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I think I was too snide in my comment and it wasn't clear. I meant that if Microsoft launched a privacy-focused product and hid their involvement with it they
by iudqnolq 7y ago
I think I was too snide in my comment and it wasn't clear.
I meant that if Microsoft launched a privacy-focused product and hid their involvement with it they would receive extremely negative publicity on the sort of websites people who use privacy-focused products read.
Completely leaving aside the harm that would cause to the Microsoft brand, it would also be completely useless. Essentially no one would switch from DDG to Microsoft's (hypothetical) shady clone.
Your hotel examples aren't relevant because people searching for hotels and people searching for private search engines don't evaluate details about corporate ownership the same.
- lisper 7y agoThere is a difference between hiding your involvement and not going out of your way to draw attention to it.
- iudqnolq 7y agoYes. Do you believe that a HN discussion of a company owned by Microsoft that doesnt draw attention to that and which markets towards privacy-focused users would he received positively?
- lisper 7y agoDo you believe that an HN discussion has the potential to move the market share needle for any MS product? More to the point, do you believe that Microsoft thinks this?
- iudqnolq 7y agoIf that product is aimed at privacy-focused users, yes. We've gotten so far into unlikely hypotheticals I don't find this conversation interesting any more. I won't reply further in this chain. Have a nice day!