Search and destroy: Why the BBC is no better than Microsoft

Since the launch of BBCi's much-publicised 'unbiased' search engine almost all the talk has been about the fairness of its results - how come BBC Search keeps returning BBC URLs, people ask.

An interesting discussion, certainly, but it's just a sideshow masking the real issue at hand. The BBC is anti-competitive and if it was a US firm Greg Dyke would be spending as much time as Bill Gates in court fending off a hard-nosed Department of Justice.

If you think this assessment is a little over the top, consider the evidence.

Since the launch earlier this month, the BBC has been aggressively plugging its new product on all its radio and television channels. If you're not familiar with the 'the search is over' tag line yet, don't worry, you soon will be. All thanks to the commercial-free BBC.

If a 30 second advert during Coronation Street costs £100,000 a time, what price an exclusive slot just after Eastenders? This is cross-promotion in the extreme.

Google, Yahoo!, Lycos - and dare we suggest MSN - are about to discover how Netscape felt when Microsoft decided to bastardise its market by bundling browser software for free.

The comparisons with Microsoft are not perfect but they are instructive. Certainly the BBC is not seeking to create revenue from its search engine in the way Gates and co sought to do with their integrationist approach. It is, however, going to take revenue away from others and is firmly aware that the success or otherwise of its search engine will be judged in a commercial context within the corporation. A successful launch will ensure a bigger budget for BBCi next year.

This is not about whether the BBC's search engine is better than the rest - an entirely subjective exercise - it's about creating a level playing field. As a commercial environment the internet is tough enough right now without a late entrant coming along and playing on its monopoly as a 'national treasure' to grab audience share.

Place the people who have created the BBCi search engine in the real world and let's see how long they survive. If the non-defunct beeb.com - which traded on the notoriety of the BBC's leading consumer programmes - is any guide of commercial acumen, Google and the rest have very little to worry about.