de-index

Microsoft Talking to Apple About Being a Search Option on the iPhone, Not Google Replacement

Kara Swisher in News on May 28, 2010 at 4:52 pm PT

Correcting yet another too-early rumor, sources tell BoomTown that–as has been previously reported many times in many places–Microsoft and Apple are in long-term talks about adding the Bing search service as a prominent option on the iPhone and not as a replacement of Google. But sources added that talks are not complete. Currently, Google is the default search on the popular mobile device, although you can easily go into its settings and switch the search option to Yahoo.

What if Facebook Ever Got Serious About Becoming a News Aggregation Vampire? Well, It Would Be a Sparkly One!

Kara Swisher in News on February 4, 2010 at 8:11 am PT

Here are two quotes that got me thinking about what would happen if Facebook–whose user base is inexorably marching toward 400 million–ever got serious about the news aggregation business. While it is not doing that now in any organized fashion, it will be increasingly obvious that consumers are inevitably moving away from the only-search paradigm to that of discovery through social and other jacked-up affiliation networks.

Turnabout Is Fair Play: BoomTown Decodes Rupe's Journalism-Is-Not-a-Free-Cow Op-Ed!

Kara Swisher in News on December 14, 2009 at 9:05 am PT

Last week, BoomTown translated an opinion piece written by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and published in The Wall Street Journal that focused on defending the search giant from criticism that it was, well, killing journalism. One of the louder critics, in fact, has been Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp., who has leveled a series of high-profile verbal attacks on Google. Last week, Murdoch published his own piece in The Journal, in which Google was never mentioned by name. So in the interest of equal-opportunity balloon-pricking, I must also render Murdoch’s post through my decoding machine, because it’s only sporting!

BoomTown Decodes Google CEO Schmidt's Shut-Up-You-Whiny-News-Folk Op-Ed (So You Don't Have To)!

Kara Swisher in News on December 3, 2009 at 1:30 pm PT

Google CEO Eric Schmidt did one of his patented throat-clearers in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal today and it pretty much begs for translation. Well, BoomTown shall not tarry from the task of decoding the extra-long rumination from the head of Google, who was responding to the recent spate of aggressive attacks by traditional media publishers. They have blamed the search giant for everything from their current business woes to the destruction of journalism to Tiger Woods’s dicey marital troubles. Okay, not that! But the rest for sure.

Liveblogging Bing Demo: No Donuts, Unlikely to Pay for De-Indexing Google, but Cool New Maps

Kara Swisher in News on December 2, 2009 at 10:10 am PT

BoomTown is awaiting a passel of Microsoft execs, who will be talking about a range of new features for Bing. I will be liveblogging, but I must say, I wish there were donuts.

What's Really Behind the Rupe-a-Dope With Google and Microsoft? Here Are Five Possibilities!

Kara Swisher in News on November 24, 2009 at 4:34 pm PT

There certainly is a lot of noisy swirl of late around the escalating fight between Google and some traditional media companies over content online. The loudest voice in this fight has clearly been News Corp. kingpin Rupert Murdoch, who seemingly has not met a television interviewer of late he did not regale with tales of the search giant’s nefariousness. Murdoch has also tried to get Google’s biggest nemesis, Microsoft, involved in what has become a wrestling match over the future of news. But what’s really happening here? Here are five possibilities to consider.

While Microsoft Is Talking to Publishers, Paying Up to "Rent" Content for Bing to Thwart Google Is Unlikely

Kara Swisher in News on November 23, 2009 at 12:55 am PT

While it might be a dream of publishers–hard hit by the digital tsunami and blaming Google for the crisis–Microsoft is not likely to fork over the big bucks they’d need for exclusive indexing of their content. “Microsoft isn’t the monopoly guy anymore,” joked one source close to ongoing talks between Microsoft and publishers, especially News Corp. and Associated Press. “So, it’s not going to be the bank for publishers.” That’s because many inside the software giant don’t think such pricey deals will move the search market share needle nearly enough.