It started as a rumor, then confirmed, and is now a distinct possibility. News Corp. may be the first (or at least the largest) news producer to block Google in favor of an exclusive partnership with Bing.
From the FT (which I pay for):
Microsoft said that the plan “puts enormous value on content if search engines are prepared to pay us to index with them”.
Here’s why that’s the worst thing that could happen to the internet. Search is about finding information. Google, Bing, and Yahoo (now also powered by Bing) index the internet and try to match your search term with things people have created on the internet. The algorithm that determines what lies at the top of your search results is acutely democratic. It’s meant to highlight content that is relevant to your search, content marked by others as good, and not at all influenced by direct payments to the search engine from the publisher.
Along comes Microsoft with their third try (MSN, Live, now Bing) at search. In possibly teaming up with News Corp to be the ‘exclusive’ indexer of news from its properties, Bing will become a completely undemocratic search engine. This isn’t an example of the “what’s next” fear mongering. If News Corp and Microsoft reach a deal and News Corp blocks Google, the worst will have happened.
Search results will be weighted by a financial arrangement and no longer ranked by relevance to the user. The idea is counter to everything journalism is supposed to protect. Sure, Rupert, put your content behind a pay wall (Disclosure: I am a subscriber to the Wall Street Journal) I think we all agree that’s fair. But making search a game of who has the most money is evil.
