Google are trying to get people to cease using google as a generic term for search (though I'd ask: if these yahoos are actually using Google to perform the search, is referring to the search task as googling really a genericization of the trademark Google?) and posted a blog post on the 25th October titled: Do you "Google?" educating the general public (neither General Public nor the 1980s ska band General Public) about the proper use of the trademarked term Google.

Ask.com, the former Ask Jeeves, posted its own educational piece titled You Do and/or May, In Fact, "Ask" (or "ask"), being very careful to delineate the difference between ask: You may ask Yahoo and ask Google. and Ask: You may not "Ask" on Ask Yahoo or Yahoo Answers, though you may "ask.".

Yahoo!'s retort dates from last year but is still relevant: You can Yahoo! to your heart's content, any way you want to. Heck, you can even build your own Yahoo! Search engine..

One of these search engines is the General Motors of search, the other is either the Honda or Hudson.