A Microsoft and News Corp. search pact? It adds up

Microsoft and News Corp. are reportedly discussing a deal where Rupert Murdoch would take his properties and delist them from Google. These sites would presumably wind up on Bing. The Financial Times reported that Microsoft and News Corp. have talked about de-indexing its news Web sites from Google. In addition:

The Financial Times has learnt that Microsoft has also approached other big online publishers to persuade them to remove their sites from Google’s search engine.

Crazy? Not if the money is right.

Microsoft's grand plan would be to hamper Google by taking key properties away. And the software giant's idea to approach other newspapers makes sense too. After all, Microsoft's search partner Yahoo is really tight with newspapers.

The big picture here: Microsoft wants to ding Google, but it also wants market share. In many respects, search engines could resemble the stock exchanges. The Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange spend a lot of time and money on poaching big-name companies from each other. However, the investor doesn't really care where a company lists shares. You use both exchanges.

Carry that analogy out to search and you see what Microsoft is pushing with Bing. Microsoft only wants to be on par with Google. If Bing has properties that garner attention perhaps consumers will use Microsoft's search a little more. If folks use Bing and Google throughout the day it's a clear win for Microsoft.