Users Prefer Bing to Google But Won't Switch: Study

Bing execs angrily deny cheating charges

(NEWSER) - Call it Nerd Wars II: The Empire Strikes Back. Microsoft angrily denied Google's recent claims that Bing has been copying Google's search results , calling the accusation "insulting," in a ratcheting up of tensions between the two computer giants. "We do not copy results from any of our competitors. Period. Full stop," said a blog post by Yusef Mehdi, a senior vice president at Microsoft, saying Google's accusations were a "publicity stunt." More»

$25M search deals with Microsoft, Google push it barely into black

(NEWSER) - Twitter will be marginally profitable this year thanks to deals with Google and Microsoft that open up the social networking site’s streams to those companies’ search engines. The agreement with Google is worth about $15 million, while the Microsoft partnership should net Twitter around $10 million. The short message site is thought to have operating expenses between $20 million and $25 million. More»

Fight for market share finds willing fodder in snow-delayed fliers

(NEWSER) - There’s a new public option in town: free wireless from Google for the holidays. The search giant has partnered to provide WiFi gratis in 47 airports nationwide from now until the middle of January; the generosity even extends to in-flight access on continental Virgin flights, PC World reports. Google would probably like to spread its beneficence across the entire nation, but its partnership with the likes of Time Warner and Boingo doesn’t allow universal coverage. More»

It hopes to gain edge over Google in social networking

(AP) - Microsoft has picked up a new weapon in its Internet search duel with Google—full access to Twitter's communications hotbed. The partnership announced today represents a coup for Microsoft as it tries to spice up its Internet search engine, Bing, in its long-running attempts to lure traffic from Google. A test version of Bing's Twitter feature debuted today. More»

(NEWSER) - Microsoft and Yahoo finally officially tied the knot today, with a 10-year deal to integrate their search and advertising businesses, MSNBC reports. It appears Microsoft won't pay Yahoo up front, which is probably a blow to Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, who promised she'd only join Microsoft for a "boatload of money." Instead they'll share ad revenue, and Microsoft will pay Yahoo a traffic acquisition fee. More»