That patent deal last week was straightforward enough. But:

There is also wide speculation that Facebook will start its own Internet search engine to rival Google.</p><p>

“Microsoft is simply less concerned about the threat of social to its business than Google is,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner, a research firm, explaining why Microsoft is not concerned about competition with Facebook.</p><p>

“This may be a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” he added.
Jim Prosser, a Google spokesman, declined to comment.

Also says that senior Microsoft executives (but not Ballmer) tried to get Facebook interested in buying Bing. It wasn't.

Matt PAnzarino examines whether Apple could dump Google from iOS devices:

Apple is already working on what is, at least judging from acquisitions, a technically superior version of Maps built specifically for iOS devices. But you can’t build a search engine in a day, or even in a couple of years. So the only viable option is to change the default iPhone search engine from Google to Bing.

So I decided to take Bing for a spin, changing it to my default search engine for a month or two. What I found was that it actually could be a very solid alternative to Google for a large portion of iPhone users, and that it might even be a better fit for the majority of those than Google is.

However, that's not really a reflection of what he did find. Bing was good on local but less good on maps, news, gossip and some "geeky" searches. But of course, nobody changes defaults.

"Microsoft’s Bing search market share maintained its 14.7% in the United States during the month of September.

"The software giant’s “decision engine” held onto 14.7% U.S. market share compared to Google’s 65.3% according to data from comScore. Yahoo’s market share dropped to 15.5% following a 16.3% figure in August."

That's going to put a dent in Mashable's straight-line extrapolation where Bing + Yahoo take over from Google some time next year, then.

Danny Sullivan asks (as he's been asking for a while): "What’s the plan, Bing? Because 'at least I’m going to do something' isn’t enough.<br />
"In reality, the plan seems to be hang in there long enough until Yahoo slips away. It’s probably not a bad plan. Another plan might be to stop spending all that money on advertising. That never worked long term in the past. Marketshare might not drop, but the red ink might.<br />
"And, reading from Ad Age today, it sounds like the whole Decision Engine idea might be going away period. Sounds good. How about something fun, play off that old joke everyone thought Bing stood for, 'Because it’s not Google.' Give us some ads like 'Bing: We’re Not Google.'"

Danny Sullivan: "At the very least, you’d expect Google at this point to relaunch Google Realtime Search with content from Google+ as a replacement. Not being able to search through content on Google’s own social network, from a company that specializes in search, is pretty absurd.<br />
"Google Realtime Search wasn’t just Twitter search, and the ability to use Google to search through content on other social networks got axed when Google closed it. So bring it back, even if it comes back without Twitter — and get moving on that Google+ search feature.<br />
"As for Bing, search without Twitter isn’t old news. It’s old, old news. Bing’s had a deal with Twitter since October 2009, and that deal hasn’t really seemed to do much to attract visitors over to Bing."<br />
<br />
Can anyone think of anything that *would* attract visitors over to Bing, aside from Google's servers all dying? (And even then..)

Points out that Microsoft's protestations that it's into Bing for the long term (a good thing, since it really started in 2005; all that's happened since then has been two rebrandings) don't mean much if you don't define "success" or quite when you have entered the "long term".

Going toe-to-toe with Google costs Microsoft $5bn+ *a year*, according to industry execs who spoke to the NYT. And who said it should axe Bing?

Mary Jo Foley: "I wouldn't be surprised to see Bing more tightly coupled with Windows 8. Given there's going to be a Windows 8 App Store, users will need to search the new marketplace for apps.<br />
"While the world sees Bing as a distant No. 2 search engine, Microsoft brass and bean counters see Bing as a reusable component and asset that will be built into more and more products. Those who think Microsoft will discard Bing or sell it to the highest bidder are dead wrong -- that won't happen now or any time soon."<br />
<br />
Baking Bing into Windows 8 sounds like a recipe for an antitrust suit. If Google has any sense, it's already got at least one lawyer preparing a case on why that cause consumer harm - the foundation of Sherman antitrust cases.

"Microsoft needs to concentrate on a different kind of search: finding a buyer for Bing, its online search business. Bing is the industry’s distant No. 2 after Google. It has become a distraction for the software giant — one that costs shareholders dearly. The division that houses Bing lost $2.6 billion in the latest fiscal year. Facebook, or even Apple, might make a better home for Bing. A sale would be a boon for Microsoft’s investors."

"After spending billions of dollars over the last two years fighting Google with Bing, what does Microsoft have to show for it?<br />
"Not much from a marketshare perspective. The latest comScore data shows Bing's share is at 14.4%, and it's not exactly growing like a weed."<br />
<br />
More like a stick, really.

"Microsoft did more than just try to out-search Google. They gave some serious thought to how to make the quest for information on the Internet more productive and useful. Bing struck a chord with users and competitors alike and one result is that Google, too, is becoming more results-centric. That’s what is largely behind this perceptual shift from search to knowledge. It was behind Google’s Instant Search results, too — a technically non-trivial effort that lies at the heart of what this particular column is all about. For the moment, Google trading search for knowledge is just posturing, but in the longer run it has really significant meaning. It’s a game-changer."

"Microsoft did more than just try to out-search Google. They gave some serious thought to how to make the quest for information on the Internet more productive and useful. Bing struck a chord with users and competitors alike and one result is that Google, too, is becoming more results-centric. That’s what is largely behind this perceptual shift from search to knowledge. It was behind Google’s Instant Search results, too — a technically non-trivial effort that lies at the heart of what this particular column is all about. For the moment, Google trading search for knowledge is just posturing, but in the longer run it has really significant meaning. It’s a game-changer."

Big move: "Starting today, you can receive personalized search results based on the opinions of your friends by simply signing into Facebook. New features make it easier to see what your Facebook friends “like” across the Web, incorporate the collective know-how of the Web into your search results, and begin adding a more conversational aspect to your searches. Decisions can now be made with more than facts, now the opinions of your trusted friends and the collective wisdom of the Web."

"This morning at RIM’s annual Blackberry World, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced on stage a new alliance between Microsoft and RIM, outlining how the two companies can work together to help people make better decisions with Bing on BlackBerry devices.<br />
Central to this collaboration, , Blackberry devices will use Bing as the preferred search provider in the browser, and Bing will be the default search and map application for new devices presented to mobile operators, both in the United States and internationally.  Also, effective today Bing will be the preferred search and maps applications with regular, featured placement and promotion in the BlackBerry App World carousel."<br />
<br />
Two things. First, if RIM has been smart then it will have driven a hard bargain on this, which means that it will get a payment for every use - and installation? - of Bing. Second, will people who want to change it be able to?

"I’ve super excited to tell you that I've accepted a position as Principal Architect at Bing Mobile and am moving to the Seattle, Washington area to work on maptastic things! Yay!<br />
"Even better, Microsoft is donating access to its global orthorectified aerial imagery to help OpenStreetMappers make the map even better than it already is."<br />
<br />
This is fantastic news for Steve, and for Bing, and for OpenStreetMap. Congratulations to all - everyone wins from this. Steve Coast's achievements with OpenStreetMap can't be underestimated.

"The latest comScore figures show that Bing now controls 13.9% of the search market, up from 13.6% in February, and 8% in May 2009, when Bing was still known as Live Search. One problem: Microsoft is still taking market share from partner Yahoo and not from Google."<br />
<br />
Details, details.

"Microsoft Bing and Yahoo both posted gains in the U.S. search market in March, lifting their combined market share to more than 30%, according to the latest numbers from the Experian Hitwise market research firm. Meanwhile, Google slipped 3 percentage points, to less than 65% of the market, according to the firm’s data.<br />
<br />
"It’s good news for Microsoft, which powers the Yahoo search results under a partnership between the companies."<br />
<br />
Well, we'll see if it's actually good news next week, when Microsoft announces its quarterly results. When it isn't losing hundreds millions of dollars per quarter on search, then its Yahoo tieup can be called "good news".

"Federal prosecutors in Seattle have charged a former Microsoft business development director, Robert D. Curry, with three counts of wire fraud — alleging that he embezzled more than $450,000 from the company in part by fabricating Bing toolbar distribution deals and funneling the resulting payments from Microsoft through an unwitting contractor to a company that he controlled."<br />
<br />
Oh, dear.