It might not be as valuable as ranking algorithms, but that doesn't mean it has no value at all. A deeper and more timely index is a clear competitive advantage, the former for long tail queries and the latter for topical ones. What would be the benefit for Google to let Microsoft leech off that effort? And if it for some reason was done, what would be the point of continuing further development of indexing quality?

I think a more correct title for this post would have been "Google exec tries to politely dismiss a silly idea", but of course that's not as punchy.