Ethiopian Review

Kayak, a website that specialises in finding the cheapest flights, claims that Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing, is so similar that it is confusing customers.

According to Wired, Kayak has sent Microsoft a letter detailing its concerns about similarities between its own website and
Bing’s travel search facility.

“We have contacted them through the official channels about concerns about the similarities between Bing and Kayak,” said Robert Birge, Kayak’s chief marketing officer. “From the look and feel of their travel products, they seem to agree with our approach to the market.”

Both Kayak and Bing Travel feature a results page and travel itinerary that users can tailor by checking tick boxes and moving selection sliders. A number of technology experts reviewing Microsoft’s new search engine shortly after its May launch observed the similarities to Kayak, including Wired itself, which described the travel interface as “uncomfortably close to Kayak’s”.

But Whitney Burke, director of Bing, has denied Kayak’s claims. “We are discussing the matter with Kayak,” she said. “Bing Travel is based on independent development by Microsoft and Farecast.com, which Microsoft acquired in 2008. Any contrary allegations are without merit.”

Bing is continuing to enjoy an increasing share of the search market, in the United States at least. According to the latest figures from comScore, Bing accounts for 16.7 per cent of search traffic in the US in the week commencing June 8.

By Claudine Beaumont | telegraph