Mar 4, 2013 at 9:36am ET by Greg Sterling

Microsoft's "Scroogled" ad campaign, which attacked Google over paid inclusion in shopping and Gmail over privacy, is coming to an end. KQED reports that Microsoft will stop TV, newspaper and social media ads promoting the Scroogled message: "That part is about finished," Stefan Weitz, Microsoft senior director of online services, said on Thursday. Microsoft launched the Scroogled campaign last November to attack Google's all-paid-inclusion shopping search results. Our stories below cover more about this: Bing Attacks Google Shopping With “Scroogled” Campaign, Forgets It’s Guilt [...]

Ballmer: 70% Of The Time, Google & Bing Are The Same, So Try Bing!

Oct 18, 2011 at 10:03pm ET by Danny Sullivan

It's perhaps one of the strangest product pitches I've heard. Asked on stage at Web 2.0 Summit by John Battelle about his Bing search engine, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer encouraged the audience to try Bing because, well, it's pretty much the same as Google. The Ballmer 70/15/15 Challenge "I would issue you all a kind of challenge to try any search you want on Bing and Google," Ballmer said, explaining that 70% of the time, there won't be any difference in the results, that 15% of the time, Bing will be better and 15% of the time, Google will be better. Now, if Ballmer had said that maybe [...]

MSFT Earnings: $17B In Quarter, $70 Billion For Year

Jul 21, 2011 at 5:19pm ET by Greg Sterling

Microsoft announced fiscal Q4 and full year revenue this afternoon. Growing 8 percent from a year ago Microsoft reported $17.37 billion in topline revenue and $6.17 billion in operating income. Revenues for Online Services, which houses Bing and online advertising, grew 17 percent for the quarter and 15 percent for the full year. However the division lost roughly $2.5 billion for the fiscal year. Xbox did very well. However consumer PC demand was lukewarm and Windows revenue decreased by 2 percent for the year ended June 30. Overall, the company reported gross revenues of $69.94 billion for [...]

Microsoft More “Ethical” Than Apple, Google, Yahoo, Facebook

Mar 17, 2011 at 9:28am ET by Greg Sterling

Many people might not believe that Microsoft, the company that a decade ago was often known as "the evil empire," is now one of the most "ethical" internet companies, beating out Google, Apple, Yahoo, Facebook and other well-known online brands. That's according to the New York-based Ethisphere Institute (EI), which produces an annual list of "world's most ethical companies." The non-profit uses a multi-pronged methodology to determine an "Ethical Quotient" for nominated companies. Those that make the list are all considered "ethical." There's no further ranking or hierarchy. There were 110 [...]

Microsoft Q2 Revs Almost $20 Billion, “Bing Division” Still Losing Money Despite Search Revenue Increase

Jan 28, 2011 at 9:55am ET by Greg Sterling

Microsoft announced second quarter earnings yesterday, which beat Wall Street's expectations. The company reported a lot of good news about its revenues, profits and products, including Windows (PC) 7, Kinect/Xbox and Office. However Online Services, which houses all Microsoft's online operations including MSN and Bing, posted a $543 million loss. That's up from $463 a year ago. The company is on track to lose $2 billion for the year in that division, though ad revenues are up 23 percent. There was very little discussion of search in particular or Windows Phones except for the fo [...]

Ballmer At CES 2011: “Whatever Device You Use, Windows Will Be There”

Jan 5, 2011 at 9:04pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Today in his Consumer Electronics Show keynote, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer declared that Xbox is no longer a gaming device but an entertainment hub. And Windows will be everywhere, from your TV through Xbox, to your phone via Windows Phone 7, and on PCs of any type, especially through a forthcoming version of "Windows On A Chip." Below, my live blogging of Ballmer's talk at CES in Las Vegas. Ballmer has arrived. Windows Phone 7, Kinect, other products launched last year, big success, "a year like no other." Thanks the over 1 billion customers around the world. Xbox & Kinect Wi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Microsoft: General | Top News

Happy Fourth Of July From Google With Rube Goldberg Doodle

Jul 4, 2010 at 10:34am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google arguably has the most interesting logo for July 4th celebrations of all the search engines today. Google put together a Doodle that celebrated the fourth of July and at the same time, commemorates the birthday of Rube Goldberg, an artist well known for building complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect. I complied a list of pictures, including a video of how the Google Doodle works. Here it is: Here is a static version: The other search engines also has some neat logos for the special day: Yahoo's animated logo: Yahoo's static logo: Bing: [...]

Microsoft Income Jumps, Online Services Loss Does Too

Apr 23, 2010 at 8:58am ET by Greg Sterling

Wall Street is a curious place. A number of companies last week and this week reported very strong revenues suggesting that the recession is in fact over. But investors, disappointed that performance wasn't even stronger, punished their shares perhaps with more aggressive expectations than were justified under the circumstances. Amazon and eBay are two examples of companies with strong revenues and income where investors sold off the stock. And so is Microsoft. Redmond reported "record [fiscal] third-quarter revenue of $14.50 billion" with a 35% increase in net income. Investors responde [...]

Admitting Role In Google Anti-Trust Complaints Microsoft Complains Of Google “Lock In”

Feb 27, 2010 at 1:51pm ET by Greg Sterling

Responding to Google's aggressive assertion that Microsoft is behind many of the anti-trust complaints that have been leveled against Google in the recent past, Microsoft in a blog post by Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner essentially says "get over it." Google claimed that Microsoft was directly or indirectly responsible for the anti-trust complaints recently filed in individual European countries and with the EC: Given that these complaints will generate interest in the media, we wanted to provide some background to them. First, search. Foundem - a member of an organi [...]

Microsoft Complies With EU Demand, First To Cut Data Retention To Six Months

Jan 19, 2010 at 8:40am ET by Greg Sterling

Microsoft is the first of the major search engines to agree to the European Union's demand that data retention be cut to six months. The company will now completely delete IP addresses after six months. Here's what Microsoft said on the Bing community blog about the move: Today we sent a letter to the Article 29 Working Party notifying them of our intention to make a change to Bing’s data retention policy. Specifically, we are reducing the amount of time we store IP addresses from searchers to 6 months. Currently we keep that information for 18 months before we delete it. Generally, [...]

CES: Microsoft Expands Scope Of HP Search Relationship To 42 Countries

Jan 7, 2010 at 10:43am ET by Greg Sterling

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave the opening keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last night. It was a review of Microsoft accomplishments and product launches during 2009 (e.g., Windows 7, Bing) as well as a preview of some products coming to market (e.g., Project Natal for Xbox) in the future. Ballmer spent some time talking about Bing and Bing Maps, as well as providing a demo of the latter and the new Street Side capability. Ballmer announced that Bing would become the default search engine and MSN the default homepage on HP computers in 42 countries. This is ess [...]

Here Comes Google’s 2009 Holiday Logos

Dec 21, 2009 at 9:36am ET by Barry Schwartz

It is that time of the year again, the Google Holiday logo blitz is on for 2009. Google posted their first logo today, and will be archiving them up until the day of Christmas, I believe. You will be able to see them all at google.com/logos/holidays-2009.html. So keep an eye out for them. In other logo news, I posted many of the Winter logos, today is the first day of Winter here, at the Search Engine Roundtable. Here they are: [...]

Google Plays It Safe With ’09 Veterans Day Logo

Nov 11, 2009 at 9:13am ET by Barry Schwartz

If you visit Google.com today, you will see a special logo for Veterans Day. The logo is less complex when compared to last years, where Google had to fix their Veterans Day logo. Last year, Google placed hats on top of each letter on the Google logo, the hats included Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. But they forgot one, the U.S. Coast Guard, which they added later. Google also has a logo on Google.co.uk for Remembrance Day: Bing has a Veterans Day Theme: Yahoo typically skips adding a special logo for today, which is what they have done today. But you can see more [...]

MSN Introduces Dramatically Improved Redesign, Portal Drives Nearly 50% Of Bing Queries

Nov 4, 2009 at 12:36am ET by Greg Sterling

Billed as the first major redesign in a decade, Microsoft has introduced a dramatic new look and feel for the MSN portal. The redesign simplifies and cleans up most elements on the site. Among other things, it makes video more central, incorporates Facebook and Twitter, creates a dedicated new local area and emphasizes search. MSN, which Microsoft says now has 600 million users globally (which would make it larger than Yahoo), is a huge asset for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it drives roughly 45% of Bing's queries. Even a cursory look at the old and new MSN h [...]

Halloween ’09 From Google, Yahoo, Bing & Others

Oct 31, 2009 at 8:11pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Today is Halloween and the search engines have logos up for the special day. Before I post the logos, here are some posts from others in the community on Halloween. Matt Cutts of Google had a holy costume. Google Blogoscoped noticed Google added trick or treat to their robots.txt file. Bing has a special visual search edition for today. Bruce Clay's team dressed up and PPC Heros added some funk. Finally, the logos you see below is reposted from the Search Engine Roundtable. Google has four Doodles: Yahoo (Flash): AOL (Flash): YouTube: Bing: Ask.com: [...]

MSFT Quarter: Revenues Down 14 Percent, But Beat Estimates

Oct 23, 2009 at 10:29am ET by Greg Sterling

Microsoft announced quarterly revenues of $12.9 billion, a decline of just over 14 percent from the same period a year ago. Adjusted revenue, which accounts for $1.5 billion in deferred Windows 7 receipts put the quarter at $14.4 billion, just 4 percent down vs. a year ago. Profits were also down. Online services (where Bing is housed) had revenues of $490 million and a $480 million loss vs revenues of $520 million and losses of $321 million a year go. The conference call is going to start in a few minutes but the company's slides highlight strong Windows (7) and Xbox demand. PC growth was [...]

Micro-Hoo: The Details Emerge With SEC Filing

Aug 5, 2009 at 12:01pm ET by Greg Sterling

First to pounce on the SEC 8-K filing by Yahoo was PaidContent, which provides an extensive bulleted list of many of the deal terms not revealed last week during the frenzy of conference calls and articles that followed the official announcement of the Microsoft-Yahoo search deal. CNET also writes about selected aspects of the deal contained in the filing, specifically an "escape clause" (termination) for Yahoo (see below). And the AP has a short piece on how the deal terms require Microsoft to hire at least 400 Yahoo employees. Here are some verbatim excerpts from the SEC filing: Negotiat [...]

Can Yahoo Really Compete In Search By “Owning The Interface”?

Aug 3, 2009 at 11:53am ET by Greg Sterling

During the Yahoo-Microsoft conference call with CEOs Bartz and Ballmer and subsequent discussion with Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi and Yahoo's Hilary Schneider we heard repeatedly that although the two engines would share a single index and Microsoft would incorporate elements of Yahoo Search (e.g., Search Monkey) into Bing, Yahoo would continue to be different and vital in search. Freed from the cost ($425 million reportedly) and ongoing demands of the back end, it would "innovate" around the interface and search user experience. Many people in the industry were skeptical and shrugged it o [...]

Google OS Reactions: The Positive, Negative & The Paranoid

Jul 8, 2009 at 7:12pm ET by Greg Sterling

Late yesterday Google announced (or finally admitted) that it had developed an operating system, called Chrome OS, not to be confused, exactly, with the related Chrome browser. Everyone and their grandmother seems to have an opinion about it. Here's a sampling of the reaction, positive, negative and in-between: The fans, boosters and generally positive takes: TechCrunch, BetaNews, Computerworld, Mashable, BuzzMachine, Ars Technica, Bloomberg, ArsTechnica, Google Watch, MediaMemo, Linux-Watch.com, Google Operating System, The Register, TheNextWeb.com, Black Web 2.0, BloggingStocks, Gadge [...]

Did Google Cleverly Upstage Microsoft’s Bing?

May 29, 2009 at 11:10am ET by Greg Sterling

Mike Arrington thinks that Google engaged in "a little stealth black ops mission" and blunted the full impact of the Ballmer Bing announcement yesterday by announcing Wave. Whether Wave represents a huge new development in digital communications remains to be seen, but almost every major news outlet had to cover it and divide its attention between Bing and Wave. Indeed, many journalists and bloggers were physically divided between the AllThingsD conference near San Diego and Google's developer event I/O in San Francisco. Arrington also cites the lack of access to Bing/Kumo as a PR mistake. [...]

Get Our News, Everywhere!

Follow @sengineland

Got a tip? Tell us here!

Most Likes
Most Tweets
Comments

Our Stories Being Liked on Facebook

Search Engine Land Sponsors

Advertise With Us

Free Daily Search News Recap!

SearchCap is a once-per-day newsletter update - sign up below and get the news delivered to you!

Click to watch SMX conference video

Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

North America

SMX East - Oct. 1-3, 2013
SMX Social Media Marketing - Nov. 20-21, 2013
SMX West - March 11-13, 2014
SMX Advanced - June 2014

EMEA

SMX Stockholm - Oct. 14-15, 2013
SMX Milan - Nov. 7-8, 2013
SMX Israel - Jan. 2014
SMX Munich - March 25-26, 2014
SMX London - May 2014
SMX Paris - June 2014

APAC

SMX Sydney - April 2014

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.