Comments on: IE7 and Search Defaults: Not a Whineable Offense

By: Brian Lesser

Brian Lesser — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

FYI: A little more context on all this from another article in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/02/technology/02google.html Cheers, -Brian

By: The Hero Dies in This One

The Hero Dies in This One — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Please Stop Whining About IE7’s Search Bar

Looks like I’m starting a Please Stop Whining series here. Good. I like the idea, and I don’t like whiners.
Today’s episode is on people arguing about the fact that Microsoft’s upcoming Internet Explorer 7 will use MSN Search as…

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Users could also learn how to change the settings on their freakin computers if they are (and should be) dissatisfied with MSN search and the like.

By: Enzo

Enzo — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Large Successful Company in Promotion of Own Products Shocker!

Doesn’t quite ring true does it?

Free market economy – if you don’t like it, use a different product or service…

By: Sean O'Donnell

Sean O'Donnell — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Microsofts browser monolopoly is an ill gotten gain. They antitrust trials came down hard on them, and found that their tactics to get Internet Explorer the #1 slot where highly illeagal. If you agree with that , then it stands to reason that they should not be able to use the proceeds from that crime to make a run at the #1 search engine slot. I ranted on about this quite a bit here. Leveraging one monopoly to try and gain another is the kind of act that anit trust law specifically prohibits.

By: David

David — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

On point 2 (that Google says they don’t need their own web browser): it might be interesting for someone to look at how many major contributors to Firefox are Google employees whose full-time job is Firefox development. And then theorize what would happen to Firefox if Google were to pull all those developers onto other projects.

By: James AkaXakA

James AkaXakA — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You’re wrong on this one Mike – it’s not about what is ‘ok’ or ‘logical’, but about what’s legal.

If I built a search engine and a browser I’d pair the two by default every day of the week, no moral or monopolistic qualms about it.

If I built an operating system and it had 90%+ market share and I bundled a media player and had it become the default, there are monopolistic qualms about it. Same thing could well apply to default searchbox engines, but that’s up to Judges in the EU and the US.

By: Mike Stickel

Mike Stickel — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nobody complained when Google was the default search in Safari. This is a complete non-issue and probably just a marketing stink on the part of Google.

Think about it, whenever someone mentions MSN search in IE someone else will no doubt mention Google’s argument. In the end both companies are mentioned and Google gets PR off of MS.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I think this was purely a PR effort of Google’s part to draft off of the news of the IE Beta release, and it worked perfectly. It also serves to pre-emptively remind people that they can change the default behavior of IE’s search box, which is not something Microsoft was going to publicize.

By: Dave Metcalf

Dave Metcalf — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I hope Google will channel this anger into developing their own browser, or buying/upgrading one (like Camino).
It just seems like making a browser is a logical project for Google.

By: Jonathan Eckmier

Jonathan Eckmier — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hasn’t Microsoft been doing this for years already (circa IE 4)? This is nothing new in the browser market as Netscape did it back in the day too. From what I’ve seen of IE 7, it’ll allow search customization in much the same way as Firefox currenty does. If users are sick of seeing the MSN Search page, they can just switch it over to Google, or any other search engine for that matter.

Sure, the average user won’t know how to change their search engine of choice — but at least the option is available.

By: Jemaleddin

Jemaleddin — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Microsoft is probably in the wrong on this one. The simple reason is that once you’ve been proven to have a monopoly, you have to play by different rules and don’t get to play the cut-throat games you did when you were an up-and-comer. So comparing Google/Firefox defaults to MS/IE/MSN defaults doesn’t make any sense: they’re playing under different rules.

It took IBM years of anti-trust actions to understand this, and MS just refuses to learn. But the fact is that we’ve decided as a country that just because you’re the biggest kid on the playground, you don’t get to push everyone else around.

By: Rob Goodlatte

Rob Goodlatte — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t see how Google could be surprised by this at all. Heck, I wouldn’t even classify it as a “move” on Microsoft’s part. If I built a search engine and a browser I’d pair the two by default every day of the week, no moral or monopolistic qualms about it. It’s like they’re saying “Shame on you, you’re trying to make money”.

By: Jeff Croft

Jeff Croft — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I agree completely. It would be crazy for Microsoft to use anything but MSN as the default search tool in their browser.

By: Gary Ross

Gary Ross — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Presumably, manufacturers can change this default. So we’ll see Dell making money out of Google to install with Google as the default. As a Mac guy, when I first used XP, I was confused to see that IE was on the desktop but [i]not as a shortcut icon[/i]. This seems much more nefarious to me. Most users know that you can safely delete a shortcut icon, but without that little arrow you were deleting the real thing. Not so here it seems. No Windows user has ever satisfactorily explained to me why IE appears as a regular icon. Anyone? :-)