Looks like I'm not the only one to call shenanigans at Google's hypocritical complaint against IE7's search box, while earning millions off Firefox and Opera's search boxes. Nicholas Carr:
Google doesn't give you any choices when you arrive at its home page. There's a default engine - Google's - and it's a default that you can't change. There's no choice. If Google wants to fully live up to its ideals - to really give primacy to the goal of user choice in search - it should open up its home page to other search engines.Don Dodge calls Google's statements "PR double speak'":
Hey Google, why not let the users of FireFox, Safari, or Opera choose which search service they want? Why is Google the default choice? Have you ever tried to change the Google search service in Safari? I tried and couldn't do it. There has been a lot of talk about Google possibly creating its own browser. I wonder what the default search service would be in such a browser? Any guesses?Erick Schonfeld:
Google's stance smacks of hypocrisy, though, since it sees nothing wrong with bundling its own Web-based software together and tying it into its search engine.Techdirt:
This argument seems flawed for several reasons. the company is probably making a strategic mistake. Like Netflix's suit against Blockbuster, they may legitimize MSN search, to both consumers and analysts. More importantly, a company with the market position that Google has is bound to regret any move that expands the scope of antitrust case law. Would anyone be surprised if at some point the government investigates Google's "bundling" of search and email?Brian White at Blogging Stocks:
Well, I hate to break this to you, but IE is a Microsoft product, and they can default their search bar to anywhere they want.Tech.memeorandum is And again. I'm glad to see it. Sometimes a company puts its foot in its mouth, and this is one of the most blatant situations I've seen recently. Did no one at Google think of the Firefox angle before Marissa Mayer spoke to the press? Jeez, I could have seen this one a mile away. What are the odds on a Google blog post that use a form of the word "clarify" in the first two sentences, discusses technical aspects of Firefox, and conceded nothing? I'd put money down we'll get one this week. Add to document.write("Del.icio.us") | Yahoo! My Web Technorati: InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines. Visit the
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