Google Inc. accused rival Microsoft Corp. of copying its Internet search results, the latest salvo in the competition between the two technology behemoths.
Google made the claim Tuesday after releasing the results of a test
it carried out purporting to show how Google's results for search terms
were copied weeks later by Microsoft's Bing search engine. Amit Singhal,
who helps oversee
Google's search engine algorithm, called Bing's
behavior "cheating."
In response, Harry Shum, a Microsoft corporate vice president, wrote
in a blog post that Google's claims were misleading and amounted to a
"spy-novelesque stunt to generate extreme outliers."
"We do not copy Google's results," a Microsoft spokesman said.
The verbal volleys are the latest in the ongoing rivalry between
Microsoft and Google, which for years have battled on multiple fronts
including online advertising and Web browsing, among other things.
In its claim Tuesday, which was first published on a tech blog called
Search Engine Land, Google said it ran a "sting" by altering its
results algorithm in order to see whether Bing would do the same.
For example, Google changed its algorithm to show a link to the
website for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. if users searched
for "mbzrxpgjys." Later, the same result showed up on Bing, Google said.
It found such copying in about seven to nine out of 100 different
search queries it tested, according to the blog post.
Late Tuesday, Mr. Singhal posted a detailed post on Google's official
blog describing how the company came to the conclusion that Bing was
copying the Google search engine, adding that he wanted to see that
practice stop. Google wants to compete with "algorithms built on core
innovation, and not on recycled search results from a competitor," he
wrote.
Stefan Weitz, director of the Bing search engine at
Microsoft, said in an interview the company studies how certain users
interact with Google in order to improve Bing. It does this by looking
at "clickstream data," or information that users of Microsoft's Internet
Explorer or the Bing search toolbar voluntarily share with the company.
But Mr. Weitz added such data is just one of more than 1,000 "signals"
that Bing uses for its own search results algorithm. That's the reason
why Google only found a handful of alleged copies, he said. "Competitors
are all trying to see what the best ideas are out there," Mr. Weitz
said.
Google in the past has been accused by some technology observers of
copying Bing's user interface, including its home page, a left-hand
navigation bar on the results page, and the look of its image search
feature, among other things. Google didn't immediately respond to
requests for comment about whether it copies Bing.
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