Google, MSN legal battle spins search results

Raising a question of bias, Google and MSN search results for keywords related to the legal battle between the companies appear to be weighted differently, according to a news report.

Microsoft has sued Google and a former search and China market executive, Kai-Fu Lee, alleging that his hiring to lead a planned Google R&D center in China violated his noncompete agreement with Microsoft. Google has countersued, asking a court to declare that agreement invalid.

The story seems to be playing out in the search engines, WebProNews found. For instance, using metasearch site Dogpile, which offers results from the top four search engines side-by-side, the search phrase "Dr. Lee court documents Google Microsoft" returns several top results on Google focusing on Google's contention, publicized last week, that the Microsoft lawsuit is a "charade."

MSN's top results highlight Microsoft's court win on Friday in which a judge temporarily barred Lee from performing duties at Google similar to those he performed at Microsoft. Yahoo's top results seem to be more neutral, featuring the more fresh court ruling links.

"Could this be a coincidence? Or is this brilliant PR algorithmic manipulation?" asks Jason Lee Miller of WebProNews.com. In response to a reporter's request for comment, MSN Product Manager Justin Osmer said: "MSN search results are determined independently and objectively by an algorithmic search engine. We believe our algorithms are competitively designed and more intuitive in order to return the most precise results for consumers." A Google spokesperson did not return a call seeking comment.

(Google representatives have instituted a policy of not talking with CNET News.com reporters until July 2006 in response to privacy issues raised by a previous story.)