NikHatter // It's their only way out.
Be Aware! Stay Informed!
Just thought everyone should be aware of this.
I still wish that I lived where it could snow more than once every 7 years. *sigh*
Microsoft's New Search Engine: "BING"
Everybody has heard the phrase “Google it,” but now we have a contender.
“Bing it”
Microsoft’s new search engine to replace Microsoft Live Search is called Bing. The early reviews of this product all point to one conclusion: “the most serious challenge to Google.”
WOW! What a sterling review. In essence everyone is saying, “finally we have something that comes close to where Google is.”
All this aside, there now is a new issue that many people have with this web search.
Live Video Thumbnails and Fair Use
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.
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.
http://www.webtvwire.com/microsoft-bing-launches-with-live-video-thumbnails-porn-aplenty-but-is-it-fair-use/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/02/scitech/pcanswer/main5057629.shtml
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Howell/?p=245
http://www.beet.tv/2009/06/wow-bing-has-live-video-thumbnails-but-is-it-fair-use.html
Now, what does this mean for us? I would suggest that we don’t use it. Chances are that litigation will ensue on the basis of fair use and content piracy. The outcome of this will more than likely be this feature being disabled. As stated above, the problem with this feature, in the legal sense, is that Bing.com robs content developers and providers of clicks, views, and revenue. Advertisers are not paying for Bing to take the content and leave the advertising.
On the other hand, the porn issue is huge as well. Using the setting for “strict” content filtering I was able to view a very inappropriate portion of a video by merely video searching two common words. (Purposely left out) I tried to search the same words using Google’s “strict” filtering and did not see the thumbnail of that particular video in the top 50. Clearly Bing can still be considered in beta.
Compare the search preferences. Note what I have highlighted in the Bing preference settings.
Again, I would suggest we don’t use this search engine until this feature is disabled and the filter has been perfected. Parents, be aware of this.
I have also checked the search results against Covenant Eyes reporting software. Your search strings are recorded within the accountability report.
The Twitterverse by Jess3 and Brian Solis
