Bing, Microsoft’s latest attempt at changing Internet search, has already caused controversy thanks to its live video thumbnails search results. Not only is porn accessible on the site, but being able to play videos without ever visiting the source raises possible fair use concerns.
Internet Search Options
The Internet search market is dominated by one company – Google. The company boasts an almost two-thirds share of the market, managing 64.2 percent of all searches compared to the 20.4 percent managed by Yahoo! and just 8.2 percent by Microsoft. No wonder then that Microsoft is currently rebranding and re-energizing its search engine.
The result is Bing, which launched over the weekend. It’s very much like Google, sharing many of the same features and elements as the market leader, including results for online video. But Microsoft is also trying to redefine the power of search, which it’s managing to do already, just not in the way it intended. The name just makes me think of Chandler Bing from Friends (pictured above) but there’s worse to come.
Live Video Thumbnails
They say no publicity is bad publicity, and if that’s true then the immediate aftermath of the launch of Bing will do wonders for getting the search engine known around the Internet. The Video section is at the center of a couple of interesting news stories surrounding Bing. One centers on porn, the other on whether live video thumbnails pulled from other sites is fair use or not.
All video results on Bing are delivered via a page of live video thumbnails. Scrolling your mouse over one of them sets the video playing while clicking the link opens up another Bing page where the video is embedded and available to play. It takes another click to actually visit the video source, which would seem overkill.
Bing Bong – Controversy Calling
As Beet.tv points out, this obviously raises questions around fair use. It’s entirely possible to watch videos in their entirety from within the Bing Video search results page. You may never visit the source and consequently never provide any revenue by way of advertising to the original host of the video. I’m no expert when it comes to fair use but I’d at least guess some of the video hosts would have a problem with the way Bing operates.
Another fallout of the decision to use live video thumbnails is that porn instantly becomes accessible to anyone capable of overriding the search filter, which is everyone as it only require two clicks of your mouse. As discovered by TechCrunch, once turned off you may be turned on by the site of hardcore porn video previews right there in your search results.
While the same results may come up on Google or Yahoo!, they require more effort to turn off the filter and then a visit to the source in order to view the clip. Instead, Microsoft is effectively becoming the front counter for a store full of pornography. Which is likely to displease parents and advertisers alike.
