google search results and displaying them to searchers on Bing.

So Google set up a "sting" to catch Microsoft in the act...Lo and behold, Microsoft fell into Google's trap. Can't blame MS for trying to copy from the top competitor, but boy getting caught like they did is not pretty...lol

There is a lot of detail in the story and the "setup". Read more at the following link...

Link - Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results

[Roland Hop]

Looks like things are about to go down.

[DPWeb]

Thanks, that was a really good read. This is like the drama of the internet. I can't believe Bing was using those results. The test Google did was really smart.

I'm amused, you deserve a Thanks!

[tpw]

I thought this was a joke thread on par with one of my own...

Then I clicked the link...

OMG... Who would have thunk something like this to be a real story?

LOL

Sounds to me like Google is crying over split competitive data...

And coming from a company that bought DoubleClick so they could spy on their users at an unprecedented level... Wow!! Just Wow!!

[Orator]

Yeah this might be bad for Google, but I'm all for it. If Bing copies them then my websites should be ranked the same in Bing then.

More traffic for me.

[Roaddog]

What's Google going to about the bing sting?

De index and sandbox them?

Talk about duplicate content.


Maybe make such a laughing stock out of Microsoft, it'll devalue the company to the point Google will take over majority ownership.


Doubt we've seen the last of this.



Jim

[Fraggler]

Google has its own Toolbar too...

[PennyManTim]

I am not a big fan of Bing...

[jcuervo]

LOl, reminds me of when i was in school. cheating never pays!

[scientificmarketing]

will go with google still......

[drmani]

"The only reason these pages appeared on Google was because Google forced them to be there.

Anyone else wonder at the possible future use of such a 'feature'?

It's NOT a completely 'algorithm-driven' process, apparently, but
one that CAN be tweaked to include specific results of their choice!

All success
Dr.Mani

[helterskelter]

Wow, great story. The "sting" cracks me up... can't really debate that.

[CDarklock]

What is actually happening here is that Microsoft's Bing toolbar, being configured to send information back to Microsoft, is recognising search engine results compliant with existing open standards... and parsing them to see what people think the most relevant results are.

They are not stealing Google's results. They are parsing the search results people get on other search engines and using that feedback - generated by a user who has agreed that Microsoft can use it - to improve their own results. The toolbar does not know or care what search engine they're from; only that a search was made, results were returned, and an entry was selected.

Google has basically proven that Microsoft actually uses this data to improve search results. By using a query which is enormously unlikely to occur elsewhere, and a result which could not otherwise have been predicted, they've simply created a statistical anomaly... and are now using it, along with the public's general ignorance of how search engines work, to sling mud at Microsoft.

"Don't be evil" indeed.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by drmani

Anyone else wonder at the possible future use of such a 'feature'?

It's NOT a completely 'algorithm-driven' process, apparently, but
one that CAN be tweaked to include specific results of their choice!

Maybe it's Bing that put the sting on Google here...

[Bill Farnham]

Another weird Google story...

Bill Platt showing up in this thread...

Could only mean one thing...

Bill Platt is really Bill Gates.

~Bill

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by drmani

Anyone else wonder at the possible future use of such a 'feature'?

The current use of it is to make sure the system doesn't crash or otherwise misbehave when it encounters abnormal data.

There must be a way to force specific results for a query, or there's no way to test the query engine against data that would "never happen" in the Real World.

Any search engine where this can't be done is by definition incompletely tested.

Usually, this data is kept out of the live databases. In this case, that data had to be entered into the live databases or the test wouldn't work at all. It's a limitation of the system they were testing, and it's not fair to suggest there's something disreputable about it.

[jigney]

Who knows Bing in search engine surfing for information? Anyhow Interesting information

[TZ]

I would love to see Google sues them for some stupid amount of cash.

Did you see what Bing's MSN Adcenter did when they "merged" with Yahoo!???

They punted most of the Yahoo! advertisers by punting their campaigns, claiming all sorts of bogus reasons for declining them. At the same time they protected THEIR customers from before the merge/transition, and they continue getting great ad placement, no matter how much their sites are pure MFA.

Bing/MSN Adcenter are completely corrupt and ready for the big FAIL.

Meanwhile I will enjoy all their free traffic, cause they are SO easy....

[mygold]

This article is awesome. I got one solution to get rid of this probs.............

"DO NOT USE ANY VERSION OF IE"

[Joe Mobley]

Originally Posted by mygold

This article is awesome. I got one solution to get rid of this probs.............

"DO NOT USE ANY VERSION OF IE"

or Google's Chrome.


Joe Mobley

[yukon]

Google pissed off because Bing is gaining a small amount of traction, lol sore losers...

[seoforu]

Its an awkward thing..I never expected the giant would do things as cheap as this one.May be there has been an algorithmic change...u never know the answer!

[OnlineMarketingSys]

Personally I would hope it continues, it makes ranking across search engines that much easier. And while there was always debate if ranking well in one search engine helps to push up your ranking in another, in this instance it further substanciates that claim.

This is especially true with the synergy between Yahoo and Bing.

[faceblogger]

LOL! Poor bing!!!!

[brettb]

Maybe Bing is just a prettier front end to Scroogle? Who uses Bing anyway? Hardly anybody.

[jacksonlin]

Well... Who else would you copy? Altavista? AOL? If I was a search engine, of course I'd copy the number 1 guy!

It would be silly NOT to look at what the no.1 guy is doing in your field, and try to emulate it.

[alcymart]

I am shocked! I never would of suspected Bing cheating like this. I always thought if Google could be dethroned, it would be by Bing! Boy was I wrong now!

Bing never had an edge at all as far as I can see!

[scott g]

Hmmmm.... I hope Bing doesn't copy Google's Search Results! Right now I rank #1-3 on page one for (7) different targeted search terms! I've got some good rankings in Google on page one... But they ai't all top 3's yet!

NOoooOOOoOOoOOO!!

CHEERS!

[aygabtu]

Is it really that bad to use google results though? If bing can filter through and remove the crap sites/links google puts out, why not? Their search results are public information right? They just take the results and make them better.

[paulgl]

It's not cheating, it's giving the searcher what the algo thinks it wants.

It's more about google discovering something about its only competitor.

Here are my personal observations.

It proves google can and does actively have a human hand in search results.
And appears to be monitoring some results on a constant basis.
That may be a little scary to some. To me, it's a mixed bag. I'd rather
leave most search results to a faceless algorithm. But, I can't say I
would not want a "human" involved somehow.

Like him or hate him, Matt Cutts shows he does have a BIG hand in
google and its search results. Sorry Yukon, just my opinion!

Both bing and google gave up a secret or two here. I'm still mulling
it over.

Paul

[John Henderson]

Check out the Twitter exchange between Microsoft's Frank Shaw and Google's Matt Cutts...
Wow, Microsoft And Google Are Punching Each Other In The Face Right In Front Of Us!

And if the Twitter exchange only looks like an exchange of handbag blows, Google then wheels out the heavy artillery on its official blog...
Official Google Blog: Microsoft’s Bing uses Google search results—and denies it

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by brettb

Maybe Bing is just a prettier front end to Scroogle? Who uses Bing anyway? Hardly anybody.

Their share with Yahoo is around 30%. You are behind the times my friend.