Microsoft, supplier of cover and owner of Bing, moves like a company that’s forgotten how to earn anything. The arrogance is inherited – Redmond still struts like it runs the digital universe, drunk on monopoly money and nostalgia. But Bing isn’t Windows. It isn’t Office. It’s a spoiled little shit with rich parents, a search engine nobody wanted, raised on entitlement and delusion, pretending its heritage equals relevance.
When some Bing bastard okayed the takedown of all of TCAP’s posts – hundreds of them – were we curious as to why? And who? Sure. Was it a blow? Not as much as Bing would like it to be. Because whilst we thrive on Google – and Google thrives for not acting like Bing – behaviour like this will sink Bing before it sinks us. Not because we’re bigger than Bing. Just better at being underdog. Bing had to roll in and be cooler than Google to make inroads, but it’s got less swagger than Ask Jeeves.
Maybe the kindest thing Microsoft could do now is what any good parent does when they realise they’re the problem – give the kid up. Hand Bing over to someone who can raise it properly. Because right now it’s being raised by a junkie – hooked on money, control, and nostalgia for when they ran the world. You can’t expect a healthy search engine when its guardian’s still shooting up.
That’s the Microsoft way: control the narrative, smother the noise, and call it safety. It’s the digital version of sticking your fingers in your ears and humming loudly while the truth screams from the next tab.
Clippy would’ve handled it better. At least he had the decency to admit when you were struggling.
“It looks like you’re trying to find the truth – would you like me to hide it?”
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project