Outsmarting Google isn't easy. So on the issue of user privacy, Google's competitors are trying a different tactic: knowing less.
Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT) announced Monday that it's introducing new measures on its Live Search application that would erase identifying data from search logs 18 months after it's recorded and will allow users to surf sites with Microsoft-provided ads without having their behavior tracked.
Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO) plans to make all search data anonymous after 13 months, according to a spokesman, and InterActiveCorp's (nasdaq: IACI) Ask.com announced last week that it will be launching AskEraser, a search option that erases all history of Ask searches. Microsoft and Ask.com issued a joint statement over the weekend calling on members of the search industry to meet and discuss ways they can work together to define privacy principles and protect user information.
Full article: forbes.com
