Happy fifth birthday, Bing. The engine is celebrating the big day by giving those who sign up for the Bing Rewards program up to five times the credits when searching on Bing. Each day that members sign in and search from June 3-9, they will earn entry into a contest for the Bing Rewards prize pack. Five winners will get an Xbox One, Surface Pro 3, Nokia Lumia Icon, $500 to spend on apps and entertainment for Xbox, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8, and more. Searching on Bing enables consumers to earn credits redeemable for popular gift cards, services or …

Google has added an alpha version of a new encryption code -- a Chrome extension -- for users who need additional browser security. Stephan Somogyi tells us that Google will release in alpha the End-to-End code that uses OpenPGP encryption. End-to-end encryption means data leaving browsers will be encrypted until the message's intended recipient decrypts it. The code works the same way in reverse.

Google is partnering with some business-focused software companies to add the Google Hangout button to their Web sites and applications. “It’s basically a replacement to the live chat buttons you see on most Web sites these days, but with video,” GigaOm explains. “So for example, if you’ve got a problem, bam -- you’re in a hangout with customer support.” According to GigaOm, the move is part of a broader strategy by Google to ingratiate itself with business users. 

How Google determines the quality of the content on a page without many links is the topic of the latest video published by Google Matt Cutts. He said it goes back to how search engines judged the page before links. The engines judges the quality based on the words or content on the page.

Microsoft and Salesforce recently announced a strategic partnership to create new solutions that connect salesforce.com's customer relationship management (CRM) apps and platform to Microsoft Office and Windows. It will enable users to access Salesforce and run their business from their Windows devices. The companies plan for general availability in 2015.

Never short on big ideas, Google is reportedly ready to spend $1 billion on satellites that will bring Web access to the remotest regions of the world. “The project will start with 180 small, high-capacity satellites orbiting the earth at lower altitudes than traditional satellites,” The Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources. “Google's project is the latest effort by a Silicon Valley company to extend Internet coverage from the sky to help its business on the ground.”  

Reuters reports Google services disrupted in China ahead of this week's 25th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators around Beijing's Tiananmen Square goes way beyond blocking YouTube and Web sites like Facebook, and Twitter. The lower Internet activity levels in China described in Google's transparency report show changes since Friday.

Some analysts call the Russian's government's task to run the state-owned telecom company Rostelecom's search engine Sputnik a failure. The day it launched, LiveInternet.ru clocked 141,800 searches and since then the numbers continue to fall, per Matthew Bodner. He compares the engine to Google as well as Yandex, the No. 1 search engine in Russia. The biggest issue highlights a simple understanding of the way a search engine should filter news in searches. Bodner tells us the engine does a terrible job of finding information on the Internet. Here's why.

Here we go again. Google is set to launch a new TV platform it calls Android TV at Google I/O this month. It's not a device, but platform that TV and set-top-box manufacturers can use to build streaming services to the television. Rumor has it that Netflix and Hulu Plus will become available at launch. The system will use a technology that insiders call Pano. Think search and cards similar to the system on Google Glass. It allows apps to serve up individual pieces of content on the home screen so users can browse movies, TV shows and other types …