Bing vs Google – Microsoft considers payment for publishers

A new phase in the war of the search engines has been entered, according to the Guardian’s PDA blog.

It reports that Microsoft is attempting to woo publishers, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, by looking at the possibility of paying them to put their content on its search engine Bing.

But can Bing beat Google, the most visited website in the world?*

The Guardian suggests that research shows that Google doesn’t depend on publishers’ content and that Microsoft will be unable to dent its revenue.

But, it says, making quality news on Google harder to find would certainly hurt the search engine's image.

But another article, by Joseph Tartakoff, questions whether the money offered by Microsoft will be enough to compensate for the loss of traffic news sites may suffer, if they were to remove their content from Google.

It also quotes Rupert Murdoch as questioning the feasibility of Microsoft’s plan. Asked about the possibility last week, it says, Murdoch said he wasn't convinced even Microsoft could afford it.

Speaking on the Fox Business Network, he said: "If they were to pay everybody for everything they took, from every newspaper in the world and every magazine they wouldn't have any profits left."

*Survey featured in Wall Street Journal

Regional Business Site Launched

A website dedicated to business news for the south-west of England has been launched by Northcliffe.

SouthWestBusiness provides breaking business news by sector or by area, which is pulled in to the site from the regional publisher’s newspaper titles in the region.

The new website also offers business directories for Bristol, Bath, Gloucestershire and Somerset.



According to HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk, the main feature is the site’s comment section which aims to help create an online community of users.

Site Launching Business Social Network

A New York newspaper is set to launch a social network channel aimed at small businesses.

The New York Daily News has announced that it is working with social media platform provider SaleSpider.com to create the service.

According to the Editors Weblog, the social network will enable some 500,000 companies to communicate with one another as part of a networked community.

“By providing an active community and business support system, it is our goal to offer a sustainable service to help them cope with these difficult economic times and help them build for their future,” said Marc Kramer, chief executive at the Daily News.

The president of its project partner added that this kind of offering will benefit online advertisers as it should give them “greater reach”.

Russell Rothstein also noted that the small business social network could become “a model for the newspaper industry to increase revenue within the digital business demographic”.

Website ‘To Be Springboard For Local Business’

A new regional business news website has been launched to cover the East Midlands region.

The site has been created by local publisher Northcliffe and features content pooled from several of the company’s titles in the region, reports Holdthefrontpage.co.uk.

It includes national and global business news and links to local business services covering sectors such as motors, jobs and property.

Thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk also has links to Northcliffe website thisismoney.co.uk.

Bringing the East Midlands business sector to the attentions of a global audience is one of the key motivating factors behind the new site, according to Northcliffe Midlands managing director Alex Leys.

Leys states: “Thisisbusiness-eastmidlands has the opportunity to become the reflector of commercial activity on a daily basis to a worldwide online audience.

“Allying thisisbusiness to the pages of the daily titles in the region will create a new springboard for everyone who has the ambition of the East Midlands at heart.”

The newspapers supplying content for the new website are: Derby’s Evening Telegraph, the Leicester Mercury, the Lincolnshire Echo, the Nottingham Evening Post and the Stoke Sentinel.

Newbury News Launches Business Website

Newbury Weekly News Group has become the latest publisher to launch a specialist business site.

The website - newburybusinesstoday.co.uk - is dedicated to commercial news within the Berkshire area and also includes other stories and information of interest to local businesspeople.

Holdthefrontpage.co.uk reports that the website will run alongside the media group’s current print business publication, which is included with the Newbury Weekly News as a free monthly supplement.

As well as business news and features, the site offers directories of local traders and a searchable photo gallery with pictures from the latest social networking events.