May 11, 2006 3:00 PM PDT
Ballmer: Google wants special treatment in IE
Last modified: May 11, 2006 5:14 PM PDT
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His remarks centered on the default search engine in the Web browser. Right now, when people update their version of IE to IE 7, the software won't change their default search settings. "If you pick Yahoo, it will stay on Yahoo," Ballmer said in a hallway conversation Thursday, after a speech he gave at the Churchill Club here.
Google, however, has complained about how the system works. The complaints could be taken as a disguised way to help that company grow its segment in search, Ballmer suggested.
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"We will show our usual innovation but also our patience."
"Google wants us to prompt the users to change the defaults. They want to see a list of search providers, with the No. 1 search provider listed first," said Ballmer, who was speaking generally and not recounting a formal meeting or discussion with Google executives.
IE 7 offers a list of search sites that can become a user's default search engine. The list is alphabetical, so Google is listed after some (such as Ask.com) but before others, including MSN.com. IE 7 also doesn't actively suggest to a user that they can change their default based on their recent search histories or other behavior.
Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders of Google, used the "M" word--"monopoly"--to describe Microsoft at a press event on Wednesday and said the software maker didn't necessarily play fair in certain situations.
Google and the growth of the advertising market were one of the primary topics of discussion at the Churchill Club event on Thursday. Microsoft is third right now in Internet advertising. The Redmond, Wash.-based software company hopes to turn that around by developing its own ad network to create a mass marketplace on the Web. It's also working on software tools and alliances with content providers and online stores to push the effort.
"We want to make sure there is good, healthy competition in the advertising space," Ballmer said. "Everybody deserves good competition. People have been telling me that for years."
Not every bit of technology will be supported by advertising, he said. Even though Microsoft will have ad-supported applications, a lot of people will want a standard desktop Office.
"Can you imagine writing a letter to someone," he said. "'Hey, Mom, I am upset with the gun policy.' Then an ad pops up and says, 'Hey, do you want to buy a gun?'"
The Microsoft chief spoke on a range of other topics:
• Ballmer likes social-networking site FaceBook. "I've spent a lot of time studying FaceBook. I think there is a lot we can learn from the FaceBook concept."
• As for file-sharing service BitTorrent, it's "very interesting, but I'm not sure where is goes as a business," he said.
• Ditto for YouTube. "It's fascinating. Anything that can capture consumer interest like that," he said. But it remains unclear how to turn the video Web site into a business proposition.
• Microsoft will continue to buy start-ups, of which it bought 22 last year, he added.
• Open source keeps Ballmer awake at night. Right now, Microsoft trails the open-source community in software for high-performance computer clustering and some other server technologies, he acknowledged. But future versions of Windows will try to close that gap, he said
The competition between Microsoft and Linux, he added, is based mostly on technology and not philosophical differences. Ultimately, that helps Microsoft, he indicated, because it then becomes a battle over features.
"We looked at open source and said, 'Is this a religious competition? No, it is a good old-fashioned engineering competition,'" he said. "It is hard to beat open source for cost of acquisition. It is not hard to beat open source on total cost of ownership."
Microsoft, however, doesn't have a lot of interest in dipping deep into that area. "We can't embrace the open-source business model. That is inconsistent with being a commercial company," he said.
• Meanwhile, IBM remains one of Microsoft's biggest challengers in the corporate space. The competition comes either directly from Big Blue or from companies that have adopted its technology, Ballmer said.
• Microsoft is still a growth company, he noted, saying that in the past five years, its profits have grown 80 percent. The company's percentage of the profits of the top 23 tech companies has also increased, from 18 percent to 23 percent.
The software maker won't likely see 20 percent growth because of its girth, but 8 percent to 10 percent annual growth is realistic. "I think our numbers are pretty good," Ballmer said.
• The Vista update to Windows and the upcoming version of Office will cost about the same as current versions once they are released. The student/teacher version of Office will also be folded into the home edition, he added.
• Microsoft's secret weapon? It doesn't sleep. "We have a tenacity and a persistence and patience to stay after it and stay after it and stay after it," Ballmer intoned. The company, he added, is quite patient. Patience "is what distinguishes us from many technology companies that are important," Ballmer said.
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There are 4 ways to get IE7:
(1) Upgrade from IE6 - IE7 respects previous user preference, so for most users the default will actually be Google!
(2) User buys a retail copy of Vista, and does an upgrade from XP/IE6 to Vista/IE7 - IE7 respects previous user preference, so for most users the default will actually be Google!
(3) Installed on a new PC as part of Vista - in this case the OEM (computer manufacturer) decides which search engine is the default, not Microsoft (the OEM may well make Google the default).
(4) User buys a retail copy of Vista with IE7, and does a fresh install (wiping hard disk). This is the ONLY scenario where MSN is the default search engine. This scenario represents a tiny minority of all IE7 users. It takes a mere TWO MOUSE CLICKS to change the search engine to Google. TWO MOUSE CLICKS!
what about options in FireFox ?
its default there and you can't change it easily!
How about if Microsoft is indulging in creative PR. For example, imagine Google are Microsoft's biggest competitor... would Microsoft allow Google to place any pressure whatsoever that allowed their products to outweigh Microsoft's? I really think not.
Microsoft appear to be hurting. It's a shame, but growth causes pains... and so does degeneration.
Let's see what the future actually holds, instead of listening to more Microsoft spin.
someone should tell Sergey the story about people who live in glass houses.
Forgive me, if I use the 'G' word --"greed"-- when I refer to Google.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=507663&p=22#r425
That means the default search engine in IE 7 will be MS for almost everyone. And again, changing it will be relatively hard. It won't just be a drop-down next to the search widget.
So most Windows users will continue to use the MS search engine, because that is what's fed to them. Just like most Windows users use IE instead of better browsers like Firefox.
So in a subtle way, MS is leveraging their Windows and IE monopolies to steer users toward the MS search engine. That is what Google is complaining about.
I'm not taking sides. This doesn't directly affect me, since I use a Mac. I just hope MS doesn't crush Google, since Google offers pretty good Mac support and MS doesn't.
"We can't embrace the open-source business model. That is inconsistent with being a commercial company,"
This is an outright lie that Microsoft keeps telling. Free Software (aka the "open source" representing its non-ideologist camp) isn't about price, but about freedom and as such it indeed is suitable for commercial ventures. It has and continues to be the crucial part of many know companies' business models, such as RedHat, Novell, Mandriva, JBoss, IBM etc.
In this particular case about the default search engine in IE I can't come to a definite conclusion on who is right and who is wrong. It is true that Microsoft's desktop monopoly puts it in a possibly unfair advantageous position over Google and that having MSN as default would mean leveraging that monopoly. It is also true, however, that including Google as a default may not be entirely fair either, not only to MSN, but to other engines such as Yahoo. The only fair thing to do seems to be not to have a default at all. Maybe Microsoft should just have IE ask users what search engine do they want as default when they first start IE having *nothing* preselected as default.
In any case, I've pretty much lost my respect for both companies. Microsoft is still the number one bad guy in most areas if you ask me (and alot of other people without a doubt). It is a convicted monopolist who will do all it can, be it legal or illegal, fair or unfair, harmful for the society or not - to get them on the top of everything. This is why I use Free Software and GNU/Linux and why it hurts me when Microsoft starts throwing lies around to twist people's perception about this liberating software.
Thank you
Daniel
I mean, if anyone needs to be kept honest, it's Microsoft.
Google needs to fire a return salvo. A really big one.
- Gagging on Google - Try Copernic
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by pmchefalo
May 15, 2006 5:37 PM PDT
- Picasa is OK. Google Earth is over-hyped. The search engine: way overhyped.
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See all 31 Comments >>The last PC I bought, a Dell eneterprise laptop, had Google installed for desktop search, the search engine, the toolbar, etc. I had to switch 'em to Copernic ... which by virtue of its capabilities alone is the best search method for desktop and Internet.