4 ms·

So they.. * Inserted results into the search index for odd queries like "hiybbprqag" * Searched Bing for those queries * Saw the result from google Wouldn't

So they.. * Inserted results into the search index for odd queries like "hiybbprqag" * Searched Bing for those queries * Saw the result from google Wouldn't it have been easier and just as definitive to just * Search Bing for hiybbprqag * Show that google received a search query for the same thing

belltaco 8y ago
No, that was never how it worked, or Google would have sued and probably won. What actually happened was that, if a user had Bing's search bar installed in IE, the fine print for the toolbar installation declared that the keywords and links that they click on from other search engines could be sent to Microsoft's servers. From the article: >We gave 20 of our engineers laptops with a fresh install of Microsoft Windows running Internet Explorer 8 with Bing Toolbar installed. As part of the install process, we opted in to the “Suggested Sites” feature of IE8, and we accepted the default options for the Bing Toolbar. So, the toolbar would send keyword, url, ie. {"alsdkjfsd","example.com/alsdkjfsd.html"} to Bing's crawler. Bing's crawler would include that in their search index after crawling it. Perhaps the rank of the page in the search results was included as well. This was a way for Bing to discover unindexed pages. One could argue that that it's scummy but legal, and that the user also technically owns the data of ("what I searched for", "what URL I visited"), rather than Google being the exclusive owner of that data, and could send that to third parties. That could be a reason Google did not take legal action over it. Google's IE toolbar also sent a ton of data to Google. https://searchengineland.com/turning-the-tables-on-the-google-toolbar-disclosure-claims-63596 https://searchengineland.com/turning-the-tables-on-the-googl...
- justinsaccount 8y ago
  Ah, the toolbar! Now it makes more sense.
dunpeal 8y ago
With the massive size of their infrastructure, I'm guessing it would be very difficult to conclusively identify a single query, let alone attribute it to Bing. Also, the process you describe isn't conclusive, since it's possible that someone else randomly searched for "hiybbprqag". Finally, it's a stronger argument the way it is. Otherwise, it's just Google's word against MS. With their method, they could show that they could predict the search results by sealing a prediction before running the search on Bing. It's independently verifiable.
RSZC 8y ago
No, it's not that Bing was redirecting traffic through Google. Instead it was that windows/IE8 was sending data on search terms/clicks on google from their users' machines to Microsoft. So user searches Google for a search term and then clicks on a result. This data is then sent to Microsoft, and Bing is updated accordingly (and will return that result for that search term) at a later point in time.
- belltaco 8y ago
  >Instead it was that windows/IE8 was sending data on search terms/clicks on google from their users' machines to Microsoft. Only if they had Bing's IE search bar installed and enabled.
Petefine 8y ago
They're weren't claiming that when you searched bing, they did a google search immediately in the background. Rather, they claim that they were collecting google's ranking and using it in their own ranking algorithms. They wouldn't have ever have collected data on hiybbprqag without their previous actions.
jakeisnotadog1 8y ago
They're not alleging that Bing is using Google to execute their searches - they're alleging that they are using data harvested from Internet Explorer users when they use Google, in order to add Google results to Bing's index.

belltaco 8y ago

No, that was never how it worked, or Google would have sued and probably won. What actually happened was that, if a user had Bing's search bar installed in IE, the fine print for the toolbar installation declared that the keywords and links that they click on from other search engines could be sent to Microsoft's servers. From the article: >We gave 20 of our engineers laptops with a fresh install of Microsoft Windows running Internet Explorer 8 with Bing Toolbar installed. As part of the install process, we opted in to the “Suggested Sites” feature of IE8, and we accepted the default options for the Bing Toolbar. So, the toolbar would send keyword, url, ie. {"alsdkjfsd","example.com/alsdkjfsd.html"} to Bing's crawler. Bing's crawler would include that in their search index after crawling it. Perhaps the rank of the page in the search results was included as well. This was a way for Bing to discover unindexed pages. One could argue that that it's scummy but legal, and that the user also technically owns the data of ("what I searched for", "what URL I visited"), rather than Google being the exclusive owner of that data, and could send that to third parties. That could be a reason Google did not take legal action over it. Google's IE toolbar also sent a ton of data to Google. https://searchengineland.com/turning-the-tables-on-the-google-toolbar-disclosure-claims-63596 https://searchengineland.com/turning-the-tables-on-the-googl...

justinsaccount 8y ago
Ah, the toolbar! Now it makes more sense.

dunpeal 8y ago

With the massive size of their infrastructure, I'm guessing it would be very difficult to conclusively identify a single query, let alone attribute it to Bing. Also, the process you describe isn't conclusive, since it's possible that someone else randomly searched for "hiybbprqag". Finally, it's a stronger argument the way it is. Otherwise, it's just Google's word against MS. With their method, they could show that they could predict the search results by sealing a prediction before running the search on Bing. It's independently verifiable.

RSZC 8y ago

No, it's not that Bing was redirecting traffic through Google. Instead it was that windows/IE8 was sending data on search terms/clicks on google from their users' machines to Microsoft. So user searches Google for a search term and then clicks on a result. This data is then sent to Microsoft, and Bing is updated accordingly (and will return that result for that search term) at a later point in time.

belltaco 8y ago
>Instead it was that windows/IE8 was sending data on search terms/clicks on google from their users' machines to Microsoft. Only if they had Bing's IE search bar installed and enabled.

Petefine 8y ago

They're weren't claiming that when you searched bing, they did a google search immediately in the background. Rather, they claim that they were collecting google's ranking and using it in their own ranking algorithms. They wouldn't have ever have collected data on hiybbprqag without their previous actions.

jakeisnotadog1 8y ago

They're not alleging that Bing is using Google to execute their searches - they're alleging that they are using data harvested from Internet Explorer users when they use Google, in order to add Google results to Bing's index.