Oh god, get the New York Post out of my tech news!
The same paper that brings you headlines like "18-YEAR OLD ARRESTED FOR SERIAL CAT MURDERS" and "FOOD CART SCAMMERS RAISE THE DEAD" have decided to cover the ongoing Google v. Bing feud.
Apparently Sergey Brin is shaking in his boots, so worried about the threat Bing! poses that he's hired a group of former Vietnam POWs that escaped a maximum security stockade and sought refuge in the Los Angeles underground...No wait, that's the A-Team.
Brin has put together a team of "top engineers to work on urgent upgrades to his Web service." His web service? Which one, Post? Apps? Gmail? No, you mean "to his search engine."
And with 64% of the market share and a brand that is synonymous with Internet search (Google's in the damn dictionary, after all), it's unlikely that Bing has caused Sergey to panic, don his tin foil hat, and scramble into the Google bunker to prepare algorithmic countermeasures.
For an article that starts with the headline "FEAR GRIPS GOOGLE," it peters out in a hurry. Instead of really illustrating this supposed fear, the Post wanders off and discusses Microsoft's struggles in search, their attempts to purchase Yahoo!, and Bing's colorful look. Yawn.
Also, if you're going to focus on Sergey Brin, maybe your hilarious tale-of-the-tape image should have featured his face instead of Google co-founder Larry Page. Of course, that is the same image that claims Google spends no money whatsoever on promoting its search engine.
The image also gives Bing a spontaneous 11% market share since its debut earlier this month, ignoring the fact that Bing is simply a re-branded, re-tooled Live Search - which has been around for years.
The Post's foray into the world of search caught some (read: NeoWin) so off guard that Sam Symons became delusional and credited the story and epic image to The New York Times. It's ok, Sam. This one threw us for a loop, too.
Just think: later this year you might just have to pay to read tripe like this from the Post online. Uncle Rupert wants to do away with news for free, remember? Maybe charging money will make the Post seem like a more credible source for tech news.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matt said 9:21AM on 6-15-2009
An 18 year old in Miami WAS arrested for the serial mutilation of cats.
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Michael Leung said 9:24AM on 6-15-2009
When the NY Post is delving deep into the whole search engine war thing, you know this is going to be big.
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Pete said 9:58AM on 6-15-2009
The Post is no more a "sensationalist tabloid " than the Times, so I what's the issue???
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Michael Leung said 10:28AM on 6-15-2009
Because it's not possible to think of the NY Post/NY Times like that.
Kevin said 8:17PM on 6-15-2009
@pete
Ugh.
Saint Seminole said 12:44PM on 6-15-2009
I have to agree. Leave the tech reporting to people who actually know what's going on.
But the Post wasn't the only newspaper misunderstanding (or Mis-headlining) this story. Quite a few threw around the "Google is Afraid of Bing" type headline, when their stories didn't match up.
And yes, Microsoft has been in the search game a long time. Bing's alleged 11% didn't start at zero.
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NyaR said 2:57PM on 6-15-2009
news.google.com !
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New Ideas Consulting said 5:19AM on 6-19-2009
Your post is right on the money. When I read that article, I felt compelled to write about the same issue. It irks me when people who have zero understanding of a specific topic then writes about it in such an alarmist manner. The NYP article not only does Google a disservice, but also damages Bing's future credibility.
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