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MS InPrivate Browsing May Cut Off Google's Air Supply
InPrivate Browsing is a nifty new feature of Microsoft's latest version of Internet Explorer (IE). Not coincidentally, this feature will also help Microsoft in their fight with Google, which has not been going well lately.
Google provides about 70% of all the world's search results, giving them the advantage in delivering ads and acquiring knowledge about users. Microsoft delivers a miserable five percent of search results. MS, on the other hand, owns Internet Explorer, which is the web browser choice for about 70% of users.
InPrivate Browsing is a privacy feature that can be enabled by users of MS's IE browser. It controls whether or not the browser saves the history of URLs visited, cookies and other Internet data. It gives users a tool to control how websites (and advertisers!) make use of their browser.
Internet Explorer also comes with built-in selections for in-bar search that cut Google out of the equation. This fights directly with the Foxfire default use of Google as search engine.
One of the key competitive advantages that Google has enjoyed over Microsoft is its ability to correlate important information about specific users. What has the user searched for? What sites has the user visited? What brands does the user like?
Google's recent acquisition of DoubleClick, one of the largest Internet advertising companies, would provide Google with yet another vast storehouse of information about user activity, which they can combine with what is already being tracked by Google's vast network of servers.
Knowledge about users is Google's air supply; without this information, Google's search function loses its specificity. Their ability to provide advertisements that are targeted to a specific user's interests is also endangered. A Google with less information about users is a less usable Google.
Read Internet Explorer 8 To Include 'Stealth' Privacy Mode for more details about InPrivate browsing.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/27/2008)
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