[IP] More on: Microsoft on the Trail of Google (typo fixed)
Begin forwarded message:
From: Brett Glass <brett@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: July 8, 2004 4:05:38 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, Ip <ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: More on: Microsoft on the Trail of Google (typo fixed)
Dave:
Microsoft ought to be able to do a very good job of eclipsing Google in
the search engine market -- but not for the reasons one might think.
One reason Microsoft can out-Google Google is that it has long had the
ability to collect massive amounts of information on users' browsing
and searching habits via its Internet Explorer browser.
Most computer users don't know it, but whenever a user types an
incomplete URL (say, "cnn.com" instead of "http://www.cnn.com/";) into
Microsoft's browser, the browser treats the entry as a query -- which
in turn is sent to MSN. To observe this for yourself, type a nonsense
domain, such as "blorgschnitz.com", into the address box in Internet
Explorer. You'll see, as you type, that the words "Search for
blorgschnitz.com" appear below the box. And after you press Enter, the
message you receive which indicates that the domain does not exist will
come not from your computer's domain name resolving software but from
MSN. The page presented by MSN offers a search box which performs a
query via Microsoft's search engine. (There's no way to pick an
alternative search engine which you might prefer, such as Google.)
What's more, it attempts to steer you to a registrar -- which is no
doubt paying Microsoft for referrals -- to register the nonexistent
domain you entered.
Because most users -- even experienced ones -- expect the browser to
complete URLs and do not bother to type in the "syntactic sugar"
(http://, etc.) at the beginning, Microsoft is able to collect
information on the vast majority of URLs that are typed into Internet
Explorer. And because Internet Explorer is featured prominently on
nearly every computer sold (most users don't even distinguish between
it and "the Internet"), more URLs are typed into its browser than any
other. Microsoft thus has had, for many years, the ability to quietly
spy on users, collecting statistics that competitors -- including
Google -- could only dream of having at their disposal. And while this
(mis)feature is actually more intrusive than Verisign's "hijacking" of
unused domains (in fact, in many experienced users' eyes, it amounts to
spyware, because it gathers information about users' normal browsing),
it has received little notice in either the computer trade press or in
the mainstream press.
In short, Internet search is yet another area in which Microsoft can
leverage its control of the platform -- and the browser which it has
inexorably bolted to it -- to gain an advantage over competitors. Since
there appears to be no antitrust enforcement, we can only hope that
Google and others are nimble enough to hold their own despite the
advantage which Microsoft gains via its control of Windows.
--Brett Glass
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