Microsoft to buy Google

The New York Times thinks that Microsoft is going to do a takeover of Google:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/31/technology/31net.html

Our two favorite subjects -- together at last! So... does anyone thing there's any problems with such a merger/takeover, or would it generally benefit everyone?

Dennis Atkins
Saturday, November 1, 2003

Google will be baked into the OS.

Microsoft wants to BE the Internet, Google IS the internet.

www.MarkTAW.com
Saturday, November 1, 2003

Kind of goes to show how innovative and capable Microsoft is.  A few months back Scoble et al were talking up the new search technology Microsoft was building.  I guess they failed.

Maybe we'll get to see another leaked white paper ala their pita migration of hotmail to Windows.

To be sure any marketing machine would love to own google, think of all the tasty data waiting to be sold.

Obvious
Saturday, November 1, 2003

http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/31/technology/microsoftgoogle/?cnn=yes

link to story with no subscription

Tapiwa
Saturday, November 1, 2003

Hmmm. Visit google, and in addition to a cookie, IP, browser, OS, operating system, etc. they collect your windows serial number, and tie that into their registration database and get your name and address, hardware specs, any MS programs you might have, etc.

www.MarkTAW.com
Saturday, November 1, 2003

OK, well my personal reaction was first 'oh no'. Then my second reaction was, 'I'd like google's engine to index and rank all my hard disks'. But then I realized that google's algorithms are all based on links and stuff, you'd need a much different algorithm to rank one's hard drive well. So then we're left with it being a bad thing.

If MS does acquire google, I would bet that google as we know it will be no more. That would be a bad thing.

Dennis Atkins
Saturday, November 1, 2003

I would love to know, as would most people, what Microsoft's plans for Google are....

Microsoft's search capabilities suck. I mean royally suck.  They have, bar-none, the worst search engine that I've seen any large technology company use.

Who else here uses Google to search MSDN?  The MSDN search engine is largely useless, but Google has an uncanny way of finding exactly what I want from MSDN, while Microsoft's own search engine brings back irrelevant links.

And don't even get me started about the search engine on Microsoft.com...

(FWIW: To have Google search a specific site, such as MSDN, put this before your query: site:msdn.microsoft.com)

Mark Hoffman
Saturday, November 1, 2003

"Microsoft's search capabilities suck. etcetera..."

An understatement.  Only too true.

nat ersoz
Saturday, November 1, 2003

One has to wonder if billg would be smart enough to just let it be and only add a Microsoft flavor to the new services they built on top of it... or would they be so self-righteous as to actually modify the Linux-centric system that currently runs the core search? They did eventually move Hotmail off of BSD, so you never know... I think that in the case of Google such a move could have a much larger effect.

sell out
Saturday, November 1, 2003

"Microsoft's search capabilities suck. etcetera..."

Gee, and this despite having a boatload of smart people.  I guess one boatload of smart people among a ship of fools doesn't cut it.

Obvious
Saturday, November 1, 2003

Mark,

That little tip on using google to search MSDN is right up there on my list of things I should have thought of myself.

Thanks.

Jack of all
Sunday, November 2, 2003

Google is also perfect for searching ADC (Apple's documentation) -- after the last batch of updates they did for  10.3 a good chunk of their internal links became broken. I'm sure they'll get around to fixing it eventually, but I've always found it easier to type in something from google than go to apple.com/developer and search from there.

jedidjab79
Monday, November 3, 2003

Dennis,

If you are looking for Google on the harddrive, then click on the following:

http://www2.creo.com/sixdegrees/

Ged Byrne
Monday, November 3, 2003

Google has its own search page for Microsoft-related stuff, here:

http://www.google.com/microsoft.html

Girb
Monday, November 3, 2003

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