It either looks like a trojan which tries to let you click on the author's weblink (arguably to raise the clicks on his banner) or a user activated gesture/shortcut from an installed IE component/application (in that case, try uninstalling the toolbars you have and other browser related applications).
It's highly unlikely that IE natively has an issue or a command which launches a competitor's search engine. :)
It's highly unlikely that IE natively has an issue or a command which launches a competitor's search engine. :)