kaled - 8:21 pm on Nov 23, 2009 (gmt 0)

This could be a brilliant idea from the point of view of Microsoft and the News Media. If Microsoft pull this off, they will have a monster advantage that definitively sets them apart from Google and can be exploited in advertising.

Does this damage the web?
No, not really. It just means that we'll have to use Bing to search for news-related stuff instead of Google - I'm not going to loose sleep over that.

Does this set a precedent that others will follow?
No, not really. For everyone else, maximum exposure is everything - Microsoft can't afford to buy everyone off.

Kaled.