Microsoft (MSFT) Seeks To Disadvantage Google (GOOG)

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is out to get at Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) by boosting its own search engine Bing, by paying content owners to cut off their sites from Google’s search engine.

A case in point is Microsoft paying News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) to ‘de-index’ its news site from Google. Rupert Murdoch is playing on the competition between Bing and Google and what is remarkable is that the solution is commercial. One UK publisher even commented that any competition to Google is a good thing, but expressed concerns about competition if publishers collude.

While analysts predicted that this was one of the first steps to force Google to pay for content, Microsoft’s policy to pay different publishers differently may actually undermine its efforts to chip away at its formidable rival. Some people have a view that the move will not pay dividends unless more publishers get involved. Microsoft also seemed to be discussing alternatives to payments for exclusivity, where news would be provided to Bing earlier than to Google News.