It seems Microsoft is trying to kill three birds with one stone with the latest release of their Internet Explorer browser. IE8, dubbed “Porn Mode”, boasts a wide array of unprecedented browser based privacy controls for internet surfers. In addition to bringing serious competition against rival Firefox to the table, it also takes a stab at undermining Google’s Adsense advertising program which has been under scrutiny by web security experts as potential spyware. Don’t think for one minute that Microsoft’s rival Mozilla isn’t working on integrating similiar features to it’s Firefox browser, the New York Times reported that similar controls are slated for release in the next version of Firefox.
According to a Fox News report, Microsoft’s latest advancement in their browser software is poised to take a serious chunk out of Google’s online earnings…
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Microsoft’s latest Internet browser includes a piece of software that allows Internet users to hide the audit trail of websites they have visited.
The InPrivate feature on Internet Explorer 8, nicknamed “porn mode”, allows users to conceal the sites they have viewed at the click of a button. Once the setting is chosen, others using the same computer will not be able to see which sites have been accessed. Other browsers have similar functions, but this one is far more prominent. Although casual users cannot see the previous user’s search history, authorities such as the police will be able to access it if necessary. The software may be hailed as a victory for privacy campaigners, but it represents a serious threat to Microsoft’s bigger rival, Google. In allowing surfers to access websites but conceal their browsing behaviour, Microsoft prevents Internet sites from collecting information about their users — data that is then used to sell targeted advertising. Marketing companies try to target adverts at Internet users whom they believe may be interested in certain goods or services. Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft are fighting for bigger shares of the world’s Internet advertising market, which is estimated to be worth $40 billion a year and is expected to double in value by 2010. Google, which is the world’s biggest Internet company, holds the lion’s share of the online advertising market, leaving Yahoo! and Microsoft to hold the second and third slots. So lucrative is the Internet advertising market that Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo! for $47.5 billion this year solely to compete with Google. Yahoo! rejected Microsoft’s approaches, even though the software company had been willing to pay 72 per cent more than its share price. |
How will this impact Adsense publishers?
Internet publishers who rely on Google Adsense as their primary source of income from their sites are few and far between these days. It probably won’t make much difference to most because the vast majority of online publishers have already been migrating away from Adsense due to Google’s lack of publisher support coupled with their quickness to ban an account without explaination and confiscate funds. As if that weren’t enough to drive publishers away, recent forum discussions between prominent webmasters have shown that Adsense earnings are down across the board while the cost of Adwords advertising has risen.
Does this mean Adsense is going to go away?
It’s doubtful that Adsense will disappear from the face of the internet any time soon, however, expect to see fewer and fewer high quality sites displaying the contextual advertisments. Let’s face it, Google had the goose that laid the golden egg in the palm of their hands but they squeezed the goose dry.
How does this benefit Microsoft?
Microsoft has taken matters into their own hands by following up claims made by security experts regarding Google’s policy of collecting internet surfers’ personal data when they are accessing Google’s internet applications such as Adsense, Analytics, Webmasters Tools, Gmail and others. It’s almost impossible for internet users to avoid landing on pages with concealed Google tracking codes and giving up personal data which Google uses to develop marketing strategies based on their web surfing history.
Microsoft is no stranger to privacy concerns from end users and the software giant has learned the hard way that collecting personal information is a big no-no. Google is a relative newcomer in the history of the internet and their rise to prominence has been hearlded by a “do no evil” motto which internet users gleefully embraced. However, the halo that once shined has become tarnished and Microsoft must have been sitting back, waiting for the opportunity to dethrone the child kings and banish them to the nether realms as punishement for their misdeeds.
Will people stop using Firefox?
I seriously doubt that any serious Firefox supporters (such as myself) will even be tempted ot make a switch to IE8. Although many developers keep a copy of IE on their machines for cross-browser compatible internet development, it’s unlikely any new features in IE8 will make the Firefox fans sign off on their favorite browser.
