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Why Microsoft Wants to Buy Google

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the break-out-the-foil-hats dept.

xihr writes "Harry Fletcher writes in The Inquirer about an obvious discrepancy between searches for "linux windows" on Google and MSN; the former comes up with almost 9 million hits, but the latter only comes up with -- wait for it -- 16. The author then speculates on Microsoft's ulterior motives for their attempted (and failed) purchase of Google."

19 of 500 comments (clear)

  1. Microsoft Biased? Never! by TheAngryArmadillo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Even funnier is a search for 'Linux' on MSN. Amazon, eBay, and two Microsoft sites, one of them about 'Alternatives to Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP', come up before Linux.org does. According to MSN there are only 365 sites about Linux on the Web. Google says there are 92,000,000.

    Biased? Microsoft? Never!

    1. Re:Microsoft Biased? Never! by neosake · · Score: 5, Funny

      The funny thing is that the third link on the msn search for linux (the one that links to tech.msn.com) got yanked.

      But from the Google cache remembers, and what does it say?

      Red Hat remains a solid Linux contender, but Windows switchers or dual-booters should stick with SuSE for easier installation.

      LoL!

      --
      "When a ball dreams, it dreams it's a frisbee"
    2. Re:Microsoft Biased? Never! by Trurl's+Machine · · Score: 4, Funny

      It seems that MSN sucks generally. It only gets 2500 hits when you search for "Windows"!

      Maybe it's the only 2500 cases when the word "Windows" was used on the Web without anything like "sucks", "destroyed my data", "has yet another virus to worry about" etc?

    3. Re:Microsoft Biased? Never! by LearnToSpell · · Score: 5, Funny

      even funnier is when you go to the fourth result, "Alternatives to Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP" and you get this quote from Microsoft:

      Microsoft provides alternatives for most open source products.

      Well, until they can provide alternatives for all of the open-source products I use, I don't think Windows is ready for the desktop.

      --
      Haida Manga
  2. No, Google is lying! by eurleif · · Score: 4, Funny

    Microsoft just wants to correct them. Linux doesn't exist, darn it.

  3. MSN censoring messed up! by olddoc · · Score: 4, Funny

    Search google and msn for "linux advantages"
    I got 450k hits on msn and only 350k hits from google.
    The first page on msn were positive articles... not links to MS sites saying there were none.

    Clearly someone at MSN has screwed up!

    --
    Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
  4. Oh! by thejackol · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bill!! Save us! We actually have weirdos who wade through 9 million hits! Save us, please! 16 is all we need!

  5. some other fun searches by jenkin+sear · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just for fun, I tried a few other searches. In order of relevance:

    linux windows - 16 results
    microsoft is a fundamentally evil monopolist - 115 results
    windows - 2373 results
    microsoft ate my balls - 6207 results

    so we can all see where their heads are at...

    --
    What a strange bird is the pelican, his beak can hold more than his belly can.
  6. Re: Other technical terms by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny


    Clearly, those platforms that MS does not like are treated differently than less popular (and less threatening?) technologies.

    • Results 1-15 of about 254379 containing "vomit"
    • Results 1-15 of about 79630 containing "dog pooh"
    • Results 1-15 of about 114 containing "lawsuit"
    • Results 1-15 of about 27 containing "bankrupt"

    Clearly, they find some topics more offensive than others!
    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  7. How Scientific! by spideyct · · Score: 4, Funny

    That little exercise showed no bias at all! Let me try my own experiment... I'll search for "powerpoint":

    Google: 6,260,000 hits
    MSN: 14 hits

    I conclude that Microsoft is trying to kill their own PowerPoint product (even more than they want to kill Linux!). Thankfully, the people at Google must rely on PowerPoint so much, they want to make sure to keep the word out there.

    Or... stay with me here... maybe Google has a more powerful and capable search engine that can harvest more results. I suppose its possible THAT could explain why Microsoft would want to buy them.

  8. But wait! There's more... by soloport · · Score: 5, Funny

    MSN:
    34 pancakes
    41 waffles
    232 frogs
    695 sky
    3117 tree

    Goooooogle - said "...about xxx,xxx"
    791,000 pancakes
    412,000 waffles
    640,000 frogs
    20,700,000 sky
    37,600,000 tree

    Which proves Microsoft hates pancakes, waffles, frogs, the sky and trees. Bastards!

  9. A Mirror Just in Case by Soylent+Beige · · Score: 5, Funny

    Would hate to Slashdot Google

    Mirror

    --

    --
    Everyone hates me because I'm paranoid.
    1. Re:A Mirror Just in Case by P-Nuts · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hurrah for small print:

      This is G o o g l e's cache of http://www.google.com/.
      ...
      Google is not affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content.
    2. Re:A Mirror Just in Case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      That's not a google mirror. THIS is a google mirror. :-P

  10. Re:But wait! There's even more... by vinniedkator · · Score: 4, Funny

    Linux is more popular than Jesus.

    Linux
    Alta Vista 12,435,923
    Google 96,900,000
    msn 365
    Yahoo 55,200,000
    Dog Pile (Infospace) 102
    Lycos 26,838,236
    Excite 111
    Alltheweb 17,082,765

    Jesus
    Alta Vista 6,377,521
    Google 23,800,000
    msn 432
    Yahoo 15,900,000
    Dog Pile (Infospace) 114
    Lycos 34,032,913
    Excite 107
    Alltheweb 26,131,824

    Interesting to note, a search of Infospace and Microsoft on Google comes up with 35,000 hits. Further reading indicates a large number of partnering going on.

    Conspiracy or just bad search engines?

    --
    WARNING: WE HAVE NOT CONDUCTED A FELONY-CONVICTION SEARCH OR FBI SEARCH ON THIS INDIVIDUAL.
  11. Re:But wait! There's more... by hpavc · · Score: 5, Funny

    Much akin to the progress indicator for transferring this file has been saying 30seconds for more than an hour.

    --
    members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
  12. Re:But wait! There's more... by Jim+the+Bad · · Score: 3, Funny
    Goooooogle - said "...about xxx"


    Ah yes, searching on google for xxx. We've all been there.

    --
    -- And when Justice is gone, there is always... Force. --Laurie Anderson, "Oh Superman"
  13. Here's why I like MSN search! by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 3, Funny

    We can't find "127.0.0.1"

    You can try again by typing the URL in the address bar above.
    Or, search the Web:

    Go to MSN Search to see complete results for "127.0.0.1".

    ____________________

    You can also visit one of these related Web sites.
    In the Swim - E-Z Vac By Kreepy Krauly
    In the Swim - Robotech Commercial Pool Cleaners
    In the Swim - Replacement Hoses

    Check availability or register the domain name '127.0.0.1'.
    ____________________

    More information about this error.
    About Results

    Not satisfied with your results? Help us improve.

    Powered by MSN Search

    Wow. Now that's a comprehensive search if I ever saw one.

  14. Let's be fair now... by zCyl · · Score: 4, Funny

    Much akin to the progress indicator for transferring this file has been saying 30seconds for more than an hour.

    Hey, give them some credit where credit is due. They have made some tremendous speed boosts when it comes to progress bars. That first 99% goes by in only 1% of the time. You can't get that kind of performance under Linux.