Kool-Aid warning

Summary: A company called User Centric goes against Google, but Microsoft is its major client

SOME months ago we saw Microsoft commissioning a study that practically inverted the truths about Microsoft's search business. It claimed growth, whereas all the independent sources (established meters) claimed the very opposite. Around the same time we also saw anti-Google studies from former Microsoft employees (no disclosure was made) and we constantly see Microsoft lobbies that attack Google. When Microsoft-hired agents and former employees are all aiming squarely at Google, then despite the fact that it is not related to Free software, it cannot escape without comments. Microsoft uses similar strategies against GNU/Linux, so it is important to understand the anatomy of these strategies.

“Microsoft uses similar strategies against GNU/Linux, so it is important to understand the anatomy of these strategies.”This little bit of background bring us to today's story. A lot of people are easily misled by already-contradicted claims that Microsoft is gaining a lot in search. On top of that, we are seeing the pro-Microsoft crowd and PR (disguised as journalism) consistently linking to claims that "Bing is better than Google for advertising" (or something along those lines).

Let us have a quick look at the original source of this claim. We are used to seeing Microsoft partners or companies that are paid by Microsoft simultaneously praising it (Net Applications, anyone?).

The source of the latest claim is a small firm called "User Centric". For software, only 4 entities are listed among its clients. They are:

Software

Microsoft Microsoft Games * Sparebackup TV Guide

Where is Google? Where are other software companies? Microsoft has 2 out of 4 slots. Might this not lead to bias? ⬆