Same headline as two years ago, just a different company. In honor of Earth Hour, Bing will go with a darker version of the site this evening.
And just like Google two years ago, it’s an interesting gesture to support the cause, but it is akin to beating a baby seal to death to support a ban on seal clubbing. Or Al Gore taking a private jet to a conference to wag his finger and tell us not to drive our SUVs. Or Pepsi doing this. Or California doing this.
That’s because it uses more power to show black on a flat panel screen than it does to show white.
Microsoft knows this, but I’m guessing the marketing people said it’s good for their image anyway. Says Microsoft: “While a darker version of our page doesn’t save any energy over the regular version, we wanted to do our part to help spread the word.”
Why do it, Microsoft? Why club the baby seal?
Bing is a decision (search) engine from Microsoft officially announced on May 28, 2009. It combines technology from the Farecast and Powerset acquisitions, as well as new algorithms and a more colorful page design, to attempt to understand the context behind the search, which Microsoft claims gives users better results. Bing as a brand is also an attempt to eliminate the confusion caused by Microsoft’s “Windows Live” branding. Bing is now everything “search” related, whereas Windows Live encompasses the remnants...
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