News: News Corp eye pact in new weapon against Google

Microsoft is reportedly in discussions with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp group with plans to put the squeeze on Google, according to the Financial Times.

Microsoft – which is trying to lift its fledgling Bing search engine against the almighty presence of Google – is talking about paying News Corp a financial incentive to remove its listings from Google.

Murdoch – who has said that he would change the free online model of news on the internet and start charging for all New Corp content – is reportedly keen to block Google.

While News Corp publications dominate the world of publishing, web experts contend that if these were de-indexed from Google, the resulting effect would be the equivalent of less than a drop in the ocean.

www.ft.com