Microsoft's and Ask Jeeves announced that they have thrown out paid inclusion links in their search engines. This means that Microsoft's MSN Search will "no longer display links obtained through paid inclusion". Yahoo is still the only major search engine to still use paid inclusion. As you may or may not know MSN Search relies on Yahoos search technology. So it comes as no surprise that Microsoft is trying distance itself from its partnership with Yahoo as Microsoft prepares to unleash its new search engine.
Microsoft and Ask Jeeves have thrown paid inclusion links out of their search engines in recent moves that could bring new pressure on Yahoo to reconsider its fee-based indexing policies. Microsoft on Thursday said its redesigned MSN Search site would no longer display links obtained through paid inclusion, a controversial arrangement in which Web publishers pay to have their sites indexed and frequently refreshed.
Microsoft said it made the change to clarify the difference between its commercial and noncommercial results. MSN, which relies on Yahoo to power its search, now filters paid inclusion links out of Yahoo's results. Yahoo is now the only major search engine championing paid inclusion. "We remain committed to our content-acquisition programs, and we will continue to work with content providers to evolve and improve those programs," Yahoo spokeswoman Stephanie Ichinose said.
News source: Wired.com
