jatiN mahindrA doT coM

Microsoft’s Bing blog announced they will reduce the time frame they store search data, from 18 months to only 6 months. This is in response to the European Union’s request that search companies reduce the time they store such data. Microsoft Bing is the first major search engine to comply with those demands.

Bing said:

Specifically, we are reducing the amount of time we store IP addresses from searchers to 6 months. Currently we keep that information for 18 months before we delete it. Generally, when Bing receives search data we do a few things: first, we take steps to separate your account information (such as email or phone number) from other information (what the query was, for example). Then, after 18 months we take the additional step of deleting the IP address and any other cross session IDs associated with the query. Under the new policy, we will continue to take all the steps we applied previously – but now we will remove the IP address completely at 6 months, instead of 18 months. We think this gives us the right balance between making search better for consumers (we use the data to improve the service we offer) and providing greater protection for the privacy of our users.

Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land has additional history and insight into this change.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Related posts:

1. Microsoft Changes Bing User Privacy Methods
2. Microsoft Bing November 2009 Search Update?
3. Microsoft Bing Goes Live In The UK
4. Google, Microsoft May License Twitter Data
5. Microsoft Launches Bing Developer Kit for iPhone/Mac
6. Microsoft Bing Still Spamming Fake Referrers In Webmaster Log Files
7. More Cloaking Tests In Form Of Fake Referrers From Microsoft Bing?
8. 5 Crucial SEO Tips For the New Binghoo (Microsoft Bing Overtakes Yahoo Search)
9. Yahoo Search To Mine Twitter Data Even Thought Bing Does Twitter
10. Yahoo Search To Mine Twitter Data Even Though Bing Does Twitter
11. Microsoft Launches SDK for Silverlight Bing Apps
12. Google Analytics Stores Data for 25 Months