Much of the tech web was alive with the story about Google suggesting that Bing was copying Google’s search results. Paul and I also tackle the topic in the last Daily Brief show (still to be posted) and Microsoft has come out and said directly that they aren’t copying anyone’s results, let alone Google’s.

That assertion doesn’t mean that the smack talk between the two companies hasn’t continued, as we have a report from Business Insider that Bing has returned fire by accusing Google from profiting off of search spam.

Then the conversation turned to search spam, and Shum basically accused Google of playing both sides of the spam game — on one hand, Google wants to make its search site as useful as possible so users don’t turn to alternatives. On the other hand, a lot of spam sites make their money by running ads provided by Google, from which Google takes a cut. As Shum put it:

I’d say you are really sidestepping the big problems, the origin of the spam, why they appeared in the first place. There must be an economic incentive to create his kind of content. Why? 70% of those pages show Google Ads….You can’t just say because you don’t report to VP of ad sales you have no problem.

Well duh!

Of course Google profits from all those AdWord ad blocks that are littered like indestructible plastic bottles on scrapper sites, parked pages, content farms, and just plain spam site. Anyone that tries to argue otherwise is short a few bricks. the question is whether or not Google knowingly turns a blind eye to those sites.

Personally, I think they do and this situation won’t changed until Google is forced to really clean up its act in this area but given the vast amounts of these types of sites and how deeply ingrained Google AdSense is ingrained in them I don’t think we’ll anything change anytime soon.

[Cross-posted at Winextra]