Is it me, or is Microsoft's Bing just one big super-affiliate?

Playing Devil's Advocate for a moment, let's say it's successful and takes a chunk out of Google's traffic - what effect do you think this will have on you and other affiliates? How would you be dealing with it?

I don't think it's a bad thing - after all, it's all about making sure customers have as few obstructions as possible and have confidence when making a buying decision. If that means cutting out a middle man, then that's what they want.