What you need to know
- Google remains the number one search tool.
- Alphabet Inc. faces an EU antitrust fine accusing it of foisting Google on users.
- Alphabet argues that Google is just more popular than the competition, plain and simple.
Alphabet Inc. has been attempting to fend off an EU antitrust fine based on the claim that the company had been pushing Google on Android users. It was also posited that Google has deliberately attempted to oust rivals from relevance. One such rival? Microsoft Bing.
"We have submitted evidence showing that the most common search query on Bing is by far Google," an Alphabet lawyer said in court (via Bloomberg). The lawyer argued that people come to Google because they want to and that the search giant doesn't force people to forsake Bing. Rather, people forsake Bing all on their own.
It's no secret that Bing trails behind Google in overall popularity. With that in mind, it's still worth considering as a search tool thanks to the multitude of features it employs in an attempt to get ahead of the competition. Take, for example, the festive alterations Bing made to its searches in honor of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Not to mention, there's also the Microsoft rewards program, which essentially gives you free money in exchange for performing basic search activities on Bing.
Not that any of that is enough to singlehandedly tilt global search metrics in Bing's favor, but such details are something to remember if you're considering your options.
This isn't the first time Microsoft has picked up the scraps left behind by Google. It recently did so on a Pentagon contract that the latter company abandoned, swooping in alongside Amazon to score whatever money and government entrenchment there was to be scored.
