October 20, 2009

Advertising Association Urges DOJ to Approve Microsoft-Yahoo! Search Deal

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) has written an open letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, urging them to approve the Microsoft-Yahoo! search deal. Announced at the end of July, the deal has Microsoft and Yahoo! partnering up on search in order to create what will become the number 2 search service in the United States.

In the letter (PDF), Nancy Hill, President and CEO of the AAAA, wrote:

These benefits are too important to wait for. As leading members of the advertising and marketing services industry, we urge the Department of Justice to bring its antitrust review to a speedy conclusion. This proposal enhances competition, and should be allowed to take effect as soon as possible.

CEOs of four ad agencies added their John Hancocks to the letter:

• Maurice Levy, chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe
• Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP
• Michael Roth, chairman and CEO of Interpubic Group
• John Wren, president and CEO of Omnicom Group

Analysts have predicted the regulatory approval process would be lengthy. But with the changes in the advertising industry over the past few years in addition to the current global economic uncertainty, it's no surprise that agencies are seeking a quick resolution in this matter.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 15, 2009

Bing's Growth Slows, Google Recoups Losses in comScore September 2009 Report

comScore has released their search engine share report for September 2009 and we're seeing yet another twist in the "Can Bing catch up with Google?" saga. You may remember that Bing has been on quite a roll since launch gaining over 1 percentage point, with Google and Yahoo! trading off the losses.

Well, the tides began to turn last month, with Google regaining 0.3% of its loss and Bing gaining another 0.1% in share, which is not the rate of growth they have been experiencing. This time, Yahoo! suffered the losses with a 0.5% decline. Ask.com and AOL held steady.

Another interesting tidbit is YouTube's continued growth and how it compares to search. Greg Jarboe already provided you with the scoop on how more YouTube videos were watched in August than searches conducted in September. Be sure to read his post because this is a phenomenon to watch for sure.

Also, read up on Promoted Videos, which is essentially paid search for YouTube. You can now purchase Promoted Videos in AdWords, which will appear in the search results over at YouTube.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

October 8, 2009

Yahoo! Snags Sales Exec from Microsoft

Per Boomtown, Seth Dallaire has joined Yahoo! as vice president of mid-market sales, a new position. Dallaire will be responsible for mid-market search and display ad sales. Dallaire was previously a top ad exec at Microsoft.

This past year, the trend has been Yahoo!s jumping ship for Microsoft. Qi Lu, Sean Suchter, and Scott Moore are among the many former Purple People now working hard for the money at the Redmond-based software giant.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flu Wars: Microsoft's New H1N1 Site, Google Flu Trends Expands

The good news about companies competing to get information about the flu out to the public is that said public now has abundant resources to stay informed. Microsoft and Google are both promoting their flu sites this week; here's the lowdown:

Microsoft launched an H1N1 site this week. Check it out at http://www.h1n1responsecenter.com. The site helps people assess their symptoms to see if they meet H1N1 criteria.

"If current estimates are correct, many emergency departments across the nation could be overwhelmed by two groups of patients -- those who have H1N1 and those who believe they have H1N1," said Angela Gardner, M.D., FACEP, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

"By providing an at-home tool that can help users evaluate whether they need to see a provider before they head to the hospital, we can encourage those who are severely ill or at risk for serious illness to contact their doctor, and reassure everyone else that it is safe and prudent to recover at home," Dr. Arthur Kellermann, professor of emergency medicine and an associate dean of the Emory School of Medicine.

Keeping the infected and uninfected separated is crucial to preventing the spread of the H1N1 flu.

"This will reduce the number of people needlessly exposed to H1N1 influenza in crowded clinic and ER waiting rooms, and allow doctors and nurses to focus their attention on those who need them most."

Meanwhile, Google has expanded their flu trends to include 16 additional countries. The site, which launched last November, is now available in 37 different languages. Google says that it does not use popular terms such as the colloquial "swine flu" because many searchers are simply looking it up due to news headlines. Instead, Google uses CDC data to corroborate flu-related search terms. In countries, such as Mexico, where they do not have historical data, they use seasonality to help determine relevant searches. They've also labeled such efforts as "experimental" since they're based purely on search.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 5, 2009

Steve Ballmer Says Microsoft Search Acquisitions Unlikely

Steve Ballmer, after addressing Britain's CBI business lobby organization, said that search acquisitions were unlikely to be part of the strategy to knock Google off its rocker, according to Reuters.

The clarification came after a false press release last week announced an acquisition of Local.com by the software giant.

Local.com was quick to shoot down the news, with the following statement:

Local.com Corporation today commented that a false press release was issued that stated Local.com was being acquired by Microsoft. The company has not been acquired, nor is it in discussions with Microsoft about a potential acquisition.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 30, 2009

Microsoft Execs Get Pay Cuts; No One Feels Sorry for Them

Microsoft has filed a document with the SEC showing that top executives at the software giant have received pay cuts. Basically, some millionaires are making a few million less than they normally would.

In related news, Kleenex was having a hard time moving tissue boxes off the shelves this week.

Meanwhile, Steve Ballmer released a 1,300 word dissertation on his thoughts regarding the "new normal" which is translating into the "new efficiency." Basically, people are saving more and spending less. You would think that would translate into a lower Windows 7 price, but somehow I doubt that's gonna happen.

Instead, Ballmer talked about how upgrading to Windows 7 will save companies money in the long run. Pay now, benefit later. That must have been the theme for those pay cut conversations with the execs as well.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 29, 2009

Microsoft Windows 7 House Party: Public Relations Disaster or Video Marketing Triumph?

If you create something so bad that it goes viral, is it a public relations disaster or a video marketing triumph?

That's the question that journalists and bloggers are asking after watching HostingYourParty, which tells you how to host a Microsoft Windows 7 House Party.

Microsoft is putting a Tupperware-style twist on the upcoming Windows 7 rollout -- launching a new initiative to encourage thousands of employees, partners and technology enthusiasts to throw parties in their homes and communities to demonstrate and help spread the word about its new operating system.

People accepted as official launch party hosts will get their own copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition, and a chance to win a computer. But unlike the Tupperware model, there will be no literal selling. These parties are more about generating word-of-mouth buzz.

To promote this idea, Microsoft has uploaded a video to YouTube. Some journalists and bloggers think it is a public relations disaster.

Cindy Perman of CNBC writes, "You just knew that once they put the Microsoft geeks in charge of the "party," that it wouldn't be a 10-kegger and before long, we'd all be putting lampshades over our heads."

Ian Douglas, a tech blogger for the Daily Telegraph in London, writes, "I'm beginning to think that no one involved with Microsoft's advertising has ever left the house or spoken to a real person."

And James Lileks of The Bleat writes, "If Microsoft had been put in charge of marketing sex, the human race would have ended long ago, because no one would be caught dead doing something that uncool."

Now, you may be tempted to watch this 6-minute, 14-second video yourself -- to jump to your own conclusion. But, I warn you -- only serious geeks like me will watch beyond the first minute.

HostingYourParty

Now, if Microsoft really wanted to show people how to hold a Windows 7 Launch Party, they might have created a remix of the 1950s educational video below about what, in fact, makes a "good" party.

1950 - What Makes a Good Party

Not all of the reaction to Microsoft's Windows 7 House Party has been negative. Some of it can be charitably described as "mixed."

David Meerman Scott of Web Ink Now, asks, "Is this Microsoft Windows 7 House Party thing real? Or is it an incredibly wonderful and clever spoof on a 50s educational video that is so well done as to have fooled most observers who seem to think it is legit?"

Janice L. Brown of The Fussy Marketer also asks, "Hmm, if something goes viral because it's so bad, does that still count as achieving the marketing goals?"

Nevertheless, Lieutenant Columbo, if he were blogging these days, would ask just one more thing: "Why did Microsoft disable ratings and adding comments on HostingYourParty?"

Is this something you'd do if you were hoping for a video marketing triumph?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

September 11, 2009

Regulators Request More Info about Microsoft-Yahoo! Search Deal

Antitrust regulators in Washington have requested more information from Microsoft and Yahoo! regarding their recently announced search deal. Announced in July, the deal would have Bing powering search on Yahoo!'s web properties, including Yahoo!'s main search. In turn, Yahoo! would run advertising, though adCenter would still be used as the paid search platform.

Regulators are primarily concerned about two areas: competition and advertising. They're worried that the deal won't be good for competition. And they want to see that ad prices won't be artificially influenced as a result of the deal.

Of course, the argument for the deal is that combining the number 2 and 3 search engines into one provides a stronger competitor against Google, which holds upwards of 70% of the search market share. The result of a stronger 2nd place could help lower prices in the search ad market.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 28, 2009

Microsoft Lobbyists Meet to Thwart Google; Politics as Usual Ensues

Daily Finance, an AOL site, is reporting that Microsoft's lobbyists hold weekly meetings where the discussion revolves around taking on Google. In attendance are consultants and others who oppose Google. The meetings have become known as "screw Google" meetings by DC insiders.

I used to work in politics. I used to work in DC. These type of meetings happen all the time, in all sorts of industries and with all sorts of issues. It's not a Microsoft or Google thing. It's not a Democrat or Republican thing. It's a politics thing.

Google lobbyists meet to discuss Microsoft, I would assume. If they don't, then Google should fire them for being crappy at their job.

Move on, there's nothing to see here. Just politics as usual in the nation's capital.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 3:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

August 6, 2009

Yahoo! SEC Filing Reveals Details on Search Deal with Microsoft

This week, Yahoo! submitted an 8-k filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pertaining to the new search deal they've struck with Microsoft. In it are more details on how the plan would unfold.

For the first 3 years of the plan, Microsoft will pay Yahoo! $50 million annually. This is in addition to the 88% revenue share from search advertising on Yahoo! and partner sites. This type of revenue is something investors wanted. When the announcement of the deal first came out, only the revenue sharing was said to be part of the deal. This $50 million per year for 3 years makes Wall Street happier, but it's still bewildering why this wasn't mentioned last week (a possible last minute addition?).

After the first 5 years, Microsoft is permitted to cancel the Yahoo!'s exclusive control of search ads. If that were to happen, Yahoo! would receive 93% revenue share on ads on its sites. Or Yahoo! could veto Microsoft's termination, but that would mean the revenue share would be reduced to 83%.

As a result of Microsoft taking over search, they will be required to hire 400 Yahoo! employees, plus 150 more to help with transition purposes.

Yahoo! also has the option of bailing on the deal if the revenue-per-search query (RPS) is less than a certain percentage of Google's estimated RPS on a 12-month average.

They couldn't then go to Google. Last year, Yahoo! and Google were working on a search deal when Google bailed under DOJ antitrust lawsuit threats. AOL uses Google search and Ask.com has a paid search deal with Google, as well.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

August 4, 2009

SES San Jose 2009 to Feature Search Engine Foosball Smackdown Rematch

If you attended SES San Jose last year, you may have seen the Search Engine Foosball Smackdown. It was a heated event between Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! Each search engine sent some of its best foosers to see who would dominate (well, at least who would dominate the foosball table).

Microsoft was knocked out in the elimination round, although that was before Bing. This left Google and Yahoo! to battle it out in the finals.

The Yahoo! team of Daniel Wong and Jake Rosenberg took home the coveted Stonetemple Cup after a tough finals match. Check out the photo by Kelsey Jarboe to see just how seriously everyone took this event.

But, that was then, and this is now.

Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft will be meeting for a rematch at SES San Jose 2009. According to Eric Enge, the president of Stone Temple Consulting, the teams have been changed as each search engine has brought in their best and brightest foosers -- and there's no telling if some of them are ringers.

Who will take home the the coveted Stonetemple Cup this year?

Will this match tell us what will be the dominant search engine of the future?

Will the matches tell us anything about the working relationship of the new tag-team wrestling team created by the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal?

Will Adam Lasnik or Maile Ohye of Google show up in cheerleading costumes?

You need to be there to know the results before everyone else has tweeted about them in the Twittersphere, posted the news for the blogosphere to comment on or Digg, or uploaded a video for the YouTube community to discover, watch and share.

In other words, don't wait to see the story on ESPN 8, "The Ocho" along with everyone else. Be in the front row to document the outcome yourself. The Tweeter, blogger, or YouTuber who posts the story first has the greatest chance of getting the most links.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

August 3, 2009

Photo Contest Winner Featured Today on Bing

At the beginning of July, Bing launched a photo contest where the winner would be featured on the homepage. Bing features a new photo everyday with "hot spots" on various parts of the photograph linking to searches.

The winner is Jeremy Somers' image of lightning striking the skyline of Sydney, Australia. Somers was the fan favorite out of 9,400 eligible images. Check out the image below (click on it to go to Bing.com and see the larger image plus hot spots).

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

July 30, 2009

Microsoft and comScore Partner Up to Develop Online Branding Measurement Tool

Microsoft and comScore are teaming up to create a new digital ad planning tool. Dubbed the Reach and Frequency Planner, the tool will enable advertisers to predict reach, frequency and audience composition at the ad placement level. Audience measurement will combine ad serving data from Microsoft with demographic information from comScore.

After the ad is placed, tracking will be enabled to see how closely the end result reflected the prediction.

Ultimately, the Reach and Frequency Planner is designed to measure branding efforts in digital advertising.

"The perception that traditional branding metrics are not possible or meaningful for digital media is misguided," said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group at Microsoft. "We believe online advertising won't maximize its appeal to brand marketers until the basic metrics they've relied on for years are available in digital media plans. This requires the cooperation of digital publishers and panel measurement organizations, which our collaboration with comScore will accomplish."

One aim of the tool is to help which demographic opportunity is best. If you're reaching women aged 18-34, will an opportunity to get 10 million impressions on one group of placements perform better or worse than another group that gets 5 million? The tool will help you decide. In the end, this should help advertisers with budgeting issues as well.

"Brand advertisers need the ability to evaluate reach and frequency by audience composition in ways that are actionable and accountable," said Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman and co-founder. "Current online reach and frequency metrics are typically computed at the site level. Measuring reach and frequency at the ad placement level is more precise because it shows the reach of the ad campaign that can actually be achieved, the true potential frequency and the specific demos of that audience."

All of this will help digital marketers gain street cred with execs who are attached to traditional advertising measurement methods.

" This new hybrid approach to digital media planning offers the granular campaign-level analysis and streamlined planning capabilities upon which brand advertisers have long relied in the traditional media environment," added Fulgoni.

The Reach and Frequency Planner will immediately open to a closed beta.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 6:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 29, 2009

Search Industry Reacts to Yahoo!-Microsoft Deal, and They're Not Holding Back

Here at Search Engine Watch, we wanted to reach out to the search community to get their reaction to the long-awaited search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! Not surprisingly, marketers, search engine representives, and agencies had a lot to say on the matter. Below you'll find their initial reactions to this morning's announcement.

The deal is good for marketers and advertisers

Most agree with Search Engine Watch editor Kevin Newcomb, who earlier wrote today that the MSFT-YHOO deal is good for advertisers.

Ted Shergalis, co-founder and chief strategy officer of [x+1] thinks the deal raises the profile of search marketers, who, on the flip side, must be diligent in learning the terms of the deal as they unfold.

Ultimately i think it makes SEMs more relevant. Now, instead of doing the bulk of the work on each search engine, search marketers will now need to dedicate a bulk of time understanding new Bing/Yahoo! environment. At [x+1], we specialize in display, landing pages, and website personalization, so it will be interesitng to see if different type of user is coming through using the new Bing/Yahoo!

Brian Lewis, vice president at Engine Ready, emphasized the need for this type of improvement for search marketers, while recognizing the difficulty of capturing additional market share, which requires habitual change.

Although many specifics remain to be disclosed, my initial thoughts are that this alliance is just what the search industry needed to continue to provide improvements in the search experience for users as well as an advertising medium that offers profitable returns for savvy marketers. I think one of the biggest challenges for Yahoo/Microsoft will be changing user habits of automatically jumping to Google for search, and slowing the perception that Google and search have become synonymous.

Not an alternative to Google

Combining the number 2 and number 3 search engines may help advertisers in terms of traffic, but will the search landscape truly change? Other search engines know that to truly make waves in search, you need to provide value to searchers, which is not a guarantee in this deal.

Dr. Tomasz Imielinski, executive vice president of technology at Ask.com hints that their could be room for other players to move ahead while Microsoft and Yahoo! spend time implementing the terms of their deal.

This news is a solid indication that the search market is healthy and growing across the board, and a core foundation of the online medium. But as far as Microsoft and Yahoo are concerned, the primary focus for both for 2009 and into 2010 will need to be on search integration - and not on search innovation. At Ask, our core focus will continue to be innovating for success by putting consumers - and search products - first.

Ryan Hardy and Dan Giulvezan , Co-founders of Unurthme, echo that sentiment.

Everyone in the search industry has the same thing on their to-do list: beat Google. At Unurthme, we believe the more significant opportunity is to add value and innovation to search, thereby delivering users a superior search experience.

SEW Expert and WebCertain CEO Andy Atkins-Krüger thinks its a good time for smaller search engines to partner up with Google or Microsoft.

This deal is the best of both worlds. It creates a stronger competitor for Google, and an opportunity for regional search engines - such as Baidu, Yandex and Seznam - also to enter the fray thanks to the distraction this will create for Google and the negotiating position it opens up with them to partner with Microsoft or Google.

hakia CEO Dr. Riza Berkan thinks that Google has nothing to worry about, at least from this deal.

Our perspective is this deal does not really change anything from the search precision point of view. We think that Yahoo! is actually more precise. From the business point of view, it will create more advertising opportunities, since the share will be at 30%. The advertisers will feel better because the exposure is wider. But as for business as usual, I don't think there's a significant change. The search problem is still there and google is still dominating. this won't make a big diffference.

hakia, of course, employs Yahoo! search technology. Will this deal harm the semantic search engine? Berkan says no.

We don't rely on it. It helps us, but from what i have read so far, those services will be intact. But even if it wasn't, it really won't affect us at all.

It's natural for competitors to challenge the idea that the deal will work, but they're not alone. Vern Rowe, client strategy manager at OneUpWeb wonders if innovating existing search is even the answer. Perhaps the efforts seen lately in social media are the true future of search?

The Microsoft/Yahoo! deal is interesting from many aspects. Is it really about partnering to battle an adversary, or are we perhaps seeing a glimpse into a struggling profit center at Microsoft and a new Yahoo perspective that search is a dying technology (time to move on to the next thing-maybe social)? Whatever cord finally struck to get these two together, it might be a long road ahead of them with the Department of Justice before the deal is done. Then, if and when it gets cleared, there will most likely be another several months before there is a significant change from an advertiser's perspective.

So, you're telling me there's a chance?

Still, there are a few optimists out there who know what Microsoft and the technology community are capable of. Underdogs have been known to upset giants before.

Ben Saren, Co-Founder and CEO of CitySquares thinks perserverance is the answer.

Microsoft is taking some hard swings at Google and its just a matter of time until they make contact. Their most dominant days may not be in their past, rather coming very shortly. This kind of competition is entirely necessary and is ultimately going to be a very good thing for search and its cottage industries. Seems to me that the battle drums in the search wars are growing louder and more intense.

Joshua Palau, vice president of the search engine marketing office at Razorfish (an interactive ad agency acquired by Microsoft in 2007) sees an opportunity ripe with potential for Microsoft now.

I think it now sets up MSFT to do what Yahoo failed at - combine search and display in an advertiser friendly way. With 30% search share and a boatload of impressions that can leverage BT, MSFT now becomes a more compelling option.

A wide sentiment is that Yahoo! has given up on search. According to Mark Kelly at Chair 10 Marketing, Yahoo! may have given up a long time ago, and getting rid of the dead weight might just be the ticket for Microsoft.

Yahoo stopped improving its pay-per-click platform, while Microsoft and Google have continued to improve. Advertisers need a stronger competitor to counter-balance Google's power, and Yahoo and Microsoft on their own weren't providing that. With this increased search traffic, Microsoft has a much better shot at competing effectively.

Rick Kahn, CEO of eZanga, thinks combining the technologies will inject fresh ideas into the search industry.

Well it's about time. By pairing up and using each other's technology, I believe Microsoft and Yahoo are going to have what it takes to slowly close the gap between their companies and Google. The old saying of 'Two heads are better than one' will be hard at work, as both Yahoo and Microsoft have some interesting technologies. I think by using Yahoo's system, but adding the new traffic available at Bing, it's going to be a winning combination for both companies. By putting them together there can be some interesting synergies created and new functionality that can benefit people searching as well as advertisers. I look forward to tracking the results of this deal over the upcoming months and years.

What is YOUR reaction to the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal? Continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The Yahoo-Microsoft Deal from Searchers' Perspective

So by now, you've probably heard about the Microsoft - Yahoo search deal. You may even have read my take that this will be good for advertisers. If not, go back and start there, so we're all caught up.

I got responses from several other search marketers saying the deal looked good from their side too. We'll be putting up a collection of industry responses later today. In the meantime, I wanted to look at the deal from a searcher perspective. Is it good for them too?

For most searchers, Google = search. They don't know or care about the fact that Microsoft just launched a search engine, and unless they have Yahoo as their home page (likely decided by their ISP), they don't have much use for Yahoo Search either.

Will a combined Microsoft-Yahoo search change any of that? Not likely.

"The deal is both good and bad for searchers. Bad in that there will be less choice. I personally prefer to have more options rather than less. Good for searchers in that Bing is actually a pretty good search engine," said Amanda Watlington, owner of Searching for Profit.

Basically, it's going to depend on just how good Bing is, and how good it will become, given the additional volume pumping through its platform. That volume should generate more relevant ads, since there will be more competition. It should also allow Microsoft to innovate with its algorithms faster, since it will have more data to work with.

Andrew Goodman, principal at Page Zero Media, agrees: "It's a good deal for searchers. Running a high-quality consumer search property is expensive and requires constant innovation. By consolidating resources these companies can focus on their strengths," Goodman said. "Microsoft has done a great job developing a consumer-oriented search engine in Bing. They may also have access to data from Yahoo that can help them to refine it."

Microsoft has proven with Bing and adCenter that they can not only keep up with Google, but actually improve on what's already out there in the marketplace. With a huge surge in traffic through those platforms, they should theoretically be able to improve on their ideas, refining their algorithms, adding features and improving relevance.

But, as has been said many times before, it's going to take something more than just "a little better" than Google to get searchers to switch. What may happen is that Yahoo-Microsoft becomes a more credible number-two. That in itself could be good for searchers, if only because it forces Google to innovate a bit quicker, given that it's nearest competitor will be quite a bit nearer than it's used to.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

It's Official: Microsoft and Yahoo! Finally Strike Search Deal

Don't adjust your screen folks, it's finally official. Microsoft and Yahoo! have finally struck a search deal. No, Microsoft will not be acquiring all of Yahoo! No, Yahoo! will not be slicing off search and selling it off to Microsoft.

Under the 10 year agreement, Bing will power Yahoo! search, creating a Google competitor that last month reached a combined 28.4% of the search market share, according to comScore. Microsoft will also be able to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its web search platform.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! will sell the search advertising for the newly combined entities. AdCenter will be the self-service search ad platform. This will take a long time to implement as they adjust relationships with thousands of advertisers.

Display advertising will not be affected by the deal. Both companies will maintain their programs separately.

Microsoft will pay Yahoo! 88% of search ad revenues generated by Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! expects to see $275 million operating cash flow as a result of the deal.

"This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry, and I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development," said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz.

Yahoo! will now focus primarily on their media sites, many of which are #1 in their categories. Sites like Yahoo! Finance and Yahoo! Sports are very popular and bring in millions of unique visitors per month.

"Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides," continued Bartz. "Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities and mobile experiences."

For its part, Microsoft is finally getting what it wants: an increased search market share to take on rival Google. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hopes that combining the resources of the #2 and #3 search engines will help innovation, which he says is needed to steal share from Google.

"With our new Bing search platform, we've created breakthrough innovation and features," said Ballmer. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there's so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search."

Antitrust issues will likely rear their ugly head, with Microsoft poised to seek the blessing of the DOJ. Expect Google to lobby against the deal, but keep in mind that Christine Varney, Assistant AG at DOJ Antitrust is on record saying she wants to go after Google for antitrust issues. She has also said that Microsoft antitrust issues are, like, so 1990s.

Alright, SEW readers, time to unleash your initial reaction to this deal. That's what the comments section below is for. What do you think of this deal? Will they be able to take on Google? Do you want to use AdCenter to for search ads on Yahoo!? Let us know!

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)

July 23, 2009

Microsoft Online Services Division Sees Loss from Stronger Dollar, Weaker Online Ads

On a day when the stock market rose above 9,000 and everyone but the short sellers were in good spirits, Microsoft provided reason for pause. Their quarterly earnings were painful. Recently, Google and even Yahoo! earnings plus non-search and non-tech earnings seemed to show that perhaps the we've-seen-the-bottom pundits just might be right after all.

• Quarterly revenues declined 17% to $13.10 billion.
• Quarterly net income declined 29% to $3.05 billion
• Diluted earnings per share declined 26% to $0.34

Digging into the Online Services division, quarterly revenue declined 13% to $731 million. Online ad revenue decreased 14% to $529 million, primarily reflecting a decrease in display advertising. However, currency issues contributed to $28 million of the loss.

The dollar has become stronger, which affects global sales. Microsoft says foreign currency exchange rates accounted for an overall $219 million or one percentage point decrease in revenue.

What do you think of Microsoft's earnings? Share your opinion below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

July 22, 2009

Bing Launches Back-to-School Backpack Contest

Bing is giving away 7 backpacks with $500 Visa cash cards in a new back-to-school contest. It begins tomorrow and you need to be following @bingcashback on Twitter to win. Each day, a trivia question about Bing Cashback will be asked via the Twitter account. Those who respond within an hour with the correct answer will be entered into a drawing to win one of the 7 backpacks.

I must admit, when I read the title of the blog post, Fill a Backpack with Bing Cashback, I was hoping for something else entirely. I'm so used to seeing charitable efforts to fill backpacks for children from low income families, I thought that's what the announcement would be about.

And call me crazy but I think my idea would bring more people into Bing and the Cashback program. The above contest doesn't require any purchases. But I know a lot of people would use Bing Cashback to give to underprivileged kids - and they would probably donate the Cashback to charity as well.

It's not that Bing is doing anything wrong with the actual contest. In this economy, these seven backpacks will come as a great resource to the individuals who win them. But hey, I just like my idea.

What do you think about Bing's new contest? Will you be entering?

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 14, 2009

BingTweets Mashes Up Trending Tweets with Search Results (UPDATE)

UPDATE: BingTweets was showing old trending topics earlier, but as has been noted in the comments, that has been fixed and now is current.

Ever noticed a trending topic on Twitter and then headed to a search engine to learn more? A new site from the Bing team makes that process even easier.

BingTweets is a new site that pulls in trending topics on Twitter and offers Bing search results right on the same page. BingTweets is not found at Bing.com but rather has its own standalone site at BingTweets.com.

When you click on one of the topics, search results are automatically and immediately triggered with no extra clicks.

However, there's one issue and it's a biggie: The topics seem to be delayed. Under the popular right now tab, Wimbledon was trending despite the finals being almost 10 days ago. Wimbledon is no longer trending on Twitter.

BingTweets trending topics July 14, 2009

Twitter trending topics July 14, 2009

Overall, though the UI is nice.

Another thing I would adjust is the Twitter stream down the left side. When I selected "Andy Murray," the Tweet stream brought up Tweets that had the word murray but not andy. If I'm interested in Tweets about Andy Murray, then Tweets about Bill Murray are largely irrelevant.

What do you think about BingTweets? Give us your first impressions in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

July 13, 2009

Adgooroo Q2 2009 Search Ad Report Shows Market Stability, Despite Bing

Adgooroo has released their quarterly search engine advertising report, and despite the launch of Bing in June, things have remained pretty much the same.

Keep in mind that quarter two includes April and May, during which Microsoft's search was still Live Search. However, the report lobs them all under the title of Bing, and is comparing past data to Live Search. Let's dive in.

For the year ending June 2009, Microsoft grew advertiser base by 35%, but Google still outpaced them by growing theirs by 52%. Yahoo! fared worse than both by only growing their base by 14%.

The share of advertisers among Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft has remained largely unchanged.

The number of first page ads on Microsoft search products dropped by 24%. Meanwhile, the number of ads per keyword are still on the rise for Google and Yahoo! internationally. In the U.S., Microsoft and Yahoo! are seeing declines in the average number of ads per keyword while Google remains on the rise.

Keep in mind that a reduction in ads per keyword could indicate better ad quality.

Below is a list of the top 25 advertisers per search engine for June 2009, according to Adgooroo. The list is in alphabetical order and is calculated on impressions and not ad spend.

What do you think of the Adgooroo Q2 2009 report? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

One Month Old Bing Brags About Success

Over at the Bing Search Blog, they're sharing a few nuggets of success that Microsoft's new search product has seen in the first month since launch.

• Bing Shopping has seen amost 3x increase in site visits
• Bing Cashback has experienced a 5.42% increase in transactions
• Bing Travel traffic has increased by 90% month over month since launch. (Remember, it was formerly Live Search Farecast.)

Some advertisers are seeing great things since Bing's launch:

• TigerDirect's sales and order volume has tripled. Both the conversion rate and average order size has increased significantly. Because of this, TigerDirect increased its search marketing spend with Bing by twofold.
• An IT provider reported 36% higher click volume, 43% lower cost-per-click and 400% higher click-through rates in June.
• A large wireless communications company received 28% more clicks compared to previous weeks.
• One PC manufacturer's (hmmmm) impressions have gone up 46%

The Bing API has been getting some action too. The number of developers using the API has doubled (over the LIve Search API) to more than 11,000. What do you think about these stats from Bing? Do you have Bing stats to report? Share in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

July 2, 2009

Bing Integrates Twitter, Sometimes and If You're Important Enough

If you're a celebrity or some other figure Bing has deemed "prominent," then searches for your name plus the word Twitter will turn up a few of your Tweets above the organic results. You can also search for a person's screen name, preceded by the @ sign.

Prominence is deemed by number of followers and volume of tweets. Bing uses the Twitter API to pull in the Tweets. But the feature is inconsistent.

Of course, I assumed Ashton Kutcher, the King of Twitter, would be included since he has 2.5 million followers. But the first search for his name didn't include Tweets. The second one didn't either. The third one did.

And here's what it looks like when it happens:

What do you think of Bing integrating Twitter into the results? Share your reaction in the comments section below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

July 1, 2009

Bing, ChaCha Launch User-Generated Content Contests

Get out your cameras, it's time for a couple of search-related contests. If you enjoy the large images Bing features everday on its homepage, now you have the chance to see one of your images featured on the brand spankin' new decision engine. Bing is holding a photo contest where the winner's image will be featured on Bing.com for a 24 hour period.

Photos are submitted via Facebook. You have until July 16 to submit your photos. The winner will be determined by public voting, via the Facebook application. The winning image will appear on Bing.com on August 3 and will include "hot spots" created by the Bing team, just like you see with the daily images.

Meanwhile, ChaCha has launched a video contest. The theme of the contest is "Life with ChaCha." The deadline for submissions is August 10. Judges will pick 5 finalists and the winner will be chosen by a public vote.

There are three criteria that the judges will use to choose the 5 finalists. They are:

• Showing ChaCha to be a "smart friend" (50 percent)
• Originality (25 percent)
• Humor (25 percent)

The prizes here are worth moolah. The grand prize winner will receive $5,000 in cash as well as an Apple Final Cut Studio 2 and a Sony HDR-XR500V 120GB High Def Handycam Camcorder. The runner up gets $1,000 and third place gets $500.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Bing Continues Microsoft Search Share Growth in June 2009, According to StatCounter

StatCounter made news fast and furious in Bing's first week when they offered up data showing Bing had surpassed Yahoo! in search. And now they're making a splash again by quickly releasing data for the whole month of June.

Overall, things are relatively steady, but there's an ever-so-slight increase in Microsoft search share.

The data shows Bing gaining .5% search share in June compared to May. But Live Search had gained about .5% in May over April.

One percent growth over the last two months may not seem significant, but it could be the beginning of momentum.

"At first sight, a 1% increase in market share does not appear to be a huge return on the investment Microsoft has made in Bing but the underlying trend appears positive," commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. "Steady if not spectacular might be the best way to describe performance to date."

Plus, the 1% growth has come at the expense of Google. The search mammoth saw its search engine share according to StatCounter decline by 79.07% in April to 78.48% in June.

By the way, despite that first week of traffic for Bing, Yahoo! still retained its second place status for the entire month of June. Yahoo!'s traffic has remained fairly steady over the past three months in StatCounter data.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

June 30, 2009

CareerBuilder Taps Bing API for New Candidate Search Tool

At the Society for Human Resource Management Conference, CareerBuilder announced a new recruiting tool built with the Bing API. It's called Applicant Explorer and it uses the API to integrate online results such as social networking sites, blogs, and corporate websites with CareerBuilder's results.

"One of our key goals with Bing is to simplify search and make it easier for people to find what they are looking for online; searching for the ideal job candidate is no exception," said Alessandro Catorcini, senior program manager, Bing. "By combining Bing functionality with the extensive CareerBuilder database, Applicant Explorer helps recruiters and employers customize their search criteria and dynamically sort through and display hundreds of data sources in one easy to use interface, cutting the manual search time substantially."

The idea was to streamline the candidate search process for human resources professionals. Instead of sifting through CareerBuilder results and then conducting the same search on a separate search engine, now recruiters can do it all in one place.

"With so many employers already utilizing the Internet to research candidates, Applicant Explorer was created to help employers do that necessary research in the most efficient and simple way possible - helping them go beyond the resume," said Greg Brass, director of profile search at CareerBuilder. "In addition, job seekers can benefit from the clearer picture employers can gather of their qualifications and background."

Applicant Explorer is free for those using CareerBuilder's resume database.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 29, 2009

Microsoft, Publicis Form Ad Partnership; Is Sale of Razorfish Involved?

Microsoft and advertising agency Publicis have formed a advertising alliance, according to ClickZ. The partnership involves online advertising as well as a TV ad exchange. This could put a damper on Google's inititave to create a tv ad exchange. Google is also a partner with Publicis, with the companies having staff working out of each other's offices.

But another interesting tidbit of the Microsoft-Publicis partnership is breaking today. Rumor is that Razorfish, ad interactive advertising agency arm owned by Microsoft, is for sale. Razorfish was part of the $6 billion aQuantive acquisition in 2007. Microsoft has contacted Morgan Stanley to arrange the sale. The even bigger rumor is that Publicis is poised to buy.

This all comes on the heels of comments by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that traditional media is heading to its grave.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 24, 2009

Bing's Best Match Spotlights Official Sites for Brands

If you conduct a search for a brand, you're most likely looking for the official site. Bing is separating the official sites out from the rest of the results for brands with a feature called Best Match.

Here's an example of a search for FIFA. Notice the search box included with the result plus deep links:

Best Match isn't perfect. It didn't recognize Caribou Coffee. Also, the "best match" for Keen was a psychic site, Keen.com. But what about Keen shoes? They were at the top of the organic results below. Perhaps there shouldn't be a "best match" for that keyword?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 17, 2009

Bing's Bang Continues in Week Two

New data from comScore shows that Bing's big bang launch in week one has carried over to week two. The percentage of internet users searching Bing continued to increase and the search share enjoyed a slight uptick as well.

"It appears that Microsoft Bing has continued to generate interest from the market for the second consecutive week," said Mike Hurt, comScore senior vice president. "These early data reflect a continued positive market reaction to Bing in the initial stages of its launch."

Anecdotally, I've been hearing great things about people enjoying searching on Bing as well as increased conversions on adCenter.

What has been your Bing experience? Share in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 12, 2009

Bing Adds Translation Instant Answer

One of the great things about Live Search that has carried over to Bing is Instant Answers. There are shopping, travel and sports Instant Answers. Now, there are translation Instant Answers.

Type in the word or phrase you would like to have translated followed by the language. For example, I typed in "have a nice day in portuguese" and here's what Bing returned:

If you're translating to English, don't forget to include accent marks, otherwise you may not get the translation. But for your basic Instant Answers, it seems to work pretty good.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 9, 2009

Initial comScore Data Confirms Bing's First Week Success

Last week, StatCounter was the first to release data showing Bing doing well in its first week. Now, comScore data seems to corroborate that sentiment, albeit not the extreme success in StatCounter's numbers.

comScore compared data from Microsoft's search sites the week before Bing's launch to the first 5 days it was live. Check it out:

Of course, it remains to be seen if this is the beginning of a nice momentum or if it's all out of curiosity.

"These initial data suggest that Microsoft Bing has generated early interest, resulting in a spike in search engagement and an immediate term improvement to Microsoft's position in the search market," said Mike Hurt, comScore senior vice president. "So far it appears that the lifts in searcher penetration and engagement have held relatively steady throughout the five-day period. The ultimate performance of Bing depends on the extent to which it generates more trial through its extensive launch campaign and whether it retains those trial users. It appears it is off to a good start."

What do you think is Bing's fate? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

June 5, 2009

Bing Steals Market Share from Google in First Week

Early stats from Statcounter show Bing taking off in a big way in the United States. As of yesterday, Bing was at 16.28% marketshare while Yahoo! hung out at 10.22% marketshare.

Meanwhile, Google's market share has dropped about 6 points from 78.07% to 71.99%.

Of course, Bing has only been live since Monday. It could just be curiosity. But if people are truly liking Bing, these numbers will be corroborated by comScore and Nielsen data. If that's the case, Bing may be a decision Microsoft got really, really right.

h/t TechCrunch

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

June 4, 2009

Microsoft Debuts New Bing TV Ads; Begins Multi-Channel Promotion

Last night, those of you tolerating watching 'So You Think You Can Dance' were shown the very first broadcast of the new Microsoft television advertising campaign promoting Bing. If you missed it, Bing has a YouTube channel (yes, I know! a YouTube channel! from Microsoft!). Here's one of the new ads:

If you can't watch video right now, the ad depicts a couple discussing future vacation plans. When the wife inquires if her husband found tickets to Hawaii, he starts compulsively spouting off random results he received when searching online. The results aren't helpful at all to their vacation plans. The ad calls this "Search Overload Syndrome" and says that Bing is the cure.

Enid Burns over at ClickZ has all the major details on the new ad campaign. The television campaign surrounding "Search Overload Syndrome" will switch to a more reality-based concept in about two weeks. Bing will begin in-show promotions soon including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Radio advertising will also be a part of the traditional advertising mix.

The television campaign will be complemented with an online ad campaign. Display ads will run on sites like the New York Times and Huffington Post. Meanwhile, Efficient Frontier is managing the search campaign. Yes, you will see ads for Bing on Google. (Try searching "cheap flights" on Google and you should see a Bing search ad.)

Bing is also going after social media. They have their own Bing Community as well as a presence on Facebook.

All of this is part of the estimated $80-100 million ad spend Microsoft is expected to make promoting Bing. That's quite an investment and we'll be awaiting the comScore and Nielsen data over the coming months to see if it's making an impact.

Have you seen any of the new ads for Bing? What do you think of them? Leave a comment and let us know.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

June 1, 2009

Bing's Best Features are the Ones You Didn't Know Existed on Live Search

If you weren't using Live Search (and let's face it, most of you weren't) then you're likely to be a little more impressed than you should be with Bing. Sure, Bing has great new features, but Live Search featured a bunch of cool stuff and you'll be kicking yourself when you realize you haven't been using them.

Image Search infinite scrolling means you never have to click to another page when you're searching for photos and graphics. The more you scroll, the more Live Search and now Bing keeps loading images related to your search.

A myriad of filtering options also accompanies Image Search, including size, color, layout and style.

Video search preview lets users mouse over video results and get a 30-second preview directly in the results.

ClearFlow is a mapping feature that offers up alternative routes when there's heavy traffic.

Local search is very comprehensive. If you conduct a general search for say, coffee shop, as you scroll down the results page, the map on the right sidebar scrolls with you. Once you click on a result, you get one-click directions, reviews, and nearby business categories. If you search for a restaurant, you'll see a visual scorecard letting which summarizes reviews the eatery has received.

Instant answers is a feature we've covered a lot on this blog, and Microsoft does it very well. Sports scores, shopping and travel are all categories getting the instant answer treatment. Want a quick status on flight? Type the airline and flight number into the search box and you'll get immediate details on where the flight is directly in the results.

Speaking of travel, Farecast, which Microsoft acquired last year, rocks. It's rebranded as Bing Travel. These days, there aren't too many variations in price on travel search. But Farecast's strength is displaying deals and predicting whether airfares will rise or fall. You can set up email alerts to know what hot deals are out there.

Last fall, Microsoft incorporated Farecast flight search with Instant Answers in Live Search. You'll get the same experience with Bing.

Microsoft has had a lot to offer in terms of search and it's not just starting now with Bing. Dive in and see what you find. Then come back and share your favorite features in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Bing is Live (no pun intended)

Forget June 3rd. You can search Bing now. Also, at 10am PST today, you can attend an online session where the Bing team will show off all the features. Click here to attend.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

May 29, 2009

Nice to meet you Chandler Bing 'BING!', Great apartment Chandler Bing 'BING!'

It seems like every time we talk he wants to say my name, so that when he gets to my last name he can exaggerate the bing. BING!" - Chandler Bing on Friends

It's not like Microsoft didn't know what was coming. Choosing a name like Bing for their new search engine was bound to attract all sorts of reaction. It's a source of curiosity and quickly became fodder for jokes and references.

The first thing that came to my mind is Chandler Bing, arguably one of the most charming yet sarcastic characters in US sitcom history. Played by Matthew Perry, Chandler Bing was one of the six Friends on the hit TV show that helped define Thursday nights as a "Must See TV" night. On the show, both his first and last names were the sources of many a tease, but he took it all in stride, something Microsoft appears to be doing as well.

Another famous Bing is a crooner and classic movie star who went by the last name Crosby. Most famous for his hit musical White Christmas, Crosby's smooth vocals grace our ears every December. Crosby was a true triple threat. He could sing, dance, and act with the best of them. Microsoft is taking the multi-faceted approach as well, by tackling various niches from travel to shopping to health.

Then there are the plays on the word Bing as well as colloquialisms and acronyms. Ba da bing ba da boom is a phrase that, according to Urban Dictionary, means something that is done quickly and easily. "Bing It On" is a take on the phrase "Bring It On," while many speculated that Bing stood for "Boy, It's Not Google."

When I asked Whitney Burk of the Bing Team why the name was chosen, she said the word "sounded like the moment of discovery." But Bing is more than a sound. Burk said the word is simple, easy to remember and globally appropriate.

Oh yeah, and Burk said that Bing does NOT stand for "Boy It's Not Google." It's not an acronym.

The ultimate question when it comes to branding and naming is, "Does it pass the verb test?" Xerox, FedEx, Google and Twitter have all seen their names turned into verbs. "Can you Xerox this for me?" and "I need to FedEx the gift in time for Christmas" are phrases you've probably heard before.

Will we now hear people say things like "I Binged chocolate chip cookies and found a great recipe" or "I'm going to Bing his name and see what comes up?"

I'm not so sure. It's not that a brand has to have a name that turns into a verb. You don't put on your running shoes and say, "I'm going Nike-ing." But when it comes to search, people have come to expect it. You hear it when people talk about using Google, even in the movies or on TV.

What happens with the Bing brand remains to be seen. The search engine launches to the public next week and after that, much of it is out of Microsoft's hands. Then, the people will decide if Bing is set to join Chandler, Crosby and the colloquialisms as one of the most famous Bings in history.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Microsoft Teams Up with Tech Partners for Social Networking Enterprise Solution

Microsoft has teamed up with Telligent and speakTECH to form the Social Enterprise Alliance. Via the Alliance comes an enterprise social networking solution for manufacturing and consumer goods sectors companies.

The Social Enterprise Solution is designed to be a robust solution, integrated with a company's site instead of than simply copying and pasting code from Google's Friend Connect or Facebook Connect (which leaves a site co-branded with Google or Facebook).

"The Social Enterprise Alliance with Telligent and speakTECH demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to recognizing partners that collaborate to offer a higher level of solutions and services offerings that are more relevant to customer needs," said Greg Urquhart, general manager, U.S. ISV and National System Integrators, U.S. Partners Group at Microsoft. "By integrating Telligent's Community Server platform with speakTECH's integration and services expertise -- all of which leverage the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server platform -- companies have a better solution to connect with their customers, partners, suppliers and investors."

Ultimately, the Social Enterprise Solution is designed to define and develop communities based around a company.

"Manufacturing and consumer goods companies have a unique opportunity to put the power of social computing to work across all aspects of their business, improving engagement and collaboration of employees, partners, distributors and customers," said Rob Howard, founder and CTO of Telligent. "Holistic social computing solutions enable the agile and innovative enterprise."

As social media continues to grow at a rapid-fire pace, a deep integration of social networking technologies is becoming a necessity for many brands.

"Companies are finding the return on investment for social media campaigns to be aggressively outpacing traditional marketing strategies," said Aaron Sloman, CEO of speakTECH. "It's driving a transformation where traditional marketing departments need to re-tool as interactive marketing agencies."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 28, 2009

Bing: What to Expect (Hint: It's More Than Just a Live Search Rebrand)

Yes, Microsoft's Bing is a rebranding of Live Search, but there are added features which make it a whole new search engine from the software giant.

What's being carried over from Live Search include the homepage images with hotspots, deep links, Instant Answers, xRank and a slew of features on the local, video, and image searches. Search suggestions are now called "Auto-Suggest." As reported earlier, programs like Cashback and sites like Farecast will be rebranded under the Bing brand.

Here's what's new:

Web Groups affect the way results appear. Certain search terms will have results that are categorized. For example, if you search for a city, you may get groups of results sorted according to restaurants, hotels, weather, airport information and more. A search for a celebrity may sort results according to biography, movies, images, etc. Powerset plays a key role in these groupings. Here are the categories that will be affected by Web Groups:

• Automobiles (car models, car manufacturers)
• Travel/local (countries, cities, states and points of interest such as stadiums, parks and passes)
• People (celebrities, athletes, musicians, bands, politicians, etc.)
• Sports (teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB)
• Health (cancer, diet, over-the-counter and prescription drugs, symptoms, genetic and conditional disease, injury trauma)
• Entertainment (popular television shows and movies)
• Retail (certain electronics such as cameras, cell phones and optics products)
• Events (Oscars, Fourth of July, NASCAR, etc.)

Bing Health is going to include more content directly in the web results. In the screenshot below, you can see how a search for "influenza" brings Quick Tabs in the Explore Pane. When articles is selected, actual articles appear in the results. Content will be provided by nine trusted medical sources including Mayo Clinic, the American Cancer Society and MedlinePlus.

Best Match is designed to make the most helpful information stand out from the rest. If you're searching for UPS, obviously the UPS site should be first and foremost. Included with the result are deep links and a customer service number. There's also a box in the search results where you can type in a number to track a package.

Quick Previews allow searchers to mouseover results and see more information from the site behind the result. Microsoft says up to 24% of clicks result in a quick click back to search results because searchers quickly realize a page isn't what they're looking for. Quick previews can help prevent those unnecessary clicks.

The Explore Pane is a lefthand sidebar that serves up Recommended Searches (previously on the right hand side in Live Search) as well as search history and quick tabs to information relevant to your search.

Bing will also be available for mobile devices and will power Microsoft's Windows Live and MSN toolbars.

Bing isn't available for public use until next week, but what are your impressions of this preview? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Live Search Provides Instant Answers for MTV Movie Awards

This Sunday, the MTV Movie Awards are finally worth watching again for one reason: Andy Samberg of SNL fame is hosting. But if you can't catch the awards live and want to know which movies are winning the Golden Popcorn trophies, simply go to Live.com (because Bing.com won't be launched yet) and type in "MTV movie awards" for some instant answers.

via the Live Search blog

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All Things Bing: A Roundup of Reaction to Microsoft's Big News

The long-awaited unveiling of Microsoft's new search product finally came today at the D7 conference. Wall Street reacted positively with a 2.11% increase on MSFT, higher than the DJIA of 0.67%. Here's how the media and blogosphere reacted:

First, here's a summary of Steve Ballmer's appearance at the D7 conference. From the Live Search blog: The sound of found: Bing! The Official Press Release

5 Things I Want to Know About Bing - PC World Microsoft's Bing: Powerset's role, market share, brand (and other burning questions) Microsoft Reveals Its New Search Engine [Video] - Mashable To Bing or not to Bing? Hands on with Microsoft's new search - Ars Technica Hands On with Microsoft's Bing Search - PC Mag Microsoft's Lu on Bing Search: 'A First Step' - Business Week What Has to Happen for Bing to Win - AdAge Bloodied By Google, Microsoft Tries Again on Search - NY Time Confirmed: Microsoft's New Search Engine is Called 'Bing,' Opens June 3rd - Gizmodo Bing it on: Microsoft overhauls search, again

Interestingly enough, the best source for Bing news was searching Twitter.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

April 30, 2009

Microsoft to Bring Tellme to Windows Mobile Phones

Microsoft is bringing Tellme, a voice service it acquired a couple years ago, to Windows Mobile phones. Tellme will enable voice search as well as voice commands for the phones it's used on.

Here are examples of how you'll be able to use Tellme:

• Send a text by saying "text" to open a text box, then speak the text message and say "send" to send it to anyone in their contact list
• Initiate a call simply by saying "call" and then the name of anyone in their contact list
• Search the Web with Microsoft Live Search by speaking your request, such as "weather in San Francisco, California," "pizza in Kansas City," "movies" or "Mother's Day gift ideas"

"Because it's so intuitive, we believe there is a real opportunity for voice to materialize as the leading user interface for the phone," said Dariusz Packzuski, senior director of consumer services at Tellme. "By bringing voice access to calling, texting and searching, together we reduce 'menu surfing' on phones and make the benefits of voice more tangible for everyday needs."

Microsoft is hoping this is part of the equation to ultimately beat the iPhone. Part of their push with Tellme is to point out that pushing one button and speaking is easier than typing 20 keystrokes.

What do you think of Tellme being rolled out to Windows Mobile phones?

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 29, 2009

Microsoft Offers Vine, Social Media For Important Personal Info

Microsoft announced the beta launch of Vine - a social media platform for personal information sharing. As the site states: "The Microsoft Vine Beta connects you to the people and places you care about most, when it matters."

While it may be in beta as an emergency Twitter like app, the potential for this could eventually become a challenge to Facebook as well as Twitter. It has the potential to set up, through its interface, as a tracking and mapping networking tool that combines elements of both of those programs.

Posted by Frank Watson at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

April 28, 2009

Eric Schmidt and Craig Mundie Named to President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer have been named to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The council is comprised of scientists and engineers who will advise President and Vice President on policy involving science, technology, and innovation.

"This council represents leaders from many scientific disciplines who will bring a diversity of experience and views," said President Obama. "I will charge PCAST with advising me about national strategies to nurture and sustain a culture of scientific innovation."

Schmidt and Mundie join the following members named to PCAST:

• John Holdren, serving as co-chair of PCAST, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Eric Lander, serving as a co-chair of PCAST, Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Professor of Biology at MIT, Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School and member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
• Harold Varmus, serving as co-chair of PCAST, President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan
• Christine Cassel, President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine
• Christopher Chyba, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and International Affairs at Princeton University and a member of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academy of Sciences
• S. James Gates Jr., John S. Toll Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the University of Maryland
• Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and former Chair of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1995-1999)
• Richard Levin, President of Yale University
• Chad Mirkin, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, and Medicine at Northwestern University, and Director of Northwestern's International Institute of Nanotechnology
• Mario Molina, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as well as Director of the Mario Molina Center for Energy and Environment in Mexico City
• Ernest J. Moniz, Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Director of the Energy Initiative, and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at MIT
• William Press, Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin
• Maxine Savitz, vice-president of the National Academy of Engineering, retired general manager of Technology Partnerships at Honeywell, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Conservation in the US Department of Energy
• Barbara Schaal is Professor of Biology at Washington University in St Louis and Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences
• Daniel Schrag, Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University and Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
• David E. Shaw, chief scientist of D. E. Shaw Research, LLC, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves on the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies
• Ahmed Zewail, Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Caltech and Director of the Physical Biology Center

Related Reading: Google, Microsoft Higher Ups Dish Out the Dough for Obama Inauguration Google and the Obama Administration Obama Aide: Broadband Portion of Stimulus Package for Timely Needs, Not Overall Goals Obama to Nominate Former IAC Executive as FCC Chairman

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Live Search Adds Traffic Service to 411 Offerings

Live Search launched phone-based search offerings in October of 2007. Since then, with updates, the service offers business search, driving directions, sports, stock quotes, weather, movie times, gas prices, and travel information.

Now they're adding another topic to the list: Traffic. To access the service, dial 1-800-CALL-411 and ask for Traffic. Users can save their start and end points to access quick traffic info in the future by saying, for example, "Home to Work."

The information provided includes traffic incidents, slowdowns and an estimated drive time. The Traffic 411 service is powered by INRIX

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 23, 2009

Online Advertising Takes a Dive in Microsoft Third Quarter Earnings

Microsoft released their quarterly earnings today, reporting a loss for the company - the first time in 23 years. Online advertising contributed to the losses, although the division is the smallest of all Microsoft's big five divisions (the other four being Client, Business, Server and Tools, and Entertainment/Devices).

The Online Services Division more than doubled their operating income, but that did not translate into revenues. The division saw $721 million in revenues for their third quarter of 2009, compared to $843 million in the third quarter of 2008. That's a 14.5% decline.

Microsoft says lower display advertising prices are the reason for declining online advertising revenue. Page views and search queries are growing, however, giving a silver lining to the news. Also, remember that Microsoft has done some pretty hefty hiring in the search department, including hiring quite a few tech execs from Yahoo! With many of these hirings occurring in the past two quarters, it may not have been enough time to see what's to come from any new initiatives that are in the works.

Overall, Microsoft saw $13.65 billion in revenues in Q3 2009 compared to $14.45 billion in Q3 2008, a 6.1% decrease.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

April 20, 2009

Digg Pulls Out of Exclusive Ad Contract with Microsoft

Digg is ending its 3 year exclusive online advertising contract with Microsoft a year early, according to ClickZ. Starting in July, Digg will form its own advertising deals. Microsoft will be kept in the inventory reserve.

Don't expect there to be bad blood between the two parties. There was always an expectation that Digg would take this course, according to what Mike Maser, Digg chief revenue and strategy officer told ClickZ.

For its part, Microsoft is looking to expand ad blitz opportunities like the one it just did with Discovery Channel and the "Deadliest Catch" season premiere. Robin Domeniconi, VP U.S., Microsoft Advertising told ClickZ that the blitzes get Microsoft away from conversations about ROI.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 13, 2009

Microsoft and Discovery Channel Partner for 'Deadliest Catch' Cross-Channel Ad Blitz

The fifth season of Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" begins tomorrow night at 9pm and the network chose Microsoft to conduct a cross-channel ad blitz. The ads will be seen on MSN, MSN Mobile, Windows Live Hotmail, Microsoft Live Search and Xbox LIVE.

"Microsoft Advertising got it right on the first try," said Danelle Sabathier, director, Digital Media Marketing, Discovery Networks. "They showed us they have the audience reach, resources and original content at their fingertips to create killer ad campaigns that have the potential to drive buzz and excitement, which is exactly what we were looking for the fifth season of our hit show. We are thrilled with the level of service our team received and how simple the process was."

Discovery Channel has purchased 90% of the inventory on MSNBC, Fox Sports, MSN, MSN Mobile and Xbox LIVE to promote the "Deadliest Catch" premiere on April 14.

"The doors to our one-stop shop are open," said Keith Lorizio, vice president of U.S. sales, Microsoft Advertising. "The Deadliest Catch campaign demonstrates how we are making it easier for customers to buy and integrate multiplatform digital campaigns. In partnership with just one publisher, advertisers reach a targetable, premium online audience where they consume digital content most -- PC, mobile and TV screens."

Related Reading: AOL's Platform-A Collaborates with T-mobile for 2 Day, Billion Impression Ad Blitz

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 1, 2009

Microsoft to Announce Third Quarter Results April 23, 2009

Microsoft has announced that it will release its third quarter earnings on Thursday April 23, 2009. (For many companies, it's time for first quarter earnings, but Microsoft's fiscal year begins in July instead of January.)

The earnings will be announced via conference call at 2:30pm PST on the 23rd. A live webcast of the call will be made available at the investor relations site which can be found here.

In January, Microsoft surprised Wall Street by releasing its 2nd quarter earnings several hours earlier than announced.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 24, 2009

SES New York is a Search Expo as well as an SEM Conference

Most of the attention at SES New York is focused on the SEM conference. But the must-attend industry event is a search expo, as well.

If you look over the list of participating sponsors and exhibitors, you'll see Premier Plus Sponsors like iProspect and Google as well as Premier Sponsors like Ask Sponsored Listings, iContact, Microsoft and WebTrends. But as you scroll down the list of close to 100 sponsors and exhibitors, you'll see lots of other names, too.

As I mentioned yesterday, I plan to visit the booths of the SES sponsors and exhibitors. I always find useful products and services -- not to mention the trade-show tchotchke and promotional swag.

In fact, I generally discover a couple of under-reported stories in the Expo Hall.

For example, at SES New York 2008, I thought one of the under-reported stories was LifeTips, which is a content design and content development company working on ebooks and other products. They had just launched an SEO content grader. So, I invited Byron White, the founder of LifeTips, to give us his escalator pitch. (This is a lot like an elevator pitch, except the escalators at the Hilton New York are a lot faster than the elevators.)

Lifetips Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008

However, there's no way to know in advance which booths will contain under-reported stories at SES New York 2009. (Although, it won't hurt to check out Booth #1302, because WebTrends and Business.com are sponsoring the ultimate conference give-away: A brand new Smart Car.)

Nevertheless, it turns out that some of the exhibitors have submitted proflies to Business Wire's Virtual Press Office (VPO). So, that increases the odds that there is gold in them thar hills. Check it out for yourself.

Company: Click Forensics, Inc. Booth: 1108 Click Forensics is the industry leader in scoring, auditing and improving traffic quality for the online advertising community. By optimizing every step in the online advertising process, Click Forensics maximizes ROI for advertisers, publishers, and ad networks. Click Forensics' traffic quality management solutions are relevant for advertisers seeking to reduce costs and improve conversions rates, ad networks seeking to attract and retain advertisers and improve overall eCPM, and publishers seeking to attract quality advertisers and increase earnings per click. For over 5 years the online advertising industry has relied on Click Forensics as the independent authority on traffic quality and click fraud.

Company: DOCLIX Booth: 225 DOCLIX owns and operates AdSide, a pay-per-click ad network which brings search-level performance to content-targeted ads. It provides advertisers and publishers with tools to maximize revenue and growth. AdSide places user-activated text ads on premium sites. Its patent-pending Two-Step Click™ lead qualification model ensures that advertisers pay only for twice-qualified leads, generating higher conversion rates and ROI. AdSide expands publishers' real estate, providing them with a new revenue stream that does not dilute user experience. Our custom ad formats and yield optimization technology maximize click-through rates and effective CPMs. Premium publishers are pre-screened for content and are required to have over 1 million unique visitors. Company: Ektron Booth: 120 Ektron, a global leader in Web content management software and services, empowers organizations to maximize their business performance online. With tools and functionality that maximize SEM, SEO and social media optimization strategies for SMBs and enterprises alike, Ektron CMS400.NET delivers organizations' valuable content to the people who are looking for it. Ektron empowers developers and non-technical business users. Developers can take advantage of built-in Server Controls to deploy a Web site out of the box or customize the deployment using CMS400.NET's API, addressing all of the business's SEO needs. Business users benefit from an intuitive user interface for managing Web site content and messaging. In addition to SEO tools and core content management, CMS400.NET ships with a wide array of functionality, including social networking, Web 2.0, SEO and synchronization tools.

Company: Emailvision Booth: 322 Emailvision has become the global market and technology leader in on-demand software for email marketing automation. Used daily by over 1500 companies worldwide, the Emailvision flagship product, Campaign Commander, is the benchmark tool for e-commerce and publishing. Sold as a subscription service it enables clients to improve message deliverability, lower costs and focus on their online retention marketing strategies without important technology investments. The company has offices in major international markets including the US, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Spain. Emailvision (ALEMV) was founded in 1999 and is listed on the Euronext/Alternext stock exchange.

Company: eZanga Booth: 121 eZanga (www.eZanga.com), a search engine marketing company and search engine founded by Beth and Richard Kahn in 2003, provides online advertisers with local, regional, and national advertising focused on generating high return on investment and users with access to a search engine powered by eZanga's proprietary Meta Search technology, which pulls data from numerous, unique content sources and displays the results in an easy-to-read and relevant fashion. In 2008, eZanga was recognized by Inc. magazine's Inc. 500 as the fastest-growing company in its home state of Delaware.

eZanga Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008 Company: GoECart Booth: 213 GoECart is the clear choice for serious merchants focused on creating and rapidly growing a successful online business. With integration with industry-leading partners like Google Checkout, Paypal, Amazon.com, Linkshare, UPS, Google Analytics, Campaigner and LivePerson, GoECart is the most connected e-commerce solution on the market. GoECart combines 250+ powerful features and On-Demand Tier 1 hosting with a delightful shopping experience for customers - all at a surprisingly affordable price. GoECart is THE MOST Search Engine Friendly Ecommerce Software on the market, bar none! GoECart serves a diverse customer base ranging from small- and medium-sized enterprises to Fortune 500 companies. www.GoECart.com

Shopping Cart Software SEO with goecart.com

Company: iCrossing Booth: 100 iCrossing is a global digital marketing company that combines talent and technology to help world-class brands find and connect with their customers. The company blends best-in-class digital marketing services - including paid search, search engine optimization, Web development, social media, mobile, research and analytics - to create integrated digital marketing programs that engage consumers and drive ROI. iCrossing's client base includes such recognized brands as Epson America, Toyota, Travelocity and 40 Fortune 500 companies, including The Coca-Cola Company and Office Depot. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company has 580 employees in 12 offices in the U.S. and Europe.

Company: ideaLaunch Booth: 202 Valuable, relevant content is what your company needs to attract and retain customers. ideaLaunch offers a suite of content marketing services that hundreds of clients are using to gain the trust and win the business of online customers. From content creation to content optimization to content testing to content performance to content sponsorship, ideaLaunch offers a full range of content marketing services, solutions and resources. Start delivering fresh, relevant content to your customers with the revolutionaries at ideaLaunch. And improve your company's mind share, market share and profit share.

Company: Ingenio Inc. Booth: 315 Ingenio, Inc. pioneered Pay Per Call in 2004 as a way to connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world through the combination of the Internet and the telephone. Today Ingenio partners with leading providers in Web and mobile search, online directories, vertical content, and directory assistance to deliver live phone leads to any type of business. For more information, please visit www.ingenio.com.

Company: Local.com Booth: 1110 Local.com (NASDAQ: LOCM) is the largest local search network in the United States. The company uses patented technologies to provide over 19 million consumers each month with the most relevant search results for local businesses, products and services on Local.com and over 700 regional media sites. Businesses can target ready-to-purchase consumers using a variety of advertising products. To advertise, visit http://corporate.local.com/advertisewithus or call 1-888-857-6722. For more information visit: www.local.com or http://corporate.local.com/.

Company: Marchex, Inc. Booth: 201 Marchex, Inc. is a leading local search and performance advertising company. Marchex's innovative advertising platform delivers search- and call-based marketing products and services for local and national advertisers. Marchex's local search network, one of the largest online, helps consumers make better, more informed local decisions through its content-rich Web sites that reach tens of millions of unique visitors each month.

Chad Schott of Marchex on Local Search at SES NY 2008

Company: Onward Search Booth: 309 Onward Search is the nation's leading provider of internet marketing and creative services talent. Onward Search specializes in placing search marketing, graphic design, web development, and related creative services and technology professionals to companies nationwide. Onward Search provides their customers with the ability to rapidly source the best talent in the marketplace, so they can successfully deliver against their creative services, online marketing, and technology initiatives. Onward Search offers a full range of recruiting, staffing, and talent management solutions to include temporary staffing, consulting, and permanent placement options to ensure our customers have access to the right talent to get the job done.

Company: SearchIgnite Booth: 320 SearchIgnite is a leading provider of paid search and performance media optimization solutions that enable large, sophisticated marketers to achieve their online goals faster and smarter. The company's platform gives advertisers an advanced suite of tools to manage, optimize and report on their paid search campaigns in one central dashboard. In addition, marketers who use SearchIgnite have the ability to gather insights into the relationship between media channels, enabling them to spend smarter. Some of the world's leading brands and advertising agencies depend on SearchIgnite technology to power their online marketing campaigns. More information can be found at http://www.searchignite.com/.

Company: SLI Systems Booth: 303 SLI Systems provides site search, site navigation and user-generated SEO services for online retail and content-rich websites. These solutions are built with patented Learning Search technology - an intelligent search system that learns from customer behavior to increase sales and conversions. Learning Search enhances the user experience while delivering valuable insights on visitor activity, and provides ecommerce sites with advanced merchandising capabilities and intuitive navigation. SLI's Site Champion service creates optimised pages to increase a retailer's visibility in natural search engine listings and increase site traffic. Customers like FTD, Tupperware, ULTA, and hundreds more benefit from SLI Systems' search technology.

Company: TMP Directional Marketing Booth: 209 TMP Directional Marketing (TMPDM) is the largest local search marketing agency, offering online, offline and mobile local advertising solutions to top national brands. Providing clients search with a local focus, the agency understands the local nuances that help national merchants reach local customers. Combining its years of success in Yellow Pages advertising with online search expertise gained as a former unit of Monster Worldwide, TMPDM serves hundreds of national advertising clients, including nearly 100 Fortune 500 companies. TMPDM (www.tmpdm.com) is headquartered in New York with more than 500 employees and 15 offices in the U.S. and Canada.

Company: Wpromote Inc. Booth: 112 Wpromote prides itself in Superior Search Engine Marketing. From two employees in 2001 to over forty the company has experienced unwavering growth and continuous recognition for its exceptional service to each and every client. As a two-time Inc. 500 honoree, Google Adwords Qualified Company and recipient of countless other accolades, clients are assured that The Best Search Starts Here, at Wpromote. Since its inception Wpromote has dedicated itself to a single mission statement: help businesses succeed on the web. With unmatched experience in search marketing and an unrivaled dedication to our clients' results, Wpromote always stands out above the crowd.

Company: YELLOWPAGES.COM Booth: 321 "Need something?" For more than 125 years, consumers have trusted the Yellow Pages to deliver comprehensive local business information. And today, wherever, however and whenever they "Need something" local, they use YELLOWPAGES.COM. YELLOWPAGES.COM connects consumers to local businesses across the three screens they use most - Web, mobile and TV through AT&T U-verse services. As one of today's leading local search sites, YELLOWPAGES.COM provides comprehensive local business information, maps, driving directions, videos, user reviews and more. And new mobile features make it easier than ever to find information on the go.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 20, 2009

Microsoft Search News Out of IE 8 and MIX09

Microsoft has had a couple major events this week and both have implications for search. First up, they release the next version of their web browser, Internet Explorer 8. It was announced at MIX09, which had additional search news covered at the end of this post.

With the release of IE8 comes the Live Search accelerators.

Once you've installed IE 8 and the accelerator, all you have to do is highlight a word on a page you're viewing, click on the arrow that appears and click on the option you want. If you're shopping and highlight a product, you can click the "Shop and Save" option. If you highlight an address, you can click on the "Map with Live Search" option. A translation accelerator is another option if you're viewing a page in a foreign language.

There were three other search news announcements that came out of MIX09.

• Virtual Earth Silverlight Control - Made available to developers today, Silverlight is now letting Virtual Earth developers have access to new features like "deep zoom" navigation, which improves the mapping experience.
• Project Silk Road - This project has been a great success. Announced at PubCon last November, the API is already serving 3 billion requests per month. Over 5,000 applications for the broad beta have been received.
• Microsoft's work with job search site CareerBuilder.com - The largest job search site in the United States is now using the Live Search API and Silverlight, allowing employers to search candidate backgrounds from places like Facebook, blogs, online articles, etc., all in one place.

Related Reading: In Search Race, Ballmer Seeks More Eyeballs Well, raise my rent. Microsoft is the good guy!

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 19, 2009

In Search Race, Ballmer Seeks More Eyeballs

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer just can't get away from questions about going after Yahoo - again. Just over a year after the software giant made a public - and unsolicited - bid for the Sunnyvale search engine, the playing field has changed. The economy went to the pooper and Yahoo!'s stock followed suit. Then there's a brand spankin' new CEO in former Autodesk Chairman Carol Bartz.

Ever since Ballmer declared that Microsoft is moving on last July, he's never wavered from that stance. Instead, he's been scooping up Yahoo! employees and bringing them into his house.

So when Ballmer recently said that any deal with Yahoo! would be a grab for eyeballs, not technology - I tend to believe him. After all, he's got a bunch of Yahoo! talent now. They have the tech know-how. What else would he really need Yahoo! for?

Of course, that won't stop the questions from being asked and the whispers from being uttered. Will Microsoft and Yahoo! strike a deal? Only time will tell, but the nature of a new deal almost certainly has changed.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 10, 2009

Microsoft Adds Maria Klawe to Board of Directors; Announces $0.13 Dividend

Microsoft has added a new member to their Board of Directors. Maria Klawe, Ph.D., president of Harvey Mudd College since 2006, brings the Board back to 10 members. Klawe was previously dean of engineering and a professor of computer science at Princeton University from 2003 to 2006.

"Maria has made significant research contributions to computer science and mathematics, and we are very fortunate to have her join Microsoft's board of directors," said Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman. "In particular, I think her close connection to university students and the way they shape computing trends will bring an important perspective to the board."

Microsoft also announced a dividend of $0.13. The dividend is payable on to June 18, 2009 to shareholders on record as of May 21, 2009.

Related Reading: Well, raise my rent. Microsoft is the good guy! Live Search to Get New Brand, Features Microsoft Forms Advisory Council for the Development of Next Gen Ad Platform Microsoft Ad Revenue Up 7 Percent in Q2

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 9, 2009

Well, raise my rent. Microsoft is the good guy!

There is a memorable moment in Blazing Saddles, when Sheriff Bart says, "Well, raise my rent. You are the kid."

I had a similar ephiphany last month at SES London 2009, when David Naylor of Bronco said that Microsoft is the good guy in the search engine industry during a session on "Brand & Reputation Management."

Now, I should disclose that I was the director of corporate communications at Lotus Development Corp. back in the late 1980s, when our relationship with Microsoft was -- ah -- "complicated." They provided the operating system that our applications ran on; while they offered applications that we competed with.

During the 1990s, I was the director of corporate communications at Ziff-Davis. And our relationship with Microsoft was also -- ah -- "complex." On the "church" side of Ziff-Davis, our 400 editors and reporters wrote comparative, lab-based, product reviews that treated Microsoft "without fear or favor," like any other vendor. On the "state" side of Ziff-Davis, Microsoft bought a ton of advertising in our magazines, on our websites and for our cable TV channel. Plus, Bill Gates was a frequent keynote speaker at our conferences, and Microsoft paid a chunk of money for big booths at our trade shows. So, when I got into the search engine industry in early 2002, I admit that I had some preconceived notions about the folks from Redmond. And I secretly chuckled when I heard that Google's informal corpate motto was "Don't be evil." I knew which company they were taking a jab at.

But that was then and this is now.

During the past seven years, Microsofties have been model citizens. Heck, even the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has impressed me by working globally to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and working locally to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology.

Still, it came as a surprise to me when Naylor said such nice things about Microsoft. It reminded me of another memorable quote from Blazing Saddles, "I think Mongo here's taken a liking to you."

So, I interviewed Naylor right after the "Brand & Reputation Management" session. In the early part of the video interview, he shared a few tips. He also emphasized the importance of identifying who is posting negative material about your company or brand. But half way through the video interview, I asked to Nayor discuss Microsoft's reputation and why it has improved. He says Microsoft now excels at handling not just business to business but business to consumer and Google has challenges they have not yet resolved.

David Naylor, CEO, Bronco Internet, on reputation management at SES London

As luck would have it, one of the people who attended the "Brand & Reputation Management" session was Mel Carson, the adCenter Community Manager in Europe for Microsoft. Carson joined Microsoft back in the summer of 2005, so we never crossed swords in the old days. As part of Microsoft Advertising, his role is to build relationships within the online advertising community to support, educate and evangelise through Microsoft adCenter industry forums, and to speak about internet marketing at conferences, trade shows and other events.

For the last year Carson has been writing a digital blog for Media Week and at his own site, Mel Carson. You can also follow him at http://Twitter.com/MelCarson. He is a credit to his company.

In the best tradition of ambush journalism, I interviewed Carson about his favorite panel sessions from SES London. He cited panels on topics such as social media, SEO, search behavior, and keyword research. But about half way through the interview, I asked Carson about the changing reputation of Microsoft and why Microsoft is now seen in a more positive light.

Mel Carson, Microsoft adCenter, highlights panels at SES London 2009

So, there you have it. You may have noticed this before. But that was the first time that I recognized that Microsoft wasn't evil. It's the good guy.

Both Naylor and Carson will be speaking at SES New York 2009 in two weeks at the "Extreme Makeover: Live Ad Copy & Continuity Clinic" on Thursday. So, you can ask them about this topic, before or after they examine your ads and landing pages "without fear or favor."

Well, don't just stand there looking stupid, grasping your hands in pain. How about a round of applause for the Redmond Kid?

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 2:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

February 25, 2009

Microsoft Research Introduces Search Projects at TechFest

Microsoft Research introduced search projects at its annual TechFest in Redmond, Washington. If you're not aware, TechFest is an event where Microsoft employees share research and ideas for technological progress via computing.

The search ideas put forth include:

• Geolife 2.0 - a GPS-data-driven social network on Microsoft Virtual Earth
• Opinion Search - collecting, storing and organizing opinion data such as user reviews to help searchers more easily make informed purchase decisions
• Renifang, Web Scale Entity Summarization - a web-mining summarization system that extracts information about particular entities (such as a person or product) from billions of Web pages to reduce the number of pages a searcher has to comb through to find the information they are looking for.
• Color-Structured Image Search - a new image search interface that uses rough color layouts to indicate searchers' intent (instead of using keywords only)

These projects were introduced by the Research team and are not (yet?) part of Live Search.

Related Reading: Microsoft Research Unveils Three New Search Projects Microsoft Moves on from Yahoo Again; Talks Internal Search Innovation Microsoft to Build Search Technology Center in Europe Microsoft Launches Beta Release of SearchTogether Plugin

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 23, 2009

Microsoft Forms Advisory Council for the Development of Next Gen Ad Platform

Microsoft today announced the creation of the Publisher Leadership Council. The council will consist of a select group of top web publishers who will consult the software giant in the development of its next generation advertising platform, Microsoft PubCenter.

The group's charter members include executives from IAC, Dow Jones Online, The New York Times Co., Time Inc. and Viacom Inc. PubCenter will be built on the existing adCenter Publisher architecture and combined with technologies from Atlas and Rapt.

"Digital media publishers have diverse needs and face many challenges," said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft, the platform and monetization engine for Microsoft Advertising. "This initiative is validation of our commitment to partnering with the industry to meet those challenges together. Some key features of PubCenter are still on the whiteboard, and we're giving our partners a pen."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 13, 2009

Google to Announce Q4 2008 Results on January 22, 2009 (Same Day as Microsoft)

Google has announced that its earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2008 will occur on Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 1:30pm PST (4:30pm for East Coasters). The call can be accessed live at http://investor.google.com/webcast.html.

Guess who else is holding their earnings call that day? Microsoft. Their call will begin one hour later and can be accessed at http://www.microsoft.com/msft.

We've already seen indications that the fourth quarter was a rollercoaster for search advertising. This is likely to have much more of an effect on Google than Microsoft, who will benefit from strong Xbox 360 sales during the holidays and be affected by the larger software and enterprise offerings of their overall business.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

December 4, 2008

Another (Former) Yahoo Heads to Microsoft

Earlier this year, Dr. Qi Lu left his role as Executive Vice President of Search and Advertising Technology at Yahoo in the aftermath of the failed Microsoft acquisition for the Sunnyvale search engine.

Now, Microsoft is bringing Lu on president of the Online Services Group. A couple weeks ago, it was confirmed that Yahoo's VP of Search Technology, Sean Suchter, was heading to Microsoft.

I'm starting to actually believe Steve Ballmer's insistence that he's not coming back around to pick up Yahoo at a reduced price. Why buy a company when you've snagged two of its top talents?

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 21, 2008

Confirmed: Yahoo's Sean Suchter Heads to Microsoft

Microsoft has confirmed that Yahoo's VP of Search Technology, Sean Suchter, is headed to the Redmond, WA-based company.

Satya Nadella, SVP, Search, Portal and Advertising said, in a statement:

“We are very pleased to confirm that Sean Suchter will be joining Microsoft as the GM of our Silicon Valley Search Technology Center, working on Live Search. Sean will report into Harry Shum when he starts work on December 22. We look forward to welcoming him to Microsoft at that time.”

Related Reading: Ballmer on post-Yang Yahoo! Acquistion: What Part of No Did You Not Understand?

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 20, 2008

Ballmer on post-Yang Yahoo! Acquistion: What Part of No Did You Not Understand?

After news came that Jerry Yang would be stepping down as Yahoo!'s CEO, the immediate reaction by analysts, Wall Street, and your neighbor's cat was: MICROSOFT ACQUISITION TIME!

But Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, is saying: Not so fast.

Ballmer has said time and again that Microsoft has moved on from the possibility of returning to the good ol' days of negotiating a Yahoo! acquisition.

And while it's tempting to think that he's just waiting for that stock to drop to around $2-3 a share (hey, only $6-7 more to go!), consider this: Yahoo's VP of Search Technology, Sean Suchter is leaving the Sunnyvale search engine. And I hope he likes rain and coffee, because rumor has it that he's headed to Microsoft.

That rumor was reported by none other than Kara Swisher, who is pretty much never wrong. The only thing I'm wondering is: Where's the noncompete agreement?

Amidst the rumors and denials, one thing is for sure. No matter how much Ballmer would like the speculation to end, it won't.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

November 7, 2008

Microsoft Goes after the Verizon Default Search Deal

Microsoft is attempting to pull the rug out from under Google's talks with Verizon to be the default search engine on its mobile phones. And they're doing so by dishing out the dough.

It's no secret that Microsoft has a bunch of cash on hand. They've been using some of it to create incentive programs like Cashback and SearchPerks to essentially pay people to search.

Now, it looks like they're willing to shell out some green by offering Verizon a larger piece of the revenue-sharing pie than Google has thus far offered.

Could this be why Google was unwilling to spend moolah on a costly court battle defending its now-defunct search advertising deal with Yahoo? Both Google and Yahoo said they could have won the suit, but Google declined to pursue it.

Could this be why Steve Ballmer is saying he's not interested in acquiring Yahoo anymore (depsite the blue light special)?

Mobile is hot and it's only going to get hotter. Becoming the default search engine on the largest mobile carrier in the U.S. (Verizon recently won approval for their acquisition of Alltel) is prime real estate indeed.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ballmer Says No to Yahoo Acquisition, Maybe to Search Deal

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has responded to Jerry Yang's comments about being open to a Microsoft acquisition. Speaking to a group of developers in Sydney, he dismissed the option of an outright acquisition, but remained open to a search deal. Though, even that didn't sound particularly promising:

We made an offer... We made another offer. It was clear that [Yahoo] doesn't want to sell the business to us and we moved on. We tried at one point to do a partnership around search, not an acquisition. And that didn't work either, and we moved on... and they moved on... We are not interested in going back and relooking at an acquisition. I don't know why they would be either, frankly. They turned us down at $33 a share ... I'm sure there are still opportunities for some kind of partnership around search.

Of course, all of this has been a game of poker from the start. So, whether Ballmer is truly saying no or simply just waiting to see if Yahoo's stock drops so low that Microsoft becomes the JP Morgan (Yahoo being the Bear Stearns, of course) remains to be seen.

And why not wait for a merger of Yahoo and AOL and then scoop up 2 competitors for the price of 1 (and a reduced price at that!)?

Microsoft is smart to hold on to its stash of cash while the economy hangs out in the pooper. Sorry, Jerry, but you had your chance.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

November 3, 2008

Microsoft Study Reveals Online and Digital Behavior of Women

Microsoft teamed up with Mindshare and Ogilvy Chicago to study the online and digital behavior of women. They surveyed 800 women of varying ages and careers, including stay-at-home and work-at-home moms. Here's what they found:

• 22 percent shop once per day.
• 86 percent pass along interesting “finds” to others.
• On average, they have 171 contacts in e-mail, social networking and cell phone address books.
• E-mail is overwhelmingly, 85 percent, the most important tool.
• They view tools such as rewards, loyalty cards, cell phones, coupons via the computer, TIVO and DVR, video on demand, opt-in daily e-mails, and handheld wireless devices to be “blessings” in their lives.
• The majority views devices such as cell phones and computers as “extensions of themselves.”
• More than half “never” unplug from their digital devices, even when sleeping.
• Technology “curses” were few and centered on activities and types of communication that were “out of their control.”
• If forced to, they would “throw out” their television or cell phone first; only 11 percent would throw out their personal laptop.
• On average, they have 5.8 “screens” and 12 digital devices.

A special note about moms, which we already know are powerful influencers:

“For moms, the Internet serves as a link to the ‘outside world' — especially moms with a new baby,” said Debbie Solomon, managing director, Business Planning of Mindshare. “And moms are really the future of content creation. They have an insatiable appetite to create and share content — posting more than twice the average U.S. adult, whether publishing, maintaining or updating a blog or Web page.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

October 31, 2008

Election Tools from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL

I'm sure I don't have to remind you that election day is next Tuesday. Whether you're observing or you're breaking out the campaign gear for some hardcore get out the vote effors this weekend, here are some tools to help you keep up with the news and your efforts:

Google Earth

You can download a KML file that lets you search results from past elections, since 1980. The data is broken down and can show you how different regions of the country voted - even by county. I used to work as a political consultant, and let me tell you - this kind of data is heavily relied on. It's a bit of a late release for campaigns, who already have this data. But it's great for political junkies.

Google News

Trying to remember what a candidate said on an issue? Just type their name into Google News. If Google has indexed a quote by that person, it will appear on top of the search results in the one box.

Google Mobile

Want to know your precinct location? The Google Mobile team has created a special tool just for that purpose. Go to m.google.com/elections on your mobile phone, type in your address and you'll be directed to your precinct.

The tool did not point me to early voting locations, which in my state are not the same as Election Day precinct locations.

As cool as that is, always verify with your local elections office. Google even helps you do that. They have a box where you enter your state's abbreviation, and it will pull up relevant links to voting information.

Yahoo Elections Hub and Political Dashboard

Yahoo makes the most of its successful portal platforms with its Elections Hub and Political Dashboard. The dashboard is a super slick map showing the latest poll results. Hopefully they update it with real time results on election night. I can totally see myself keeping the dashboard open while watching results come in on the tv.

Microsoft Live Search xRank

xRank, Live Search's buzz tool, has a politician section. It's no surprise that the Rep and Dem presidential and vice presidential candidates take the top 4 spots today. The rest of the top 20 is filled with senate and gubernatorial races, with Hillary Clinton and George Bush thrown in for good measure.

MSN Election Live Q&A

Q&A is Live Search's answer product, and over at the MSN Election Guide, you can find the Election Live Q&A. It's pretty straightforward. You can ask and answer questions about the election in real time.

AOL Elections Toolbar

AOL has a toolbar for IE and Firefox that can keep you up to date with election news. If you like to surf the net while watching TV - this could be an ideal toolbar for you come Tuesday night.

Well, hopefully that's enough to keep you busy and up to date.

Got any tools to share? Leave your suggestions in the comments.

Related Reading: Obama is Winning the Internet War ChaCha Selected by Rock the Vote for Mobile Answers

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 24, 2008

Microsoft's Net Income Increases by 2%

Microsoft announced its earnings for the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2008. For them, it's the first quarter of their fiscal year, while other companies go with the traditional calendar and call it their third quarter.

Their net income increased by 2%. This was due largely in part to XBox360, a gaming console which recently received a price slash.

It has been widely noted that Microsoft has a bunch of cash on hand, especially since they didn't end up acquiring Yahoo after all (yet). MSFT was up .28 at the time of this post. Though with the markets as volatile as they are, that could change at any minute.

Here's the press release:

Microsoft Reports Record First-Quarter Revenue Thursday October 23, 4:10 pm ET Revenue surpasses $15 billion with healthy sales of enterprise software and Xbox 360 consoles

REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $15.06 billion for the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008, a 9% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $6.00 billion, $4.37 billion and $0.48, respectively.

Microsoft showed particular strength in multiyear annuity sales, which grew more than 20% during the quarter from the combined businesses of Client, Microsoft Business Division and Server and Tools.

"Our customers are asking how they can save money and do more with less," said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. "Microsoft is uniquely positioned to help our customers save money through supplier consolidation, increased productivity, and a low total cost of ownership through the depth and breadth of our product portfolio and solutions."

Microsoft continued to add to its product and services portfolio with innovative offerings such as Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 and the first service update to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

"In a challenging economic environment, the first-quarter results exhibit the strength and diversity of our business model," said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer of Microsoft.

Business Outlook

Microsoft's business outlook reflects a balance of risks and the likelihood of a continued economic slowdown. The trends seen late in the first-quarter are now forecasted to continue, whereas previous expectations were for the economy to improve in the second half of the fiscal year. In this economic environment, the company is focused on three main actions; working with customers to provide high value products at the lowest total overall cost of ownership, increasing focus on expense management and targeting investment into the highest priority strategic opportunities.

Microsoft management offers the following guidance for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2008: -- Revenue is expected to be in the range of $17.3 billion to $17.8 billion. -- Operating income is expected to be in the range of $6.1 billion to $6.4 billion. -- Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.51 to $0.53.

Management offers the following guidance for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2009: -- Revenue is expected to be in the range of $64.9 billion to $66.4 billion. -- Operating income is expected to be in the range of $24.4 billion to $25.5 billion. -- Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $2.00 to $2.10.

Liddell noted that "we feel extremely good about our relative competitive position and our ability to continue outgrowing IT spend. We believe our exceptionally strong cash flow, product pipeline and financial strength will allow us to weather economic conditions well."

Webcast Details

Microsoft will hold an audio webcast at 2:30 p.m. PDT (5:30 p.m. EDT) today with Chris Liddell, senior vice president and chief financial officer, Frank Brod, corporate vice president and chief accounting officer, and Bill Koefoed, general manager of Investor Relations, to discuss details of the company's performance for the quarter and certain forward-looking information. The webcast will be available for replay through the close of business on Oct. 23, 2009.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this release that are "forward-looking statements" are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors such as:

-- challenges to Microsoft's business model; -- intense competition in all of Microsoft's markets; -- Microsoft's continued ability to protect its intellectual property rights; -- claims that Microsoft has infringed the intellectual property rights of others; -- the possibility of unauthorized disclosure of significant portions of Microsoft's source code; -- actual or perceived security vulnerabilities in Microsoft products that could reduce revenue or lead to liability; -- government litigation and regulation affecting how Microsoft designs and markets its products; -- Microsoft's ability to attract and retain talented employees; -- delays in product development and related product release schedules; -- significant business investments that may not gain customer acceptance and produce offsetting increases in revenue; -- changes in general economic conditions that affect our investment portfolio or demand for computer hardware or software; -- adverse results in legal disputes; -- unanticipated tax liabilities; -- quality or supply problems in Microsoft's consumer hardware or other vertically integrated hardware and software products; -- impairment of goodwill or amortizable intangible assets causing a charge to earnings; -- exposure to increased economic and regulatory uncertainties from operating a global business; -- geopolitical conditions, natural disaster, cyberattack or other catastrophic events disrupting Microsoft's business; -- acquisitions and joint ventures that adversely affect the business; -- improper disclosure of personal data could result in liability and harm to Microsoft's reputation; -- outages and disruptions of online services if Microsoft fails to maintain an adequate operations infrastructure; -- sales channel disruption, such as the bankruptcy of a major distributor; and -- Microsoft's ability to implement operating cost structures that align with revenue growth.

For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Microsoft's business, please refer to the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections of Microsoft's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Microsoft's Investor Relations department at (800) 285-7772 or at Microsoft's Investor Relations Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/msft.

All information in this release is as of Oct. 23, 2008. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company's expectations.

Microsoft Corporation Income Statements (In millions, except per share amounts) (Unaudited)

Three Months Ended September 30, 2008 2007

Revenue $15,061 $13,762 Operating expenses: Cost of revenue 2,848 2,675 Research and development 2,283 1,837 Sales and marketing 3,044 2,683 General and administrative 887 718 Total operating expenses 9,062 7,913 Operating income 5,999 5,849 Other income (expense) (8) 367 Income before income taxes 5,991 6,216 Provision for income taxes 1,618 1,927 Net income $4,373 $4,289

Earnings per share: Basic $0.48 $0.46 Diluted $0.48 $0.45

Weighted average shares outstanding: Basic 9,084 9,380 Diluted 9,183 9,513

Cash dividends declared per common share $0.13 $0.11

Microsoft Corporation Balance Sheets (In millions)

September 30, June 30, 2008 2008 (1) (Unaudited) Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $9,004 $10,339 Short-term investments (including securities pledged as collateral of $1,011 and $2,491) 11,718 13,323 Total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments 20,722 23,662 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $168 and $153 9,535 13,589 Inventories 1,640 985 Deferred income taxes 1,974 2,017 Other 3,331 2,989 Total current assets 37,202 43,242 Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of $6,622 and $6,302 6,552 6,242 Equity and other investments 4,381 6,588 Goodwill 12,291 12,108 Intangible assets, net 1,899 1,973 Deferred income taxes 1,041 949 Other long-term assets 1,751 1,691 Total assets $65,117 $72,793

Liabilities and stockholders' equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $3,351 $4,034 Short-term debt 1,975 - Accrued compensation 2,138 2,934 Income taxes 514 3,248 Short-term unearned revenue 11,815 13,397 Securities lending payable 1,070 2,614 Other 3,520 3,659 Total current liabilities 24,383 29,886 Long-term unearned revenue 1,662 1,900 Other long-term liabilities 5,478 4,721 Commitments and contingencies Stockholders' equity: Common stock and paid-in capital - shares authorized 24,000; outstanding 8,977 and 9,151 61,655 62,849 Retained deficit, including accumulated other comprehensive income of $877 and $1,140 (28,061) (26,563) Total stockholders' equity 33,594 36,286 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $65,117 $72,793

(1) Derived from audited financial statements

Microsoft Corporation Cash Flows Statements (In millions) (Unaudited)

Three Months Ended September 30, 2008 2007 Operations Net income $4,373 $4,289 Depreciation, amortization, and other noncash items 585 435 Stock-based compensation expense 443 333 Net recognized losses (gains) on investments and derivatives 36 (187) Excess tax benefits from stock- based payment arrangements (44) (69) Deferred income taxes 376 357 Unearned revenue 4,186 3,821 Recognition of unearned revenue (6,044) (4,965) Accounts receivable 3,985 2,806 Other current assets (558) (235) Other long-term assets (116) (11) Other current liabilities (4,552) (1,189) Other long-term liabilities 700 493 Net cash from operations 3,370 5,878 Financing Proceeds from short-term debt 1,975 - Common stock issued 228 646 Common stock repurchased (6,493) (2,930) Common stock cash dividends (998) (938) Excess tax benefits from stock- based payment arrangements 44 69 Net cash used in financing (5,244) (3,153) Investing Additions to property and equipment (778) (510) Acquisition of companies, net of cash acquired (377) (5,396) Purchases of investments (4,246) (5,997) Maturities of investments 464 330 Sales of investments 7,075 9,120 Securities lending payable (1,543) 196 Net cash from (used in) investing 595 (2,257) Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents (56) 58 Net change in cash and cash equivalents (1,335) 526 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 10,339 6,111 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $9,004 $6,637

Microsoft Corporation Segment Revenue and Operating Income (Loss) (In millions) (Unaudited)

Three Months Ended September 30, 2008 2007 Revenue Client $4,218 $4,139 Server and Tools 3,406 2,900 Online Services Business 770 671 Microsoft Business Division 4,949 4,117 Entertainment and Devices Division 1,814 1,929 Unallocated and other (96) 6 Consolidated $15,061 $13,762

Operating Income (Loss) Client $3,267 $3,388 Server and Tools 1,151 959 Online Services Business (480) (267) Microsoft Business Division 3,311 2,700 Entertainment and Devices Division 178 167 Corporate-level activity (1,428) (1,098) Consolidated $5,999 $5,849

Source: Microsoft Corp.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 8, 2008

Live Search now Live on Facebook

In July, Microsoft and Facebook announced an expansion of their existing partnership to include Live Search on the social network. Today, that plan has been implemented. AdCenter ads are being served up along with the results.

Here's what they're saying about it:

On the Live Search blog, Angus Norton, Senior Director, Live Search Product Management, wrote "This is a great first step in our partnership. As we evaluate user feedback and results we'll explore additional ways to integrate Live Search more deeply into the Facebook experience."

Over at Facebook's blog, Leah Pearlman wrote, "By integrating web search into Facebook, you can increase the information available to share with your friends, family and coworkers on the site. For example, your friend may invite you to an event at a new restaurant. Without leaving Facebook, you can check out the details of the restaurant on the web. Or, say you see photos in your News Feed about a friend's recent trip to Dubai. Inspired, you can search the web for more information about travel without having to leave Facebook. Along with your search results, you may also begin to see ads for products, services or other things that are relevant to your query."

Have you tried out Live Search on Facebook? Let us know your first impressions in the comments.

Related Reading: Facebook Hires Sandberg to Make Microsoft's $240 Million Investment Pay Off

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 9, 2008

Live Search and Windows Live Toolbar Now Offer Translation

Microsoft's Live Search now offers translation, powered by Microsoft Translator technology. Additionally, the Windows Live Toolbar and Internet Explorer 8 have translation technology as well. Even Windows Messenger is getting a translation bot.

Supported languages are:

English to/from:

• Arabic
• Chinese Simplified
• Chinese Traditional
• Dutch
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Portuguese
• Russian (Russian to English only)
• Spanish

Chinese Simplified to/from Chinese Traditional is also supported.

Microsoft is responding to a boom in non-English speaking web users. Writing on the Live Search blog, Lane Rau, Marketing Manager, Microsoft Research Machine Translation team said:

Now that the Web is more worldwide than ever, the number of non-native English speakers going online has ballooned, and yet online content in English still dominates. For these users, free translation services mean that an entire world of information can now actually be at their fingertips. We're doing something to help them out.

Adding translation is just the most recent of several updates to Live Search this year. Read about other updates by clicking on the links below:

Microsoft Adds Image Hotspots to Live Search Design Live Search Displays Paragraph Under Wikipedia Results Microsoft to Bring Advertising to Live Search Mobile Microsoft Launches Live Search Cashback and Live Search Farecast

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 29, 2008

Does Today's Live.com Image Upset Over 50% of the U.S.?

Recently, Microsoft started putting images as the background design of Live.com. For two glorious weeks, the images were of Olympic events. Now, they've switched to politics.

Today's image is a closeup of Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama at his big acceptance speech last night. But with less than half of those polled supporting Barack Obama, could such an image deter people from using Live.com?

We can say the same thing if/when a McCain picture appears on the site.

It's not that political events shouldn't be on Live.com's site. But perhaps a wider shot of the event would help visitors see the image as a news photo. Plus, with the hot spots that Live.com is using to help visitors explore searches - today's photo it has 2 boxes on the blurry audience background and one on Obama's collar. Kind of awkward.

How do you think Microsoft should handle political photos in its new design? Sound off in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

August 4, 2008

Microsoft Partners with Zvents for MSN City Guides

Microsoft today announced a partnership with Zvents, a local search and advertising network, to integrate with MSN City Guides. Through the partnership, local advertisers will be able to target audiences with specific information about events and promotions.

Zvents has over 250 media partners, which will provide content to MSN City Guides, accessed by web crawler. User-generated content will also be part of the mix, which will include blended local search results.

This seems to fit with Microsoft's recent talk of focusing on search niches and really developing them through innovation. It's part of the grand plan to catch up with Google.

"Our goal is to deliver an incomparable local event experience to MSN users," said Manu Vij, Channel Manager for the MSN Local group at Microsoft. "With Zvents, our users can now quickly and easily find any event happening in their local area -- whether a hot rod car show, concert in the park, back-to-school sale, or celebrity book signing -- virtually whatever suits their interests is presented in detail and immediately accessible."

"Together with MSN, we're now able to provide millions of people with the most complete and robust index of local content," said Ethan Stock, Zvents CEO and founder. "As a part of the Zvents network, MSN adds tremendous value to local advertisers trying to both broaden their reach and more precisely target customers with timely information across the web."

What do you think of MSN City Guide's partnership with Zvents? Will it help Microsoft conquer a niche in local search? Sound off in the comments.

Related Reading: Universal Thoughts on Local Search

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 31, 2008

Microsoft Adds Image Hotspots to Live Search Design

Microsoft has launched a new concept for Live Search. Now, when you visit the search engine, you'll see a background image with "hotspots."

Hotspots are small boxes that highlight a portion of the image. You can rollover them with your mouse to find out what is being highlighted, and click on the hotspot for more information.

Look quickly though, the hotspots appear quickly upon loading and then disappear. While you can still rollover the hotspots, you'll have to remember where those boxes appeared.

Below are some screenshots. Take a look, visit Live.com to check it out for yourself, then come on back to leave a comment about your impressions.

Related Reading: Live Search Cashback Now Available for ebay "But It Now" Products Live Search Displays Paragraph Under Wikipedia Results Microsoft to Work on Live Search Reputation Microsoft Live Search Toolbar to be Shipped with 2009 HP PC's Windows Live Search Offers Google News Alternative Microsoft Goes Deep with Search Results, Competes with Google's Sitelinks

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 28, 2008

Microsoft's Navic Networks Partners with Mediabrands

Microsoft's recently acquired Navic Networks has announced a new partnership with Mediabrands, a new group of four companies: Initiative, Universal McCann, MAGNA and IPG's Emerging Media Lab. The media companies will have access to Navic's Admira, a national media planning tool that includes audience behavior data and real-time viewership reporting.

“We are seeking new technologies to deliver unparalleled accountability to clients, and aligning with Navic was a natural fit,” said Nick Brien, CEO of Mediabrands. “By combining the power of television with the accountability of the Web, we're able to offer our world-class clients cutting-edge technology to help them maximize the ROI for their advertising dollars.”

“Navic is fully committed to offering innovative technologies that provide one of the most effective and accurate metrics available,” said Chet Kanojia, CEO of Navic Networks. “The industry has come a long way from defining keywords for targeted clicks, and we're excited to align with forward-thinking companies that make bold moves and, like Navic, are on the cusp of new trends and technologies.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 25, 2008

Microsoft Moves on from Yahoo Again; Talks Internal Search Innovation

After the latest round of attempted negotiations with Yahoo and investor Carl Icahn, Microsoft is once again saying that it is moving on from trying to acquire the second-place search engine.

Addressing the attendees at Microsoft's financial analyst meeting, Ballmer explained Microsoft's Plan B for building search and competing with Google. And like Joel McHale on E!'s The Soup, I've read the transcript so you don't have to. Here are the sound bites.

First up, the reason why Microsoft thinks it can compete in a Google-dominated search marketplace:

Search is ripe for innovation. It has not been the most innovative category in the world. I mean, think back, what did search look like five years ago, 10 blue links on the left, some ads on the right, and maybe some ads on the top. What does it look like now, 10 blue links on the left, some ads on the right, and maybe something on the top. It is ripe for innovation. If you say to yourself, five years from now, 10 years from now will search be as humdrum, hard, 50 percent of searches don't actually lead to an answer to somebody's problem, is this an area that's ripe for innovation, in user experience, natural language, semantic understanding, consumer experience? The business model hasn't been touched. Give Google credit, they invented the business model that supports the modern search business, and yet it hasn't been touched. How do you involve the consumer? How do you move to a pay-for-action model? How do you reward the consumer, and involve the consumer economically? This is a category that's ripe for innovation. And that's important, because if it's not ripe for innovation, we shouldn't be doing what we're doing. We will not be able to be very successful by only doing what the market leader does.

Next Ballmer says that Microsoft is ready to get in the ring with Google:

Second strategy for us I call it focus, but in my own mind I think of it as kind of our Mohammed Ali, float like a butterfly, sting like a bee strategy. Pick focused areas of search, really innovate, change those areas, differentiate from the market leader. That doesn't mean Google won't come back and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Ballmer says blah a lot.

And last, but not least, we will work to reinvent the user model and the business model. I know this from past experience, it's often harder for the guy who is market leader to reinvent their category than it is for somebody who is, so to speak, the Avis of the business, number two and trying harder.

Of course, competing in search is all about making a profit from ad dollar$.

We need more relevant ads. It turns out that one of the big advantages the market leader has is they have more advertisers in their system.

You don't say?

So if you look at two pages today, one from Google and one from Microsoft, the thing that's perhaps most interesting is, because they have more people bidding on advertising, they have more opportunity to serve up a relevant ad. A lot of our discussion around Yahoo! really centered as much on this issue as any other issue. How do we get enough advertisers to have a pool of advertising to change the whole advertising approach.

Buy AOL, whose Platform-A is the leading online ad network? Pony up the money for Yahoo?

And last, but not least, we're going to have to invest in search and advertising, in fantastic brand, and fantastic marketing.

That's two last but not leasts. Not sure which not least is the most not least.

Later, Ballmer handed over the stage to Satya Nadella, Senior Vice President heading up Microsoft's search, MSN and ad platform engineering efforts. When it comes to best results, we have to ante up to create the core infrastructure. That allows us to have a very rich index, a deep and broad index, that helps us actually experiment on the relevance improvements, which is a continuous game. You can think of it as, like, drug discovery, where you continuously are in the game of improving your relevance. So we have made progress on all of those. In fact, if you look at it, last fall is when we reached a huge milestone for us. We increased the index many-fold. Our relevance improved. We today believe we are comparable to the best in the United States when it comes to the core relevance. And that was not something that we could have said last year at this time when you were here. So that's substantial progress.

Nadella echoed a Yahoo researcher's recent article on Semantic search. Microsoft acquired semantic search company Powerset earlier this year. We think the Search experience is going to evolve to really understand the query intent, as well as the document content, in rich ways. So this is where we're building the algorithm and capabilities to be able to get to that deeper level of semantic understanding, natural language understanding, so that we can really help users of search engines with their tasks, because nobody does queries in isolation. Queries are always done in the context of some task.

Microsoft has big plans for image search:

One of the nice things about our image search is that we've been able to sort of take an experience where we have infinite scroll capability, so you can – you don't have to paginate to be able to see, you know, hundreds of thousands of images. You can just keep going down. And we have a nice experience for infinite scroll here.

Want to refine those images searches? Ok.

We have the ability for you to refine by size. So if I'm looking for a specific size, I can refine that and find that. So in the case I'm looking for some large images, I can look for color. So if I'm looking only for black and white, I can go ahead and hit black and white. And if the demigods smile, I will actually get that. So, in any case, the idea is to be able to have rich filtering capabilities with your image search to get filtering. The other thing that I can also do is to be able to drag and drop. I can open up the scratch pad and I can go ahead and drag and drop these images and make a new collection, because if I wanted to come back to a collection of images that I used in this project, then I can have a series of collections.

No offense, but that's not innovative. That's done by Google and Flock, too.

That's ok. Let's just move on to video search.

One of the things that we have done, working with MSR, Microsoft Research, is to do what we've done, all of us in the Search business have done for Web search, in terms of creating previews of content before you click on the link. We've done that for video. So we crawl all of the videos on the Web. We created something called the Smart Motion Thumbnails, which, in fact, are basically summaries of video content out there. And we call them Smart Motions because we can actually do scene detection. So if it's a news clip, we can actually summarize the news clip. If it's a video of a sports event, we can make sure that we do the scene detection to get the complete shot, and what have you. So this is – so all you have to do is hover over the video. You get the summary before you actually click on it. And this is, again, best in class or first in class when it comes to creating video summaries that are semantically smart. Just to compare that to what Google has, Google has, you know, a video search product where they have images. They don't have the summary capability. The one other difference is the selection. If you look at our selection, we have from MSN, AP, MSNBC, you know, and CNBC, ESPN -- lots of different sources, as well as YouTube – whereas the selection in video for Google is a lot more biased toward their own owned-and-operated indexes.

Nadella moves on to talk about travel search. This must be part of Ballmer's ideas about focusing on specific parts of search and innovating them: Whenever you're booking a flight, one of the specific things you're looking for is to time your purchase. We know that airline fares are volatile, so the idea of being able to purchase when we think is the best time to get the best fare is fairly critical. So in this case, if I go ahead and click flights from Seattle to San Francisco, what I do is I get back on something called an Instant Answer. It says that there are many results of flights from Seattle to San Francisco. It also has this prediction algorithm.

Enter in the Farecast acquisition and re-launch. In this case, it looks like it's a good time to buy. Let's go ahead and look at the actual flights. It takes me to something called a Smart Calendar. I can actually pick the date pair, so when I want to leave and when I want to come back. So let's say I want to leave Thursday and I want to come back on Saturday; I can go ahead and do that. I will hit Find Flights. And at this point, Farecast is going out to all the agencies and all the airlines and bringing back search results that meet the criteria of the dates I picked.

But Microsoft's plans for the HP Toolbar is where they hope to take some precious market share away from Google.

How do we really get more people to know about Live Search and get the taste for some of the value, like, in particular, the cashback value? So the place where we are innovating is in the toolbar. We have recently done a distribution deal for our toolbar with Hewlett-Packard. So this is the toolbar that Hewlett-Packard will carry with some customizations of their own. It's the MSN toolbar. And so let's say I'm on Google and I type in Xbox. I can go ahead and search for Xbox, and automatically the toolbar detects that you're searching for Xbox on Google and a Gleam view that there is a cashback on Live Search. And so I can go ahead and at this point click on that Gleam and it'll take you to Live Search, or it's supposed to take you to Live Search. Oh, it is on Live Search. See, I didn't even notice the transfer. So it's so seamless that now you're on Live Search. You can get the cashback for a particular Xbox that you want to buy. So that's just an experiment on how we get the word out, get more users trying Live Search, and getting the value of things like Live Search cashback.

What do you think of Microsoft plans? Can they gain market share? Let it fly in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

July 24, 2008

Microsoft and Facebook Enter Into Search Partnership

Microsoft Senior Vice President Satya Nadella announced at the company's financial analyst meeting that their partnership with Facebook has been extended to include search.

The existing partnership has Microsoft serving up banner and sponsored ads on the popular social network. Last year, Microsoft paid $240 million to own a 1.6% stake in Facebook, a private company.

Microsoft expects Facebook members to see the integrated Live Search, including search ads, by the end of the 2008.

Earlier today, Facebook announced a new initiative, opening up its platform to aggregate feeds from other sites, including local search site Citysearch and other social networks such as Digg and Twitter.

In March, Microsoft announced its alternative to Google's OpenSocial, a data portability partnership across 5 social networks: Facebook, Bebo, Hi5, Tagged and LinkedIn.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced a reorganization which will split the Platforms and Services Division into two new divisions: Windows/Windows Live and Online Services.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 18, 2008

Microsoft's 18% Growth Disappoints Wall Street

Google wasn't the only one reporting second quarter revenues yesterday. Microsoft also dished, though they label the same period as their fiscal fourth quarter.

The software giant made $15.84 billion last quarter, up 18% over the same quarter last year. Annual revenue was $60.42 billion, which was also up 18% over the year prior.

The growth rate is not good enough for Wall Street, however, as the stock was down nearly 5% at the time of this post. Analysts see Microsoft as struggling in a weak economy.

If making $15.84 billion in three months is struggling, then I want to suffer!

Related Reading: Microsoft Earnings Key Takeaways: Where's the Search?

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 15, 2008

MSNBC Digital Network Becomes Number 1 News Site

According to Nielsen Online, the MSNBC Digital Network (msnbc.com) was the number one Current Events and Global News site in June, attracting 37.6 million unique visitors that month. The MSNBC Digital Network's surge in unique visitors is a 29 percent increase above its 2007 average.

Yahoo! News ranked #2, with 35.0 million unique visitors and the CNN Digital Network ranked #3, with 33.4 million unique users, according to Nielsen Online. The MSNBC Digital Network was also ranked #1 in total minutes, with consumers spending a total of 1,058,344,000 minutes on the site (eight percent ahead of the CNN Digital Network and 42 percent ahead of Yahoo! News).

As I mentioned back in April in a post entitled "CNN and MSNBC Battle Yahoo News for Top News Site," the battle for news site supremacy is a big story – similar to the newspaper war between Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst in the 1890s.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 7:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 1, 2008

Live! From Redmond, It's Microsoft Powerset Live!

Ya-Who? Seems Microsoft has already forgotten the Sunnyvale search engine.

Microsoft has agreed to buy Powerset, the semantic search engine touted as the next generation of search. Powerset is the much-hyped beta natural language search engine that the metaphor-challenged mainstream media call the Google Killer. That means you can type questions in a search box the way you normally ask them. (Think Ask Jeeves 1.5)

That doesn't mean natural language search or Powerset can kill Google, or even commit assault and battery on Google.

Powerset launched with a smart concept: better search results than Wikipedia's own search box. So the play is a "non-Google Custom Search Engine" for Wikipedia. Let's see about what Powerset can can do.

What's interesting is that Microsoft appears to have purchased Powerset as much for the software engineers as the software.

From the Live Search blog:

More importantly, Powerset brings to Live Search a set of talented engineers and computational linguists in downtown San Francisco. This is a great team with a wide range of experience from other search engines and research organizations like PARC (formerly Xerox PARC).

We're buying Powerset first and foremost because we're impressed with the people there.

From the Powerset blog:

Microsoft shares our goal to improve search through deeper analysis of queries and documents, and understands that our technology and expertise will play a key role in the evolution of search. With an existing search infrastructure, incredible capital resources, unlimited data, a leading search team, and clear mission to revolutionize the search landscape, Microsoft can rapidly accelerate our progress in building semantic search technology and bringing it to full Web scale. When we launched our first product, we heard: this is great, but when and how will we get Powerset to go beyond Wikpiedia? Microsoft accelerates our ability to move Powerset to the entire Web faster than anyone could have imagined.

Powerset will continue to operate much as we currently do, working in the same building, with the same organizational structure, and with the same uniquely talented and growing team (apply on our jobs page). We'll continue to tackle the hardest problems in parsing, semantics, ranking, indexing, scalable computing, user experience and all of our other specialties. But now we'll do it with the support of Microsoft and the vast resources of the entire Live Search team.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 25, 2008

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer Sees All Media Electronic in 10 years

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told the Washington Post today that trees will have no fears from newspaper publishers as all media will be eletronic.

Funny to see someone with such influence on our lives be so far off the track. Guess it is a long time since he used public transportation, Unless Microsoft is working on some method of running cars using paper and give the world electronic readers to stop them from wanting newspapers. Or the advertisers sponsor the giveaways in return for strategically inserted ads?

Either way I have the comment time logged.... wonder where Ballmer will be in ten years? Fighting off a Google takeover perhaps, if that prediction comes true.

Posted by Frank Watson at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 3, 2008

Microsoft Live Search Solves 404 Error Problem

No one likes generic 404 error pages. Site visitors have to click the back button and start their search over. Most times, they give up on the site.

To solve that problem, Microsoft Live Search will now enable Web site owners to create error pages that recommend help even if the exact URL isn't available.

The Web Page Error Toolkit is a customizable Web app that extracts keywords from the search and delivers relevant search results in a custom error page.

Here are the details on the Web Page Error DTK:

For large web sites with extensive amounts of content, 2 to 10 percent of traffic is looking for pages that either don't exist or have been moved. Most web servers return a generic 404 error page or a sitemap when a user's desired page cannot be found. These unhelpful pages often result in a dead end for users.

With Microsoft's Web Page Error Toolkit, you can create dynamic 404 pages that contain customized error messages along with search results seeded with relevant keywords to help your users move past the missing page and find the information they need.

The Toolkit is a customizable ASP.net application that replaces the default error page on your IIS server. The Toolkit enables you to use Live Search (or any search engine) to return results for the specified domain and locale, control the number of results returned on your page, choose whether to offer spelling corrections, and customize your error message.

You also have the option of choosing from several keyword extraction strategies that are included with the install, or providing your own implementation.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 23, 2008

Microsoft Live Search Cashback: How Will You Spend Your $600 Rebate?

This morning investment bank Collins Stewart hosted a confrerence call for clients who wanted to learn more about Microsoft Live Search Cashback.

The buzz and excitement surrounding the Cashback launch has been palpable.

CNET has coverage of the Microsoft Live Search Cashback call this morning.

What's truly brilliant about Microsoft's move: share of searches is the most watched index of search engine success. What matters most, though, is the quality of those searches.

The most valuable searches are commercial searches. Helping satisfy the collective curiosity of a nation is, at times, a noble mission. Most searches, though, tend to be news and gossip-related.

While it's great for the online tabloid industry, there's not much value in being the go-to search engine for the Gossip Girl and lad mag crowd. Does a search engine really care if it delivers the best results for "elke the stallion," gyrotonics, and "la rag mag?"

Microsoft wants all Americans who receive a $600 rebate check to think of Live.com search first. If you're going to spend money online, what's the most relevant result?

The SERP that delivers value, savings and bargains.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 21, 2008

Microsoft Launches Live Search Cashback and Live Search Farecast

Yesterday Search Engine Watch broke the news that Microsoft Live Search would offer cash rebates to consumers who purchase products while searching on Live.com.

Microsoft Corp. today announced it will offer ad-funded cash rebates to customers who find and purchase their favorite products through a new program called Microsoft Live Search cashback. Key partners include top Internet retailers eBay, Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears, Zappos.com, and WPP. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates made the announcement this morning at advance08, Microsoft's annual advertising leadership event.

The word "game-changer" is overused by analysts but it applies here. Microsoft's innovative program has the potential to revolutionize online search and advertising. While some critics have criticized the program as a bribe, in practice it's no different than Google Checkout rebates or DoubleClick Performics CPA campaigns for retailers.

The primary difference? Consumers could be the big winners. Live Search Farecast won't offer a rebate to consumers initially but Microsoft will evaluate the option.

Live Search cashback features more than 700 merchants offering more than 10 million products. More than 13 of the top 40 U.S. retailers will participate.

In addition, Microsoft also announced a new Live Search travel destination, Live Search Farecast, making it easy for searchers to find the best travel deals on the Web.

“We believe search can offer much more value to consumers and advertisers than it does today, and we see Live Search cashback as an important opportunity to deliver additional value,” Gates said. “Our goal is to make Live Search the most rewarding commercial search destination on the Web. Live Search cashback will help advertisers drive more online sales while giving consumers a new way to stretch their dollars.”

During his keynote address, Gates outlined three areas of focus for the company's broad search vision:

1. Delivering the best search results by continuing to focus on relevancy and selection

2. Expanding the role of search around the set of tasks that searchers are most often working to accomplish — including commerce, entertainment, navigation and reference — through improvements in its user experience, intelligent tools and access across devices

3. Innovating in the economic model that today powers the search business by rewarding both advertisers and consumers for engagement

Microsoft's new strategy focuses on “Commercial Search” as the first of four tactics to achieve its goal as the premier search engine for consumers making purchases online and doing product research.

New Business Opportunity for Search Advertisers The opportunity to reach consumers via search advertising is enormous and growing. According to eMarketer Inc. and other industry data, U.S. online retail is projected to grow to $335 billion by 2012, and today 68 percent of all those retail transactions begin at a search engine. This translates to 3.7 billion commerce-related queries a month.

The primary choice for advertisers to reach these search customers is the cost-per-click (CPC) model, where merchants pay a fee each time a searcher clicks on their ad, whether or not the potential customer makes a purchase.

The cost-per-action (CPA) model, where advertisers pay only when a customer makes a purchase, or completes a specific transaction, gives advertisers a more precise return on their advertising investment, and is currently being deployed on a relatively limited basis. The CPC and CPA search advertising models represent the most targeted advertising approaches available today, but there is still room for improvement.

With Live Search cashback, Microsoft helps merchants maximize their advertising investments and drive more sales by providing consumers with an added incentive to buy — a cash rebate. Participating merchants choose to pay Microsoft a CPA fee each time a customer completes a sale through Live Search cashback. The fee is a percentage of the retail price, and when that transaction is complete, Microsoft returns that fee to the consumer in the form of a cash rebate.

“Our business is to connect consumers with brands in the most effective and efficient ways. Microsoft's Live Search cashback creates a real incentive for consumers to connect with our clients,” said Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP. “We believe this is a major development in the evolution of search marketing and look forward to participating and measuring the results.”

Key partners participating in the Live Search cashback offering include Abe's of Maine, B&H, Backcountry.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Circuit City, Cookware.com, Crutchfield, eBags, eBay, Foot Locker, GiftBaskets.com, The Home Depot, HP, Jockey, J&R, Newegg.com, OfficeMax, Overstock.com, PetSmart, QVC, Sears, Spiegel, TigerDirect.com, Vitamin Shoppe and Zappos.com. A complete list of Live Search cashback partners can be found at http://www.live.com/cashback.

“We're happy to be partnering with Microsoft on this innovative program,” said John Donahoe, president and CEO of eBay Inc. “By combining eBay's marketing expertise and incredible volume and velocity of trade, PayPal's leadership in online payments, and Microsoft's cashback program, we see a great opportunity to deliver more value in the eBay marketplace.” Available to Consumers Today: Live Search Cashback and Live Search Farecast

Live Search cashback, built on technology and partnerships acquired through Microsoft's October 2007 purchase of comparison shopping site Jellyfish, launched online today at http://www.live.com/cashback. With Live Search cashback, Live Search users can find some of the best deals on the Web either at the cashback gallery — where they can compare prices and get ad-funded rebates on more than 10 million products — or by discovering cashback ads in Live Search sponsored listings.

Customers sign up for a Live Search cashback account at the time of their first purchase, accrue ad-funded rebates in their account each time they purchase a product in the Live Search cashback program, and receive their rebates in their cashback account directly from Microsoft 60 days after completing purchases.

Also available today is the new Live Search Farecast, which includes technology acquired through Microsoft's April 2008 acquisition of Farecast Inc., the award-winning travel site known for helping users find the lowest airfares by predicting when to buy. Starting today, Live Search Farecast results can be found at http://farecast.live.com and via Instant Answers in the main Live Search results page. Microsoft will explore the possibility of also incorporating an ad-funded rebate option for travel services in the future

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 20, 2008

Microsoft to Launch "Live Search Cashback"

The major Microsoft Live Search announcement scheduled for tomorrow will be the official launch of a new product: Microsoft Live Search Cash Back.

The program in partnership with eBay and its PayPal unit will offer cash back to consumers who search on Microsoft Live and make a purchase. The announcement will be made in conjunction with a taped message from eBay CEO John Donahoe. The technology is based on the acquisition of Jellyfish by Microsoft in September, 2007.

The announcement is expected to be made by Satya Nadella, SVP Search, portal & Advertising Platform Group, Microsoft, prior to Bill Gates' presentation on "Connecting the Future." The goal is to differentiate Microsoft's vertical search experience for users while leveraging improvements in the core search algorithm.

Microsoft believes the Live Search Cash Back program will align the interests of consumers and the search engine, putting Microsoft "on the same side as the consumer."

The job of Live Search will be to match the most relevant products with the most relevant consumers.

Microsoft will likely offer advertisers a CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition) model rather than a traditional search engine Cost-Per-Click (CPC) auction.

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, said in a taped interview that the program would help overcome the barriers of first-time buyers of shoes online.

A Barnes & Noble executive stated that clickthrough rates and purchases had increased through the use of the Jellyfish pilot program.

The following message is posted on the Jellyfish.com Web site:

"As part of our pledge to save you money on the products you buy, our Cash Back rewards service is currently offline to perform necessary service upgrades and enhancements. Jellyfish Account holders will receive an e-mail notification when our Cash Back service is up and running again. Thanks for your patience.

Using Jellyfish, consumers could compare prices of products from a number of online stores. Retailers paid Jellyfish fees to feature products. A portion of that fee was refunded to consumers who bought through the Jellyfish site.

Jellyfish also offered "Smack Auctions." During each Smack show, Jellyfish would auction off new products in a unique price dropping format. Every second that ticks off the clock, Jellyfish would drop the price of the product, until the deal sold out.

Jellyfish founder Brian Wiegand is agroup manager at Microsoft. Last year, ye stated, Microsoft is "investing heavily in shopping and e-commerce."

Microsoft closed the deal on Sept. 27, 2007 but didn't announce it until Oct. 2, 2007.

This isn't the first foray of Microsoft into the world of search engine incentives. Microsoft Live Club is an ongoing experiment with incentivizing searchers but never on the Live Search Cash Back scale. For example, Microsoft Live Search Club lets users play games. A completed gives earns tickets toward prizes, such as Zune accessories, song downloads and ringtones.

Microsoft's official statement on the announcement:

On Wednesday, we will be announcing a major new initiative that our search teams have been driving. We are getting better and better with our core algorithmic search, and at the same time, we are investing to differentiate in vertical experiences and to disrupt the current model. You'll hear more about our plans Wednesday.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

James Cameron Live on "Avatar" - His New 3-D Film

The theme of Microsoft Advance '08 is "Connected Entertainment" -- mobile, music, TV/video, gaming. The big Live Search announcement will be covered live tomorrow.

Today, filmmaker James Cameron's producing partner at Lightstorm Entertainment, Jon Landau, said the abundance of digital information and the ability to use technologies opened up a whole new window that Cameron didn't know existed.

James Cameron started making films when they were photochemical emulsions. Now, films are digital.

"The essence of storytelling stays the same," said Cameron. "Intense CG (computer-generated) scenes with multiple shots doesn't change that. My greatest horror was the best thing we created would end up like the Ark of the Covenant and be put in a warehouse somewhere. I will make all my films in 3-D. I've been banging on the door at Microsoft since I introduced Windows Media 9 with LL Cool J and Bill Gates in 2002. Now I tell them, this is what you guys need to be doing. I'm going to continue to surf that wave."

His new film, Avatar, features a man who tries to become a miner by combining his being with an alien during an interplanetary war in which aliens can manifest themselves through human bodies — avatars.

"'Avatar' will make people truly experience something," said Cameron."One more layer of the suspension of disbelief will be removed. All the syn-thespians are photo-realistic. Now that we've achieved it, we discovered CG characters in 3D look more real than in 2D. Your brain is cued it's a real thing not a picture and discounting part of image that makes it look fake."

Part of the movie is subtitled because it takes place on an alien planet.

Avatar will have a human heart beating at its narrative center. It's an emotional journey of redemption and revolution; the story of a wounded ex-marine, who's thrust into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity. He eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival.

Cameron has created an entire world, a complete ecosystem of phantasmagorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language. The film has a December 2009 release date.

"I don't know whether it will be a great film from a narrative and critical standpoint," said Cameron. "The experience of Avatar will be an experience unlike any other movie."

He started with Microsoft Research looking at the way people see. The project soon moved out of the realm of speculation.

"'Avatar' is the single most complex piece of filmmaking ever made," said Cameron. "We have 1,600 shots for a 2.5 hour movie. It's not with a single CGI character, like King Kong or Gollum. We have hundreds of photo-realistic CG characters. We were Microsoft's sandbox for filmmaking beyond the cutting edge."

During the film, he would grab chairs, gather his team, and talk about what they were doing wrong, how to do it better. That just isn't done on a film set.

The heart of the film technology is a digital asset management system created by Microsoft, which was praised by Cameron and Landau for understanding the arts and filmmaking. The system can track every cloud and every blade of CGI grass in the film.

Cameron noted that Titanic was about how technology let us down. He has always tried to be on cutting edge of what's going on. The Abyss featured the first photo-realistic CG character. Then "The Terminator" combined CG and human actors. "True Lies" pushed the bar even higher with composite technology.

In "Titanic" as a filmmaker, I struck the perfect balance of technology and the human heart," said Cameron. "I haven't forgotten that lesson with Avatar. It's the best lesson for any filmmaker."

Cameron also noted the radical changes in film distribution and made a prediction for the future:

"I'm on the fourth screen. The giant screen. Then it scatters down to other screens. It gets more interesting as more means of digital distribution become available to us. The interesting thing is the actual movie business is going strong. If you valued up revenues of what's lost to piracy, movies are doing better now than they ever have. You can have an HD screen in your home.

He noted, "Windows organized things spatially. That gave it its power. But we're not displaying things spatially. What could happen is now that the digital cinema revolution has taken place is the killer app is 3D. Dreamworks has announced all its animated films will be made and projected in 3D. Gaming will be changed by 3D. Consumer electronics people will need to make players for stereo-enabled monitors. Future versions of Windows should be fully stereoscopic. Smaller devices already are 3D-enabled without glasses. If you play "Avatar" on a 50-inch monitor, you're in the game."

Cameron said, "This is the ultimate immersive media. It's my fundamental belief that when you're viewing media in stereo, more neurons are firing, learning rates are higher. Engagement levels are higher. As advertisers, you need to think about how you're going to use this new dimension. How will you use the deeper levels of engagement?"

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

May 4, 2008

Microsoft-Yahoo Mashup Scrapped: Hidden Winners and Losers

On Saturday, Microsoft formally withdrew its proposal to acquire Yahoo. With the Microsoft-Yahoo mashup scrapped (for now), who are the hidden winners and losers?

I'm not talking about the stockholders, advertisers, employees, CEOs, management teams, boards of directors or other stakeholders of Google, Yahoo or Microsoft. They are the obvious winners and losers.

No, I'm talking about the hidden winners and losers – or, at least the ones that have been hidden in plain sight. I may have missed some. I've been busy. (I've got a day job.) But, here are the ones I was able to find on Sunday:

Hidden Winners of the Scrapped Microsoft-Yahoo Mashup

The biggest hidden winner is AP photographer Mark Lennihan. His May 4, 2007 file photo of a Times Square news ticker flashing a headline about Microsoft above a billboard for Yahoo became one of the most used images in Google News to illustrate stories about Microsoft's unsolicited bid for Yahoo.

Another hidden winner is the Flickr group photo pool, "Microsoft: Keep You Evil Grubby Hands Off Our Flickr." Its About Us statement reads, “THIS GROUP WILL STOP MICROSOFT FROM BUYING YAHOO! AND DESTROYING THE FLICKR WE KNOW AND LOVE OR WE WILL DIE TRYING.” Put down the camera, son. It's over.

Kevin Ryan on the Microsoft Yahoo bid (Associated Press)

The final hidden winner is Kevin Ryan, the global content director for Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch. His comments to AP on what the possibility of a Microsoft-Yahoo conglomerate means for the online marketplace ranks #1 in YouTube if you search for the two-word term, Microsoft Yahoo.

Hidden Losers of the Scrapped Microsoft-Yahoo Mashup

The biggest hidden loser is the Y-Que T Shirt Superstore. While it ranks #1 in Google Product Search for MicroHoo, that wasn't as popular at term as "Microsoft Yahoo," according to Google Trends. And now it's stuck with a bunch of funny t-shirts commemorating the takeover of Yahoo by Microsoft.

Another hidden loser is Kevin Heisler, executive editor of Search Engine Watch. What was he doing Saturday night at 9:59 p.m.? He was posting a story to the Search Engine Watch Blog entitled, “Microsoft Withdraws Yahoo Offer; Yahoo Responds.” He should have been out watching Iron Man, like Deborah Richman.

Steve Ballmer going crazy

The final hidden losers are the Rapid Response Team at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide and the staff at Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher. Do a search for Steve Ballmer on Google. See the YouTube video of Steve going crazy? I've got four words for public relations professionals: Search Engine Reputation Management.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 3:31 PM | Permalink

April 25, 2008

Microsoft Earnings Key Takeaways: Where's the Search?

The biggest acquisition news yesterday wasn't Microsoft-Yahoo but Arby's-Wendy's. In both cases, search marketers are asking, "Where's the beef?"

Better yet, analysts on the Microsoft conference call should have asked, "Where's the search?"

Microsoft search queries and page views are up year-over-year. By how much? No Wall St. analysts asked the question.

Microsoft reported $4.4 billion in net income for the quarter.

Microsoft's online services business increased revenue 40 percent to $843 million, including $143 million from aQuantive, which added 96 new publishers this quarter to the Atlas Publisher Solutions, the ad management platform that competes with Google's DoubleClick division.

Online advertising for Microsoft grew 39 percent. If aQuantive ad revenue ($47 million) is excluded, Microsoft was up 29 percent. Microsoft's online audience is still growing. Live IDs increased to 18 percent to 448 million.

Microsoft remains focused on the online advertising market (doubling by 2010 to $80 billion).

Yahoo would accelerate growth but the core strategy won't change: drive innovation and search, increase value to advertisers and publishers through innovation and scale and grow user engagement across MSN and Windows Live properties.

The weak U.S. dollar may be Microsoft's best friend. While about half of Google's revenue comes from the U.S., two-thirds of Microsoft's revenue is derived from users abroad. In addition, about 15 percent of revenue is in high-growth emerging markets.

Microsoft's strategy of reinvesting existing business, pursuing organic and acquisition growth opportunities makes the company a formidable competitor with or without Yahoo - except in search.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 7:43 AM | Permalink

February 10, 2008

AOL Yahoo Talk Merger - Microsoft Rebuked

Yahoo merges with AOL, saves Time Warner and re-Bewkes Microsoft. That's a best case scenario for Yahoo from investment bank advisers at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. The i-banks are advising Yahoo on mergers with media and technology firms that might snatch Yang & Co. from the jaws of Microsoft. On Sunday, Siobhan Kennedy and Suzy Jagger of The Times Online (UK) broke the story AOL may emerge as Yahoo's exit strategy from the Microsoft $45 billion (give or take a billion) bid.

An AOL merger leads the pack of deals Yahoo and its i-bank M&A advisers are pursuing. Not long ago Yahoo failed to close a deal for AOL. Now the pressure from Yahoo shareholders won't let up until a Microsoft bid (sweetened or unsweetened) is accepted - or an AOL-sized deal is done. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes would be the big winner.

Google has long been discussed as Yahoo's outsourced search partner (again). The surprise? The House of Mouse has emerged as a possible home for Yahooligans. (The revenge of Terry Semel?)

If you can't bring Hollywood to Yahoo, then move the Yahoo to Hollywood. Any Yahoo tie-up would likely put Disney CEO Bob Iger in the driver's seat, not a bad thing for Yahoo's beleaguered shareholders.

Would an AOL merger somehow increase the value of Yahoo's stock by more than 60 percent? (Microsoft premium: 62 percent) Not likely. Yahoo shareholders have long been asking - to no avail - for a plan to boost YHOO by 25 percent from its 52 week low. So far the Microsoft bid has been the only (un)plan that did.

I mentioned the AOL scenario last Friday morning on a conference call with Oppenheimer senior analyst Sandeep Aggarwal and Oppenheimer's Media & Internet and Enterprise Software teams.

Kevin Lee of Didit joined us on the call, along with Jaideep Singh, CEO of vertical search engine Spock.com and Seth Barnes, senior manager for Edmunds.com, a leading consumer automotive site.

To listen to a replay, the dial-in number is (888) 266-2081 or (703) 925-2533. Replay dates are now thru 2/22/2008 23:59 EST.

Whether the Yahoo AOL portal-saurus merger would work is moot.

Now it's One Deal, One Day.

All this week: Yahoo! on Woot!.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 11:43 PM | Permalink

February 4, 2008

Just the First Shot

Unless you've been living in a cave this past week—or at least not reading this blog—you've heard about Microsoft's offer to buy up Yahoo! for $31 a share, for a total of $44.6 billion. John Markoff, of the New York Times, called the moved the “firing the final shot of yesterday's war”—the war in question being one we all know well: the battle for search advertising.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Buying Yahoo is firing the first futuristic shot in tomorrow's war; Yahoo! is just the beginning for Microsoft. And the war is not for search advertising space alone; even a combined 34.6% for Microsoft/Yahoo! (assuming no one drops off during the merger) doesn't compete with Google's 61% (including its major partners). This deal is about much more.

For one, it is about mobile, one of the last frontiers in which Google's dominance is still tenuous. Google has spent time and made waves developing the Android mobile operating system, but its mobile offerings are relics compared with the new Yahoo! Go 3.0 and Microsoft's recently-acquired TellMe service. It's about emerging ad space, like Facebook—of which Microsoft owns a piece and has a 10-year exclusive advertising deal, beating out a Google bid—and advertising exchanges like Right Media, which was acquired by Yahoo!

Google may have video covered online, as it owns most video streams via its acquisition of YouTube and most video searches via its new integrated search bar and rumors of true frame-by-frame video search being developed. Photos, however, are still fair game, with Yahoo! holding on to more than 2 billion photos via its acquisition of Flickr. Blogging is worth fighting for as well. Blogger.com has been given over to spammers, but Windows Live Spaces and Yahoo! 360 both do well, with 45 million users between the two of them.

Microsoft wants Yahoo! for search, but it recognizes the need to lead in every other emerging online market where advertising dollars can be spent. And that means more acquisitions. And lots more shots fired.

Posted by at 4:57 PM | Permalink

Microsoft Won't Beg or Steal; Will Borrow to Buy Yahoo

Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell told Wall St. analysts the company would likely borrow to pay for the cash portion of its Yahoo bid. That's a first in the company's history. The half-cash, half-stock offer is $31 per share.

Microsoft has a huge war chest, approximately $21 billion at year end.

It's not as if Microsoft couldn't fund the cash portion without borrowing any money. The cash-rich company definitely won't have to beg for the loan.

So what's the exact amount Microsoft will borrow? It's anybody's guess.

The need for capital, though, won't subside if or when the bid is accepted. As Kevin Johnson, Microsoft President, Platform and Services, noted in the initial conference call, "There are a few key dynamics in the online advertising industry that I think are worth noting. First, this is a business that has scale economics in a few key areas; scale economics in search and ad serving and scale economics and the capital needed to support these areas, CapEx for data centers, servers and infrastructure."

Who ever said Web 2.0 has low barriers to entry? Not the search engine CEOs who claim competition is just one click away.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 1:31 PM | Permalink

February 3, 2008

Microsoft Fires Back at Google: Who's Playing Monopoly?

Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith fired back at Google in a published press release late today, in essence promising to Do No Evil after acquiring Yahoo.

Microsoft stated, "Google is the dominant search engine and advertising company on the Web." John Battelle, in response to the Esq. vs Esq. war of words (started by Google dropping an antitrust bomb) dropped his own f-bomb, sounding almost Shakespearean in a "first kill all the lawyers" kind of way: "Someone tell the chief counsels to shut the f. up."

Microsoft said in effect - Google, monopolize this: "Google has amassed about 75 percent of paid search revenues worldwide." Google's share of searches - the key success metric for search engines - continues to grow. Microsoft pointed out Google has more than 65 percent U.S search query share; 85 percent plus in Europe.

In surprisingly humble terms, Microsoft stated its goal in acquiring Yahoo is merely to create a "compelling number two competitor" in search and online advertising.

After the jump: full text of the MSFT statement, including how Yahoo shareholders can get their very own proxy statement/prospectus (snail)mailed to them.

(Anyone still think e-mail is a deal driver?)

Statement from Brad Smith, General Counsel, Microsoft

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 3, 2008 – The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising. The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet.

Today, Google is the dominant search engine and advertising company on the Web. Google has amassed about 75 percent of paid search revenues worldwide and its share continues to grow. According to published reports, Google currently has more than 65 percent search query share in the U.S. and more than 85 percent in Europe. Microsoft and Yahoo! on the other hand have roughly 30 percent combined in the U.S. and approximately 10 percent combined in Europe.

Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet. We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will advance these goals.

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval. In connection with the proposed transaction, Microsoft Corp. plans to file with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 containing a proxy statement/prospectus and other documents regarding the proposed transaction. The definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be mailed to shareholders of Yahoo! Inc. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF YAHOO! INC. ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.

Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the registration statement and the proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the SEC by Microsoft Corp. through the Web site maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Free copies of the registration statement and the proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the SEC can also be obtained by directing a request to Investor Relations Department, Microsoft Corp., One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Wash. 98052-6399.

Microsoft Corp. and its directors and executive officers and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction. Information regarding Microsoft Corp.'s directors and executive officers is available in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2007, which was filed with the SEC on Aug. 8, 2007, and its proxy statement for its 2007 annual meeting of shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on Sept. 29, 2007. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available.

Statements in this release that are “forward-looking statements” are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors such as Microsoft Corp.'s ability to achieve the synergies and value creation contemplated by the proposed transaction, Microsoft Corp.'s ability to promptly and effectively integrate the businesses of Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp., the timing to consummate the proposed transaction and any necessary actions to obtain required regulatory approvals, and the diversion of management time on transaction-related issues. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Microsoft Corp.'s business, please refer to the “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of Microsoft Corp.'s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Microsoft Corp.'s Investor Relations department at (800) 285-7772 or at Microsoft Corp.'s Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/msft.

All information in this communication is as of Feb. 3, 2008. Microsoft Corp. undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company's expectations.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 11:17 PM | Permalink

February 1, 2008

Microsoft Wants to Buy Yahoo: Convergence, Continued

There have been rumors of late about some sort of Microsoft/Yahoo hookup -- and here it is. Microsoft just tendered a $31/share bid for Yahoo. All of Yahoo.

It's about the advertising. From the press release: "The online advertising market is growing at a very fast pace, from over $40 billion in 2007 to nearly $80 billion by 2010. The resulting benefits of scale along with the associated capital costs for advertising platform providers make this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today this market is increasingly dominated by one player. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a competitive choice while better fulfilling the needs of customers and partners."

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO said in a statement: "We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market."

After the jump, Ballmer's letter to Yahoo board members. We'll be following developments closely, promise.

Dear Members of the Board:

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft's closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. Microsoft would provide each Yahoo! shareholder with the ability to choose whether to receive the consideration in cash or Microsoft common stock, subject to pro-ration so that in the aggregate one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be exchanged for shares of Microsoft common stock and one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be converted into the right to receive cash. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition.

Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008. The implied premium for the operating assets of the company clearly is considerably greater when adjusted for the minority, non-controlled assets and cash. By whatever financial measure you use - EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices - this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders.

We believe that Microsoft common stock represents a very attractive investment opportunity for Yahoo!'s shareholders. Microsoft has generated revenue growth of 15%, earnings growth of 26%, and a return on equity of 35% on average for the last three years. Microsoft's share price has generated shareholder returns of 8% during the last one year period and 28% during the last three year period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives.

Microsoft's consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.

In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that "now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction." According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board's confidence in the "potential upside" if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.

While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers. Synergies of this combination fall into four areas:

-- Scale economics: This combination enables synergies related to scale economics of the advertising platform where today there is only one competitor at scale. This includes synergies across both search and non-search related advertising that will strengthen the value proposition to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, the combination allows us to consolidate capital spending. -- Expanded R&D capacity: The combined talent of our engineering resources can be focused on R&D priorities such as a single search index and single advertising platform. Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in search, and new advertising platform capabilities. Many of these breakthroughs are a function of an engineering scale that today neither of our companies has on its own. -- Operational efficiencies: Eliminating redundant infrastructure and duplicative operating costs will improve the financial performance of the combined entity. -- Emerging user experiences: Our combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms is greatly enhanced.

We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company with exceptional display and search advertising capabilities. You should also be aware that we intend to offer significant retention packages to your engineers, key leaders and employees across all disciplines.

We have dedicated considerable time and resources to an analysis of a potential transaction and are confident that the combination will receive all necessary regulatory approvals. We look forward to discussing this with you, and both our internal legal team and outside counsel are available to meet with your counsel at their earliest convenience.

Our proposal is subject to the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and our having the opportunity to conduct certain limited and confirmatory due diligence. In addition, because a portion of the aggregate merger consideration would consist of Microsoft common stock, we would provide Yahoo! the opportunity to conduct appropriate limited due diligence with respect to Microsoft. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.

In light of the significance of this proposal to your shareholders and ours, as well as the potential for selective disclosures, our intention is to publicly release the text of this letter tomorrow morning.

Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the Yahoo! Board to engage in a full review of our proposal. My leadership team and I would be happy to make ourselves available to meet with you and your Board at your earliest convenience. Depending on the nature of your response, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!'s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.

We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!'s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.

Sincerely yours,

/s/ Steven A. Ballmer Steven A. Ballmer Chief Executive Officer Microsoft Corporation

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 7:08 AM | Permalink

November 5, 2007

Microsoft's Garry Wiseman Interviewed on Shopping Search

I recently interviewed Microsoft's Garry Wiseman. Garry is the group program manager for the commerce search team in the Live Search group. We spoke at length about Microsoft's new Shopping Search engine. I covered the announcement of the new shopping search in detail previously on Search Engine Watch, and I wanted to get under the covers a little bit to learn more about how it worked.

One of the most intriguing things that Microsoft did with this release is start publishing detailed ratings for a large number of characteristics for consumer electronics devices. You can get to these by searching on a consumer electronics device, for example, iPod Nano, and then clicking on one of the 4 pictures presented in the results to get to the product details page. For example, you might see ratings for up to 40 different characteristic of the device. For an iPod Nano, 15 characteristics including price, sound quality, size, ease of use, battery life, screen, memory, instructions, and more.

According to Garry, this information is extracted from the web using a "sentiment extraction engine". This engine is used to automatically scan trusted review sites and then find out what are the attributes of a product that users comment on in reviews. Then, the engine looks at what people say about each attribute, to determine whether the review is positive or negative for that given attribute. This data is then all tabulated and presented on the product details page for that product.

Garry was not able to comment on whether or not this sentiment extraction engine might be used in other verticals in the future. Clearly, this depends on their being enough data available across the web for them to extract meaningful information. I suggested to Garry that they consider implementing a master product directory for consumer electronics to make the navigation from product a little easier than using search as the interface to all this great information. Understandably, he could not comment on that either.

Posted by at 8:58 AM | Permalink

September 27, 2007

Overview of Microsoft Searchification

I attended the Microsoft Searchification event yesterday. The most important thing that happened here is that Microsoft has finally suceeded in offering a differentiated search product, and this is what made the day so important.

Brad Goldberg started the day with an overview presentation on some basic facts about the search market. One very interesting data set presented by him was a market share table:

EngineUsersUser shareQuery share Live Search69M37%11% Yahoo104M56%23% Google142M77%56% Source: comScore

Looking closely at this table you will see that 37% of all people who search, do at least some of their searching using Live Search. However, the query share is only 11%. The observation was then made that this indicated that this was an indicator that Live Search was not suceeding in statisfying its customers.

Then Mr. Goldberg stated that a large part of their intention with this release is to address this issue. This is an interesting focus, although it does assume that simply improving the relevance and quality of Live Search's results will be enough to convert many of those 37% to doing a larger percentage of their searches on Live Search.

Nontheless, it's a compelling notion. Micosoft does capture a lot of search volume as a result of the integration of Live Search into MSN. They also have very large user bases with Microsoft Messenger and Hotmail. So they can keep putting search back in front of their user base.

In fact, the presentations and demos we saw suggested that Microsoft suceeded in accomplishing several things:

1. Improving basic search quality and relevance. Certainly a number of examples of this were offered. Of course, the acid test of improved relevance will be revealed across tens of millions of search queries
2. Showing compelling improvements in Shopping Search for consumer electronics
3. Providing a completely new look layout for Health search. New features included a set of refinements links up top to help users quickly adapt their search. In addition, the page now has a 3 column layout, with the left column providing access to the latest articles related to your search.
4. Making some great advances in local search, including their 3D mapping technology
5. Offering a rich Entertainment search experience that allows people to drill deep in searches related to their favorite stars
6. Providing a rich and engagin Mobile search experience. Microsoft already had a strong mobile product, and has made it even stronger still
7. Another area where Microsoft already had a great solution was their Image search product, but they made several enhancements here as well
8. Unveiling their video search solution, including some great technology for componsing 30 second trailers
9. Expanded their index from 5B pages to more than 20B pages

I will explore some of these items in more detail over the next week. Net-net, it looks like Microsoft has improved their base search results, and then made a huge effort to improve search quality dramatically in a number of major vertical areas.

Posted by at 9:25 AM | Permalink

August 7, 2007

Bill Slawski Uncovers Possible Barter System Patent At Microsoft

Bill Slawski, of SEO By the Sea, has posted more patent applications. This time Microsoft has applied for a bunch, including Bill Gates himself on one.

The patents cover click fraud as well as what could be the groundwork for a barter system between publishers and advertisers. Great reading as per usual Bill.

Posted by Frank Watson at 4:27 PM | Permalink

July 30, 2007

Microsoft to acquire Social Media Sites?

Dave Naylor speculated late last week that Digg will be bought by Microsoft. This is based on a statement by Kevin Rose that Digg had "signed on Microsoft as our new partner to sell and serve the ads on Digg". Dave admits that it's pure speculation and also observes that Microsoft has a similar deal with Facebook, and then speculates that Microsoft might buy Facebook too.

Having spoken with Robert Scoble recently, Microsoft's former technical evangelist, I am not sure that either of these are too likely. Don't get me wrong, I think both would be fabulous moves for Microsoft, which needs to look past short term revenue potential when looking at acquisitions, and start looking at the bigger picture of getting a strong foothold on the web, which they currently sorely lack.

It was Robert who pointed out to me the problem. Microsoft management has trouble understanding how to deal with these types of companies that are highly under-commercialized. He tried to persuade Bill Gates to buy Flickr at a time it did not have a set value yet (Yahoo! later bought it for $30M), but was soundly rejected. Robert pointed out that businesses to Microsoft generate $4B in revenue, not a few million with lots of upside potential.

That aside, it would be a very smart move for Microsoft to acquire Facebook, and potentially Digg as well. It would give them a strong foothold in the social media space, which, as Dave points out, they just don't have right now. You can see why it might make sense for Digg to sell, because it's no longer climbing like a rocketship. It's still a very important site, but it's peaked.

Facebook is another matter. Facebook is one of the hottest things in the valley right now, and this is likely to make the Facebook management team very patient in terms of selling out. That adds up to even higher pricing expectations. That makes it even less likely that Microsoft will step up to the plate with the more than $5B that such an acquisition is likely to require to get such a deal done.

As for Digg, this could be a step in the right direction for Microsoft too. They just need to do a lot more than acquire one company right now to establish themselves as a serious long term player on the web.

Posted by at 9:41 AM | Permalink

July 9, 2007

Yahoo, Microsoft To Change Privacy Policies

Pressure from the European Union has Yahoo and Microsoft changing their privacy policies, according to the Financial Times.

"The Article 29 Working Party, a group of national officials that advises the European Union on privacy policy, last month said it wanted to investigate how long companies such as Yahoo and Microsoft keep data on individuals who use their search engines," FT.com reported.

“We are talking to customers, to the industry and government officials about this, and intend to provide an update in the near future which will more directly give the time frame,” said Brendon Lynch, privacy expert at Microsoft.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:23 AM | Permalink

June 27, 2007

Google Not Added to Microsoft AntiTrust Case

Google's attempt to be added to the list of plaintiffs in the Microsoft antitrust trial was ignored by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly yesterday.

"Google is not a plaintiff in this case," the judge stated.

The federal government, 17 states and the District of Columbia are involved in the case. As major portions of the landmark 2001 antitrust settlement are due to expire in November, Kollar-Kotelly suggested the judicial oversight of Microsoft be extended.

Google tried to join the case Monday, in order to further press its complaint about the desktop-search feature built into Windows Vista - though Microsoft - a week earlier - had committed to make changes that would allow users to set similar products from Google and other competitors as their default choice.

Posted by Frank Watson at 10:24 AM | Permalink

June 7, 2007

Interview of Microsoft's Satya Nadella at SMX Advanced

Monday night at SMX Advanced in Seattle, Danny Sullivan sat down with Satya Nadella, who is the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's newly-created Search & Advertising Platform Group. In this role, he leads the engineering team for Microsoft's Search, Advertising, and Commerce platforms.

The first impression I got from the conversation is just how extremely well spoken Satya is. A few other interesting things came out of the conversation:

1. A clear sense of humility regarding Microsoft's current place in the market. At one point, Satya commented on how small the current market share is, that they don't "have much to lose".
2. Microsoft has 55M users use Live Search per month. Satya indicated that this was about half of Google's reach. But the problem is that Microsoft does not get each user to use them nearly as often as they use Google, and the challenge they fact is to increase the engagement of customers with Live Search. If I was Google, that reach number would scare me. As Microsoft improves their search result quality, it seems likely that they will have no trouble at all at getting people to discover that.
3. Microsoft intends to increase the integration of search into Windows Messenger and Outlook.
4. There are four major areas where Microsoft feels that they have differentiated themselves:
   • 3D search
   • Image search
   • Mobile search
   • Product Search

The net conclusion I took away from all this is that it's still very, very early in the search game. Google and Yahoo! should be very, very afraid of the potential of Microsoft. Microsoft has far more cash, and spins off far more profit then Google and Yahoo! combined. Combine that with the reach they already have, and they remain a very dangerous competitor.

Posted by at 11:06 AM | Permalink

May 18, 2007

Microsoft to Acquire AQuantive

It looks like Microsoft wasn't really missing out on getting 24/7 Real Media after all. This morning, the company announced plans to acquire digital marketing agency aQuantive for $6 billion.

AQuantive is the parent to Atlas (ad-serving tools for advertisers and publishers, as well as Atlas Search bid management tools), DRIVEpm (behaviorally targeted ad network/media broker) and Avenue A | Razorfish (digital marketing agency, including search).

Microsoft is touting this as a commitment to become a "major player in online advertising."

The acquisition puts Microsoft in a similar position as Google with its DoubleClick acquisition. DoubleClick's Performics and DART Search; and aQuantive's Avenue A | Razorfish and Atlas Search create potential conflicts of interest. Google has said it is not planning on spinning off Performics, and on a conference call this morning, the company said it had no plans to spin off Avenue A | Razorfish.

You can find all the coverage on Techmeme.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:33 AM | Permalink

May 9, 2007

Yahoo and Microsoft: A deal made in heaven or hell?

It appears that the on-again, off-again merger talks between Yahoo and Microsoft have cooled once again, but they're not officially dead. And Google's acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion and pending acquisition of Doubleclick for $3.1 billion certainly make a deal between the #2 and #3 search engines more likely today than six months ago. But do Yahoo and Microsoft really need each other?

PC Magazine has got dueling opinions, with John Dvorak offering that this is still a bad idea, explaining that 1 + 1 would probably equal far less than 2. Lance Ulanoff, on the other hand, thinks the idea makes perfect sense. Check out their debate.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 1:44 PM | Permalink

May 4, 2007

Yahoo and Microsoft Planning Merger Talks?

We've seen plenty of unfounded speculation lately about Google's plans to acquire NBC, or Dow Jones. Now we've got another rumor that Microsoft is asking Yahoo to consider a merger. It's being reported by both the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal, both citing unnamed sources.

The two companies had preliminary talks last year, but that was before Microsoft built its own search ad system, and Yahoo upgraded to Panama. Now there's not a whole lot that a merger would offer either company, at least on the search side. On the content side, it might make a bit more sense, since the two networks draw different demographics. It's not likely that anything will come of these rumors, but stranger things have happened when competitors start getting scared, and merger-mania strikes an industry.

UPDATE: The idea is being discussed all over the blogosphere today, as you can see from the Techmeme coverage.

Forrester's Charlene Li says it's a great idea (on paper at least) for Microsoft, but not so much for Yahoo. She goes on to say it will never work. "Given the messiness of a full out merger – and also the limited benefit it would bring to Yahoo! – I believe that a merger won't be in the works anytime soon. More logical would be partnership agreements where the strengths of each company are shared."

Former Wall Street Analyst Henry Blodgett, in his Internet Outsider blog, says that if the two decide to merge, the best plan would be an immediate spin-off of the combined entity. "If it doesn't, both Yahoo and MSN will die," he says. That seems to defeat the purpose of a merger, though, as Nicholas Carr notes in his Rough Type blog: "Microsoft has come to believe, for instance, that advertising will be central to the software business in the future. It's not going to spin off its ad networks or search functions."

UPDATE 2: The opinions keep coming, with the majority of people appearing to think this deal makes sense on some levels, but would never happen for various reasons:

Mathew Ingram, technology writer for the Globe and Mail in Toronto, says the deal makes sense, but the idea of combining Yahoo with Microsoft is like "two icebergs, roped together": It makes sense when you consider that Microsoft's search and related assets are running a distant — and I mean distant — third in the market. And Yahoo, for all of its faults, is a big property with a snappy new engine behind its search, which is (theoretically) supposed to close the gap with Google.

That's the “glass is half full” argument. The half-empty argument is that both Microsoft and Yahoo are lumbering behemoths with hardly an agile bone left in their sclerotic bodies. Most of their problems stem from the fact that they have accumulated immense bureaucracies — a big part of the impetus for Yahoo exec Brad Garlinghouse's infamous “peanut butter” manifesto — and a collection of legacy businesses that keep getting in the way.

They are like icebergs: not only is nine-tenths of them unseen, but they are slow-moving and difficult to steer. Impressive? Yes. Powerful? No doubt about it. But fast, or nimble or imaginative? No. Roping them together would do nothing but compound their problems.

VC Paul Kedrosky writes in his Infectious Greed blog that "the idea of Microsoft trying to buy Yahoo, while in a sense inevitable, is still desperately difficult." He notes the stark differences in company culture, but says the real issue is that this would be a huge undertaking, and a merger of this size is difficult to complete for those with experience, and next to impossible for those without: [Microsoft] can do the deal, in other words, but the subsequent carnage may be something to behold – which Google might actually end up applauding.

UPDATE 3: The WSJ is now reporting that the talks were going on earlier this year, and have since been called off: Microsoft and Yahoo in recent months discussed a possible merger of the two companies or some kind of match-up that would pair their respective strengths, say people familiar with the situation. But the merger discussions are no longer active, these people say. The two companies may still explore other ways of cooperating.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 9:27 AM | Permalink

January 24, 2007

Microsoft offered cash to blogger for Wikipedia edits?

Brian Bergstein of AP reports that Microsoft has landed in Wikipedia's doghouse after it offered to pay a blogger to edit technical articles on the community-produced Web encyclopedia site.

While Wikipedia is known as the encyclopedia that anyone can edit, founder Jimmy Wales and his group of volunteer editors, writers and moderators have blocked PR firms, campaign workers and anyone else with a perceived conflict of interest from posting self-serving or slanted entries. "So paying for Wikipedia copy is considered a definite no-no," writes Bergstein.

UPDATE: Microsoft is saying that this was an unauthorized move by a low-level employee, that no offer of payment was involved, and that the motives were to improve a listing on Wikipedia that appeared biased. Lisa Barone has a good run-down of events at the Bruce Clay blog.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 1:54 PM | Permalink

December 27, 2006

AOL Merger Speculation

Mediapost reported last week that Merrill Lynch was eyeing the possibility of AOL merging with either Microsoft or Yahoo, in an attempt to gain back market share from Google. This speculation comes on the heels of a report that AOL's total subscriber numbers are up for the first time in a year, after dropping premium memberships in August.

Yahoo would be the more likely company to merge with AOL, accourding to Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch's report also noted that traditional media companies may stay away from the purchase of AOL, in the wake of the "disasterous" initial merger with Time Warner.

Posted by Elisabeth Osmeloski at 12:18 PM | Permalink

December 18, 2006

2006 Top Searches

Following Yahoo's release on December 4 of its top searches for 2006, last week AOL, Lycos and MSN Live released their top searches for the year 2006. Google still has their 2005 review at Zeitgeist, along with recent monthly totals. Ask.com presents weekly lists, but has yet to release a 2006 year in review.

A closer look at these lists reveals some interesting questions about the differences in the data from engine to engine.

Looking at the slight differences between this data can be an interesting project, and can probably yield some good insight into both the user demographics of each of the engines

Paris Hilton is an interesting example to use in showing how search engines classify types of searches. In Yahoo! and in AOL, Paris is listed as a celebrity, yet she is found in top News searches for MSN Live. Does this mean that people search Live's (formerly search.msn.com) News category when they look for everyone's favorite socialite?

More can undoubtedly be read into the top overall searches reported for each portal. AOL reports: "weather" (does this mean they included all weather-inclusive searches or just the term "weather?"); Yahoo! says Britney Spears is number one (hmm...wonder if that includes people misspelling it?); MSN Live claims that the world wanted to know about Ronaldinho more than anyone or thing else; and Lycos puts Poker at number one. Again, others can fill in the blanks as to what they think the demographics most closely associated with each portal are.

It will be interesting to see what the top Google searches are. It would also be nice to have some more details as to how many misspellings were included in searches and perhaps how many of the searches for each top term were actually contained in a longer keyword phrase.

See also the discussions about this at the Yahoo! Search Blog, and the MSN Blog post that introduced their list. AOL has opened up the floor for discussion at the AOL Search Blog (thanks Susan for the link!). Lycos provides a platform for discussion which can be found at the Lycos 50 Blog. (Thanks Carolyn!)

(Note this story was edited after I discovered that Paris Hilton did make the top celebrity list at AOL. For some reason I missed that originally. Apologies to the AOL team for this oversight. CB)

Posted by Chris Boggs at 10:58 AM | Permalink

December 11, 2006

Berkowitz Tells NYT about Microsoft's Challenges

Steve Berkowitz, former CEO of Ask.com and now senior VP of Microsoft's Online Services Group, overseeing Windows Live and MSN, describes the challenges with turning around Microsoft's online unit in a New York Times interview.

Communication, inertia, and a penchant to focus on technology instead of user experience are all making Berkowitz's job more difficult, he says. he's also not too fond of the "Windows Live" brand, but he's not about to change that until more pressing concerns are addressed -- like making a search engine people want to use. So for now, Microsoft will keep both MSN (the portal) and Live.com (the search engine).

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:51 AM | Permalink

November 28, 2006

Live's Erik Selberg On Microsoft's Tough Search Challenge

Talk about the echo chamber coming full circle. The stats on Microsoft's search share decline that I posted last week were commented on by Erik Selberg of Microsoft's Live.com search team in his General disarray at The Big 3 post. He provides a fresh, honest assessment of Microsoft's search challenge ahead from someone in the rank-and-file:

Microsoft will continue to lose share until it can make Live.com something people chose versus just the IE default. That will happen when the average person starts to see Live.com as a bit better than Google. Right now, Google wins on brand (people like them a lot) and quality, so it's to be expected that existing Yahoo / Live customers will migrate to Google than vice-versa and new customers will pick Google more than Live or Yahoo.

If that sounds dismal, it gets worse:

Google is making people focus on features, which should tell people that they're worried about how we're catching up, and are going to put more people on their core products to keep and extend their lead. So it's going to be a tough, tough battle for Microsoft to get there

And how long a battle? We've had Microsoft execs say it would take months to overtake Google in quality to years, with the spin that we're still in the early days. Erik's in the realistic years camp:

While our management set the goal of having relevance that beat Google after 2 years (then 3, and I believe 4 now…) it's not realistic to think that it can be done quickly. If you ask Google, Yahoo, or the fine SEOs at WebMasterWorld or other such places, they'll all say that Live Search has increased in quality over the years so that it's much closer to Yahoo and Google. Not yet better, but no longer laughable. And yeah, we've done our own share of copying feature parity, and we're starting to do a few things that cause Google and Yahoo to do the same (ok, noODP is a small feature, but it's a start!).

How about some optimism? Erik sees Google's stability working against it in some ways, making it stagnant (see my Why Search Sucks & You Won't Fix It The Way You Think post for more on that concept). Potentially, this is true. But realistically, I think the fact that Google has changed slowly is reassuring to the searching audience.

Microsoft has changed four or five times in radical ways over the past two years, including an entire brand change. The last service to change so much like this was AltaVista, which I joked could give Madonna a run for her money in the image change department. None of those changes helped AltaVista. For Microsoft, I think it would actually benefit from really locking down the overall look-and-feel for an extended period. The good news is, I suspect that's actually going to be the case. New features seem likely to be added, but yet another redesign doesn't seem in the works.

I actually think Google's weakness is the same as the weakness Erik sees with Yahoo:

Yahoo is just in a rough place. They've got Google dominating, and they've got us coming up from behind. So they're trying to do everything to avoid getting squeezed everywhere… and the result is too many people doing too many things in a mediocre way (the buzz-speak is “not enough critical mass in several areas”). Nothing surprising here either.

On the upside for Google and Yahoo lovers, both companies themselves understand this. The now famous Yahoo "Peanut Butter" memo covers some at Yahoo internally understanding the issue, while in October, it came out that Google was supposedly refocusing on core product and cutting new releases -- and that all the frenetic activity had been hurting core search there.

Fully recognizing the challenge ahead, Erik's still optimistic

Hopefully the chaos that starts out with a new Senior VP turns into increased efficiency sooner versus later. I know I'm working as hard as I can to make this happen sooner versus later, but nevertheless, it's gonna be a stand-up fight against someone who has reach over us. Time to be smart.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:18 AM | Permalink

November 21, 2006

Steve Berkowitz Of Microsoft (Windows Live) News.com Interview

News.com has an extensive interview with Microsoft's Steve Berkowitz, who formerly worked at Ask.com. He goes over the current market, Microsoft's advantages and challenges, and how they want to compete with Google.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:47 AM | Permalink

Google Beats Microsoft, Yahoo As College Grad Choice

Online Recruitment reports on a CollegeGrad.com poll showing Google is the most desired place for technology students to work for. The poll asked 1,600 respondents in October "Who would you rather work for?" The results:

• Google - 49%
• Microsoft - 29%
• Yahoo - 12%
• IBM - 10%

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:30 AM | Permalink

October 31, 2006

Google Asks Microsoft To Give Users A Choice

Forbes reports that Google meet with the European Union the other day about antitrust issues. They asked Microsoft to give users a choice when selecting their default Internet search engine. The article explains, "Google refused to say if changes Microsoft has already made to its upcoming operating system, Vista, have gone far enough." You may also want to read Danny's long write up on the release of IE7 and search engine default battle.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:50 AM | Permalink

October 19, 2006

Searching Via Internet Explorer 7 & The Battle To Be The Default Search Engine

Now that Internet Explorer 7 has been released in final format, I wanted to look at how search is being handled within the browser. There's been lots of discussion and worries about this in the past. Speculation time is over; reality is here. In this article, how the IE7 search box works, how you can change it and how Google and Yahoo's toolbars behave within it to try and maintain their default status, once gained.

The biggest difference with Internet Explorer 7 is the one that's been most discussed, a visible search box built into the "chrome." In the picture below, you can see the search box, complete with the word "Google" in light text to remind me what search engine is my default.

(NOTE: I've used a lot of screenshots, drawing off my Flickr account and picked a day when Flickr has became sluggish after I wrote this. Apologies if the pictures don't show when you view the page. Try reloading or checking back).

Google is my default search engine because it was that way in Internet Explorer 6. It became my default there with my permission, when I installed the Google Toolbar on my laptop (where I did today's testing) ages ago.

I removed the Google Toolbar for the purposes of testing IE7. That didn't cause the IE6 default settings to change, and to Microsoft's credit, they didn't try to override it when I upgraded to IE7.

Microsoft had previously said that if it detected a particular search engine was set to be a default, it would respect that. So, IE7 did -- sort of. Notice however what comes up in the main window of Internet Explorer 7 when I relaunched it:

Here, I'm notified that Google's my default, and I'm asked to confirm this or make another choice. Overall, I think that's fine. Yes, it's Microsoft hoping to change some minds. Maybe "Keep my current default search provider" should be ticked already. But I'd say most people who have Google as their default now will confirm keeping it that way. It's hardly anti-competitive.

Google, in particular, has disagreed. On a new machine, where Google has no presence or partnership, Microsoft Live Search will be the default. Google had suggested that users should be explicitly asked to make a choice from one of several providers. In my past article about this, I wrote about not being sympathetic to that idea, given that Google has had no problem paying to override consumer choice to gain the default position through deals with Firefox or through Dell installations.

Since then, deals have only accelerated. Yahoo partnered with Acer and also with HP. Google cut a deal with Adobe. It's difficult to know how a consumer is going to buy a "virgin" machine where the defaults haven't already been decided or influenced by some business deal.

Given this, let's focus on how consumers can make their choices after the fact. That's pretty easy. From that opening screen that IE gives after installation, tick the "Let me select from a list of other search providers" option and then choose Save Settings at the bottom of the page.

That will brings up this page (other pages might come up for other language/country configurations):

Very fairly, Microsoft isn't positioning themselves at the top of the list or more prominently than others. In fact, I think Microsoft is making a terrible mistake by just saying "Live Search" rather than "Microsoft Live Search." I think relatively few people know the Live brand right now. I can well imagine some people thinking, "Live Search -- what's that?" and skipping the search engine from consideration.

I selected Live Search from the list. That made a pop-up box appear:

Notice the option to make the choice as my default is NOT ticked. This allows you to add several search engines to the search box, which you can then selectively use while still maintaining your default search engine. You can add a bunch of different providers, and I'll come back to this more below.

It's worth noting that the Search Provider page links to information about the OpenSearch system, a way for anyone to easily create search engines that can be added to IE7. Of course, that doesn't mean you get added to the all-important Search Provider page. It just means someone visiting your site might be able to use a button that you promote to them to change their IE7 settings.

That Search Provider page also has an interesting box allowing you to visit any search engine, then do a copy-and-paste action to make your own search box. It's very clever. You simply search for TEST on anything that gives you a search box. Copy-and-paste the resulting URL, and IE7 will automatically create the right way to access that search engine for you. I added Search Engine Watch as a search engine to my IE7 installation easily by doing this.

In the example above, I didn't change my default search provider. Now let's say I want to, perhaps some time after I've initially installed IE7. Google has previous spun the idea of changing settings in IE7 as some complicated task. It even cited research saying only one third of users could figure it out. I have more faith that people can do it, so let's go through the steps.

1. Click the Tools button in IE7's menu, then pick Internet Options  
2. On the General tab of the Internet Options window that appears, there's a Search area. Click on the Settings button here.  
3. That brings up a Change Search Defaults menu: (FYI, I wish the "Find more providers" link was much more visible here. If you didn't pick more providers from when IE was initially installed, you won't have any choices in the main selection area -- and you might miss that link. This is handled in a better way through an alternative method I'll cover below).  
4. Choose the search engine you want, push the Set Default button, then OK. Now you're done.

Well, not necessarily. After I did this, Google was shown as my choice within the search box in the chrome. Evil Google! No, it seems more an IE thing. When I closed and restarted IE7, the default was changed to Live Search.

Let's go back to that search box in the chrome. Obviously, you can use it to search. Enter some words, hit return or click the magnifying glass icon/button, and the browser will pull back results from your default search engine.

The box also allows you to temporarily or permanently change your default search provider. Next to the box, use the down-arrow to get a drop-down menu like this:

From it, any search engine you've added to your providers list is shown. You can see how several providers I've selected are added, including the custom choice I made for Search Engine Watch.

Choose a provider, and then your search will go to that provider for that particular search, similar to how the box in Firefox works. It stays this way until you change it back or until you close IE7 entirely.

Look at the bottom of the menu. The drop-down box lets you get to the IE7 search providers page or bring up the Change Search Defaults box I showed in step 3 above. That makes changing providers a two step process.

Next up, I wanted to see how the search engines competing with Microsoft were reacting to a freshly minted copy of IE7 showing up at their doorsteps. Would I get prompts to change, as we've seen in the past from both Google and Yahoo?

Google and Yahoo surprisingly did nothing. I wonder if this might because the final release of IE7 has made some type of browser agent change that the two have set to identify. We'll see. Meanwhile, Ask gave me this box enticing me to change:

Next up, time to deal with concerns that Google might be too aggressive in protecting itself once installed as the default via the Google Toolbar. I loaded up a fresh copy. In short order, Google asked me if I wanted to make it both my default search provider and notify me if something tries to change that:

To help avoid controversy, Google ought to make these separate options. But from a usability perspective, I can well understand the logic of making then a single choice. If I want Google to be my default, I probably don't want something to try and change that behind my back -- and many have had bad experiences with adware and spyware doing exactly that.

I told it Google fine, then I was surprised that the next screen made me decide whether to have PageRank display enabled or not.

In the past, I recall this as an option you were never prompted to enable. Instead, I recall it as something that search engine optimization folks (about the only ones who care) would enable by diving into the advanced options and switching it on.

I could be wrong in my recollection. If so, my apologies. But even with Google's clear "in your face" warning that enabling PageRank will send data to them, I still wonder if perhaps the screen should be different.

Maybe PageRank display should be disabled by default, rather than making you choose. The screen that appears would then ask explicitly if you wanted to change to enabled. It would explain what it provides to the user (the screen itself tells you nothing, not even a short description such as here). It would then warn, as it does now, that enabling the feature allows Google to see every page you are visiting.

All installed, Google gives me a big notice to let me know I'm ready to go with the toolbar:

I then tried to change search providers using the steps above. That seemed to work, but then I got this small notification in my task bar, along with an audible signal:

My task bar is at the top of the screen (where it belongs, in my opinion!). By default, the task bar is at the bottom of Windows machines by default, so the notification could be less noticeable there. The sound helps, but frankly I don't know why this was blocked at all.

There's a big difference between spyware changing your default setting and users themselves trying to change the default using the options within Internet Explorer. Google ought to be able to distinguish the two. Changes made by a user shouldn't be blocked. Moreover, any blocking ought to ask me for confirmation that it's going to happen, not just be done on my behalf.

In other words, consider this. I'd consented for Google to notify me if something was trying to change my default settings, as shown on that earlier screenshot. I did not consent to it doing the blocking on my behalf, which is what it did. It would have been far better if Google had produced some type of pop-up box telling me that something wanted to change my defaults and asking me if I wanted to allow this. Leave the choice with me.

I'll follow-up with Google about this. Meanwhile, what to do if you want to override the decision Google made for you? When that notification happens, you have to click on the little G button in your task bar (if the notification is gone, try changing again to make it come back). Clicking on the G brings up a box like this:

That box is what I think Google should actually show you, rather than processing it behind the scenes unless you manually make it appear. It tells you something wants to change your default, asks if you want to allow that to happen and lets you override what Google wants to do, remain the default, if that's your decision.

If you override, that should disable Google from doing any future monitoring, as it tells you will be the case:

That's what I found to happen. In fact, I see no signs that Google is still monitoring despite being told not to. That's what happened in July, when the GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe program continued to run. Google said this was a bug, which got some dubious laughs in some quarters. Bug or not, I certainly don't see it happening now.

To further test it, I went back to Ask.com and let it make it my default search provider. That worked fine.

Once you've disabled monitoring, what if you want it back? Use the Settings menu of the Google Toolbar, then on the More tab, you'll see two options:

The two different options intrigued me. What was the difference between:

• Set and keep Search settings to Google
  • Notify me on settings change

I enabled only the first. Bad, bad choice. If you do this, you simply cannot change your settings at all unless you go back into the Google Toolbar and override the option. Google will silently keep any settings from being altered. If you enable them both, then you get back to the behavior where at least Google will give you a notification.

Overall, here's what I'd like to see. The Google Toolbar should ask if you want to be notified about changes. If something tries to make a change, it should then ask you for explicit permission whether to override this, at least the first time -- perhaps it gives you an option to let Google handle these changes without notifications behind the scenes after that. But yes -- get in the users face more about what you're going to change initially, so they know what's going on.

Having played with Google, I next loaded up the Yahoo Toolbar. Ugh, not fun. First, Yahoo by default wants to cram Norton Spyware scan down your throat. Yes, right under the big Download Yahoo! Toolbar button in smaller text is an option to get just the toolbar without it. I'd rather see that option get equal play.

After the installation, like Google, Yahoo stands ready to be both my default search engine and help me get back to Yahoo if something changes my default settings:

Like Google, Yahoo makes it clear you've got the toolbar with this big pop-up window:

Decide to personalize the toolbar, as Yahoo suggests? To do that, you've got to have a Yahoo account. That means the toolbar does more than drive searches for Yahoo. Unlike Google, Yahoo's trying to generate user registrations, as well. The toolbar works without registration, of course -- but it no doubt encourages some people to sign up.

I manually changed my default provider from Yahoo to Google, using the steps above. Yahoo didn't block this. But when I closed the browser and relaunched it, I got this:

Fair enough. Unlike Google, Yahoo didn't silently switch itself back. It asked me to make that choice. It was also a one time thing. I told it to allow the change, then closed my browser and reopened it. Yahoo didn't come back and try to get me to switch back to Yahoo again.

Actually, I wouldn't have minded that. I find it very helpful that Firefox or Internet Explorer will keep asking me if I want them as a default unless I explicitly use the offered tick box not to be asked again. That's because it's easy to accidentally hit the wrong button. It's harder to both hit the wrong button and enable a tick box.

All this effort by the toolbars to maintain default status comes off the fear that the IE7 search box is going to somehow gain Microsoft tons of search traffic. I've been pessimistic about this actually happening. I've noted for ages that despite Microsoft long having hooks into IE for its own search, Google and Yahoo have both survived and thrived. My Google Worried About Microsoft's Browser Advantage? What Advantage? article goes into much more depth about this.

It's uncertain to me that the search box in the "chrome" is going to make that much of a difference, but I haven't seen much user behavior data here. I could be completely wrong, and Microsoft's competitors are certainly worried about it. We'll know in short order. IE7 is being rolled out in a mandatory fashion to Windows users beginning November 1 through the Windows update system. If Microsoft's search share rises, the chrome search box may be working.

However, I think many people will still fire up their browser and go back to the search engines they regularly use. Google and Yahoo might not have the enticements to switchover today up, but those will come. And I think those will help them to largely preserve their shares despite the IE7 rollout.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:16 AM | Permalink

October 12, 2006

Ballmer: YouTube Overvalued & Google Transferring Wealth From Content Owners

The Web According to Ballmer from BusinessWeek has Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer questioning the value of the Google-YouTube deal and oddly warning that Google is transferring wealth away from rights holders. It's an odd statement, since that's what Microsoft wants to do as well.

First the questioning of the YouTube value:

[You've got to ask] could Google do whatever it is they're hoping to buy without paying $1.6 billion? Is YouTube really some permanent, long-term thing, or is it a fashion?....Right now, there's no business model for YouTube that would justify $1.6 billion.

Though strangely, when BusinessWeek tries to pindown what seems a clear statement that Google overpaid, Ballmer says:

I'm not saying it is overvalued. I'm not trying to say that. It depends on a set of factors. I'm not saying I wouldn't write a check for that amount of money. I might.

And back to the controversial statement about Google's relations with content:

And what about the rights holders? At the end of the day, a lot of the content that's up there is owned by somebody else.

The truth is what Google is doing now is transferring the wealth out of the hands of rights holders into Google. So media companies around the world are all threatened by Google. Why? Because basically Google is telling you how much of your ad revenue you get to keep. They better get some competition. Us. Yahoo! (YHOO). Somebody better break through or you can short all media stocks right now. As long as there are two, you can hold onto media stocks. Google understands that. And that's one reason why they're willing to lose money up front.

Microsoft has its own video sharing service up, Soapbox. It has a question answering service, Q&A. It has an entire search engine that crawls the web like Google, Windows Live. Microsoft has plans for contextual placement of ads on pages, similar to AdSense. It's specific to MSN content now, but that will inevitably change. All of these things leverage the content of others in order to make money from Microsoft. So if these actions leverage wealth away from content owners, Microsoft is just as guilty of it as Google.

Frankly, all Ballmer seems to be saying is content owners would be better off if Microsoft was a strong third participant in ad game. Sure -- but let's not kid ourselves. Microsoft gets a lot better off by that as well, and it didn't jump into the game out of some desire to counter-balance the power of Google. It's in it to make as much money as it can, as well.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:42 AM | Permalink

July 20, 2006

Microsoft Says Vista & Other Operating Systems Will Allow Search Engine Choice

News from News.com and Reuters that Microsoft said, they will adopt a "voluntary principle" that will allow the manufacturers of the computers to decide which search engine the operating system should default to. News.com describes this as Microsoft wanting to "bolstering choice and competition" in the market place. Wise move by Microsoft? I think so. Take a look back at Google & Dell partnership, IE7 defaulting to MSN Search and read this. Too funny, but smart on Microsoft's part, IMO.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:10 AM | Permalink

June 27, 2006

New Search Patent Applications: June 27, 2006 - Searching Amongst Malicious Web Sites

Microsoft's patent applications from the end of last week include ways for search engines to scan malicious web sites, clustering queries for more relevant searches, and extracting feature and formatting information from pages. IBM introduces a new query dependent page ranking algorithm, and a way to preload the URLs of a site into your history file before you've ever visited. Xerox searches for more meaningful snippets, Alcatel takes the PC out of search, and replaces it with TV, and British Telecommunications describes a way to make user profiles more helpful in returning search results.

Microsoft

This patent filing looks at user logs for web queries, and user feedback associated with those queries in an attempt to try to cluster the queries, and serve more relevant results in response to those queries.

Clustering Web Queries Invented by Ji-Rong Wen, Jian-Yun Nie, Ming-Jing Li, and Hong-Jiang Zhang Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060136455 Published on June 22, 2006 Filed on February 23, 2006

Abstract

Systems and methods for clustering Web queries are described. In one aspect, one or more of a same document and a plurality of similar documents selected by a user in response to a plurality of queries is identified. Responsive to this identification, a query cluster is generated. The cleric the query cluster indicates that the queries are similar independent of whether individual ones of the queries comprise similar composition with respect to other ones of the queries.

In this next document, Microsoft looks at how data on a web page can be extracted from the page, and parsed into information about the content on the page with its associated formatting, frequency of appearance, associated meta data, titles, and more. Statistics can be used to help understand the relevance of a query to the information extracted from a page.

Ranking search results using feature extraction Invented by Dmitriy Meyerzon and Hang Li Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060136411 Published on June 22, 2006 Filed on December 21, 2004

Abstract

Methods and computer-readable media are provided for ranking search results using feature extraction data. Each of the results of a search engine query is parsed to obtain data, such as text, formatting information, metadata, and the like. The text, the formatting information and the metadata are passed through a feature extraction application to extract data that may be used to improve a ranking of the search results based on relevance of the search results to the search engine query. The feature extraction application extracts features, such as titles, found in any of the text based on formatting information applied to or associated with the text. The extracted titles, the text, the formatting information and the metadata for any given search results item are processed according to a field weighting application for determining a ranking of the given search results item. Ranked search results items may then be displayed according to ranking.

The following patent application looks at ways of detecting malicious content on pages, during a crawl of the web, and in real time as a query is performed. I was reminded of Scandoo and a recent paper from Ben Edelman and SiteAdvisor, The Safety of Internet Search Engines, when reading it.

System and method for utilizing a search engine to prevent contamination Invented by Art Shelest and Eytan D. Seidman Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060136374 Published on June 22, 2006 Filed on December 17, 2004

Abstract

A system and method are incorporated within a search engine for preventing proliferation of malicious searchable content. The system includes a detection mechanism for detecting malicious searchable content within searchable content traversed by a web crawler. The system additionally includes a presentation mechanism for handling the detected malicious searchable content upon determination that the malicious searchable content is included in search results provided by the search engine. The presentation mechanism handles the detected malicious searchable content in order to prevent proliferation of the malicious searchable content to a receiver of the search results.

IBM

When you visit a site that you have previously been to before, your browser address bar will often show you pages on that site that you've seen, in a dropdown. This can help you return to a page that you may have been trying to return to. It might be helpful if this kind of feature was available on sites that you haven't visited before. Imagine arriving at a site you haven't seen previously, and being able to download a list of the URLs on the site.

The method in this filing involves a plugin to help a visitor find URLs of pages by providing an autocomplete, and a dropdown selection of URLs for pages on the site. URLs from the site could be added in the browser to its history files, an auto-complete file, and a site-map file.

Method and system for advanced downloading of URLS for WEB navigation Invented by Derek Kwan Assigned to IBM US Patent Application 20060136453 Published June 22, 2006 Filed on September 8, 2005

Abstract

A method, computer program product, and system for providing advanced downloading of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for a WEB browser running on a computer. The system is capable of providing a WEB browser with Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). The system comprises a client computer and a server. The client computer includes the WEB browser for use by a user and includes a URL component. The server provides WEB data to the client computer. The server includes a URL downloader, which is responsive to the URL component for downloading the URLs to the client computer.

A method for ranking pages in relation to a query; unlike pagerank, this method is query dependent and ranks pages associated with specific queries.

Dynamically ranking nodes and labels in a hyperlinked database Invented by Krishna Prasad Chitrapura and Srinivas Raaghav Kashyap Assigned to IBM US Patent Application 20060136098 Published on June 22, 2006 Filed on December 17, 2004

Abstract

The World Wide Web (WWW) can be modelled as a labelled directed graph G(V,E,L), in which V is the set of nodes, E is the set of edges, and L is a label function that maps edges to labels. This model, when applied to the WWW, indicates that V is a set of hypertext documents or objects, E is a set of hyperlinks connecting the documents in V, and the edge-label function represents the anchor-text corresponding to the hyperlinks. One can find a probabilistic ranking of the nodes for any given label, a ranking of the labels for any given node, and rankings of labels and pages using flow based models. Further, the flows can be computing using sparse matrix operations.

Xerox

Snippets shown in search results could be more reflective of the intent of a searcher, and help a searcher locate a document that best matches what they are looking for, instead of just displaying text that contains the keywords searched for. That's the focus of the next patent filing.

Systems and methods for using and constructing user-interest sensitive indicators of search results Invented by Daniel G. Bobrow; Ronald M. Kaplan Assigned to Xerox US Patent Application 20060136385 Published on June 22, 2006 Filed on December 21, 2004

Abstract

Techniques are provided to construct and use user-interest sensitive indicators of search results. A set of documents is determined based on one or more search terms. Passages within each selected document are identified based on the search terms. Condensation transformations applied to the passages to preferentially retain elements of the passage based on the search terms and user interest information. The resultant indicator is provides a user-interest sensitive signal of the meaning of the passage.

Alcatel

Alcatel describes how to search for content to display on television through a televison set box, without using a computer.

Method and system enabling Web content searching from a remote set-top control interface or device Invented by Prasad Golla Assigned to Alcatel US Patent Application 20060136383 Published on June 22, 2006 Filed on December 20, 2004

Abstract

A system for conducting a data search operation for content stored at nodes on a network includes a menu interface for enabling an interaction sequence of content category selection and definition-narrowing of those categories selected, a server application for interpreting the interaction sequence and for formulating a search query based on the interpretation, and a session application for submitting the query to a third party node, and for receiving and filtering results returned, the results forwarded to the menu interface for subsequent display and interaction. The network may combine wireless and land-based telephone, Internet, cable and satellite television.

British Telecommunications

This last patent filing looks towards the use of user profiles to help make more relevant searches.

Searching apparatus and methods Invented by Gary M. Ducatel and Behnam Azvine US Patent Application 20060136405 Published on June 22, 2006 Filed on January 23, 2004

Abstract

An apparatus and method are provided for improving database searching, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a search query comprising one or more search keywords from a user; accessing a user profile means arranged to provide data indicative of relatedness criteria between keywords from a set of documents, and identifying from said user profile means, for the or each search keyword, potentially-related keywords according to predetermined criteria; providing said potentially-related keywords to the user; receiving information from the user confirming that any potentially-related keywords are considered to be related keywords; in the event that any potentially-related keywords are confirmed by the user to be related keywords, incorporating such potentially-related keywords as keywords in an improved search query; and submitting the improved search query to a search engine. Also provided are an apparatus and method for creating and maintaining user profiles for use in the above searching apparatus and method.

My usual reminder about patents: Some of the processes and technology described in patents are created in house, and some are developed with the assistance of contractors and partners. A percentage are never developed in a tangible manner, but may serve as a way to attempt to exclude others from using the technology, or even to possibly mislead competitors into exploring an area that they might not have an interest in (sometimes skepticism is good.)

There are times when a Google or Yahoo acquires a company to gain access to the intellectual property of that company, or the intellectual prowess and expertise of that company's employees. And sometimes patents are just purchased.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Technology & Relevancy area of the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Bill Slawski at 6:47 PM | Permalink

June 19, 2006

New Search Patent Applications: June 19, 2006 - Autolinking, and Better Advertising through Deletion Predictions

Four patent applications from Google describe fighting spam in emails, providing product review searches, moving large amounts of data, and autolinking. Yahoo matches, and raises with five patent filings. One on watching deletions to choose better ads, another on serving dynamic information through a additional browser interface, and three more on multimedia and RSS.

Microsoft goes TV 2.0 with an electronic program guide, and describes a way of matching advertising content with certain search queries before those searches are made. IBM comes up with a unique way of presenting the results of a search from more than one search engine, and a way of reducing the amount of irrelevant results in a search by analyzing an initial set of results, identifying an appropriate additional query term from those results, and searching the original results again but with the additional query term included in the search.

Go Daddy describes a way of fighting spam in emails. Xerox employs collaborative filtering from previous users' searches to predict search results. Apostolos Gerasoulis, from Ask.com, with a couple of co-inventors, ranks and displays pages (objects) based upon linkage and textual data, and then defines a way to identifiy and assign topics to them.

Google

Email Spam

Emails with links in them could be considered spam if the links point to pages that are in a conceptual category considered spammy. This patent application really doesn't describe the concept categorization part of the process. That's done in a related patent application mentioned within this document, and the related document lists Georges Harik as one inventor. Dr. Harik's name is on a very large percentage of the patent applications involving Gmail-type processes.

Method and system to detect e-mail spam using concept categorization of linked content Invented by Johnny Chen US Patent Application 20060122957 Published June 8, 2006 Filed December 3, 2004

Abstract

A system and method for detecting undesired electronic messages (e.g., spam) using concept categorization of hyperlinks is disclosed. A server receives an electronic message and retrieves web pages that correspond to hyperlinks in the message. The server performs concept categorization on the retrieved web pages based on semantic relationships in the received information to determine whether the electronic message meets predefined criteria associated with undesired messages.

Searching and Aggregating Product Reviews

If Google wanted to get into the product or services review business, the next patent filing describes a blue print for the process that might make an effective and innovative system.

Method and system for finding and aggregating reviews for a product Invented by Jan Matthias Ruhl and Mayur D. Datar US Patent Application 20060129446 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 14, 2004

Abstract

The embodiments disclosed herein include new, more efficient ways to collect product reviews from the Internet, aggregate reviews for the same product, and provide an aggregated review to end users in a searchable format. One aspect of the invention is a graphical user interface on a computer that includes a plurality of portions of reviews for a product and a search input area for entering search terms to search for reviews of the product that contain the search terms.

Scaling and Distributing Data

Arvind Jain is the head of Research and Development in Google's Bangalore office, and has spoken at a number of conferences on infrastructure projects and issues involving such things as Google's crawl and indexing system, distributed file replication system, and compression techniques for large scale storage systems. He's listed as the inventor for this next Google filing.

System and method for scalable data distribution Invented by Arvind Jain US Patent Application 20060126201 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 10, 2004

Abstract

A system having a resource manager, a plurality of masters, and a plurality of slaves, interconnected by a communications network. To distribute data, a master determined that a destination slave of the plurality slaves requires data. The master then generates a list of slaves from which to transfer the data to the destination slave. The master transmits the list to the resource manager. The resource manager is configured to select a source slave from the list based on available system resources. Once a source is selected by the resource manager, the master receives an instruction from the resource manager to initiate a transfer of the data from the source slave to the destination slave. The master then transmits an instruction to commence the transfer.

Autolinking

Google's Autolink raised a lot of eyebrows, and brought some negative reactions. A Search Engine Watch Blog post from Danny Sullivan, Google Toolbar's AutoLink & The Need For Opt-Out defined many of the issues around the toolbar feature. The following patent application explains how such a system might work from the search engine's perspective.

Providing useful information associated with an item in a document Invented by Gueorgui Djabarov US Patent Application 20060129910 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 14, 2004

Abstract

A method includes recognizing an item within a first document based on a pattern associated with the item but not the exact content of the item. The method further includes identifying a link for the item and providing a second document that includes information associated with the item when the link for the item is selected.

Yahoo

Choosing Better Ads through User Behavior

Some queries involve the use of concepts and units, as described in at least five Yahoo patent filings (see previous patent posts in the Yahoo sections from Yahoo Units and Microsoft Redundancy Filters and More Yahoo Concepts and Google Predictive Searches.)

But sometimes a two term query isn't a concept as much as it is a couple of keywords that someone may use to search for something. If that person performs a second search after deleting one of the words, then the record of that deletion and second search might help Yahoo calculate "deletion probability scores" for words being used in these kind of two term queries.

This can be helpful when there isn't a good keyword based advertising match for that query, but there might be a good match individually for each of the terms that make up the query. The "deletion probability scores" can help determine which of the two terms to show keyword-based advertising for in search results.

System and methods for ranking the relative value of terms in a multi-term search query using deletion prediction Invented by Rosemary Jones and Daniel C. Fain US Patent Application 20060129534 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 14, 2004

Abstract

The likely relevance of each term of a search-engine query of two or more terms is determined by their deletion probability scores. If the deletion probability scores are significantly different, the deletion probability score can be used to return targeted ads related to the more relevant term or terms along with the search results. Deletion probability scores are determined by first gathering historical records of search queries of two or more terms in which a subsequent query was submitted by the same user after one or more of the terms had been deleted. The deletion probability score for a particular term of a search query is calculated as the ratio of the number of times that particular term was itself deleted prior to a subsequent search by the same user divided by the number of times there were subsequent search queries by the same user in which any term or terms including that given term was deleted by the same user prior to the subsequent search. Terms are not limited to individual alphabetic words.

Browser Interface Helpers

This next document describes some ways to provide additional dynamic information to someone via a toolbar styled interface, while they are browsing pages on the web.

Method of controlling an Internet browser interface and a controllable browser interface Invented by Thomas J. Shafron Assigned to Yahoo US Patent Application 20060129937 Published June 15, 2006 Filed February 2, 2006

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method of dynamically controlling and displaying an Internet browser interface, and to a dynamically controllable Internet browser interface. In accordance with the present invention, a browser interface may be customized using a controlling software program that may be provided by an Internet content provider, an ISP, or that may reside on an Internet user's computer. The controlling software program enables the Internet user, the content provider, or the ISP to customize and control the information and/or functionality of a user's browser and browser interface.

RSS Enhancements

The following three Yahoo filings all list the same inventors, including John Thrall who is the head of media search engineering, for Yahoo Search. They provide different aspects of using RSS with multimedia files.

Syndicating multiple media objects with RSS Invented by Andrew R. Volk, David D. Hall, and John J. Thrall US Patent Application 20060129917 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 1, 2005

Abstract

System and method for syndicating more than one media object in an element using Real Simple Syndication (RSS). In one embodiment, multiple media objects with at least one shared characteristic are syndicated under the same element. For example, a single media object can come in multiple formats and/or compression rates.

Syndicating multimedia information with RSS Invented by Andrew R. Volk, David D. Hall, John J. Thrall US Patent Application 20060129907 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 1, 2005

Abstract

System and method for adding descriptive information to a Real Simple Syndication (RSS) document. The descriptive information describes the content of media objects syndicated through the document. The descriptive information can be used to provided additional information to a subscriber, and can be used in searching for syndicated media content.

RSS rendering via a media player Invented by Andrew R. Volk, David D. Hall, John J. Thrall US Patent Application 20060129916 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 1, 2005

Abstract

System and method for syndicating media objects through a link to a media player using Real Simple Syndication (RSS). A content provider may not want to give direct access to a media object to a subscriber. Instead a content provider can give the subscriber a link to a media player that can access the media object.

Microsoft

Searching electronic program guide data Invented by Pradhan S. Rao, David Hendler Sloo, Daniel Danker, and George K. Nyako Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060130098 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 15, 2004

Abstract

Searching electronic program guide (EPG) data is described. The EPG data may be compartmentalized into channel metadata that describes characteristics of one or more channels and content metadata that describes characteristics of one or more content items. In a implementation, a method includes searching channel metadata and content metadata. A result of the searching is formed for output in conjunction with an electronic program guide (EPG).

System and method for indexing and prefiltering Invented by Brian Burdick, Joshua J. Forman, Kevin P. Kornelson, Murali Vajjiravel, and Rajeev Prasad Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060129555 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 9, 2004

Abstract

A method and system are provided for selecting advertisements for presentation to a user in response to a user search query. The system may include a keyword server for parsing the user search query and an index server for receiving the parsed search query. The index server may include an index of advertising phrases and pre-filtering components for comparing index entries to the parsed user search query in order to discard non-matching index entries and locate matching entries. The pre-filtering components may include either a phrase length pre-filtering component or a word hash pre-filtering component. The system may additionally include a listing server for sorting through the matching entries located by the index server and further filtering the matching entries for retrieval and presentation to the user.

IBM

Ring method, apparatus, and computer program product for managing federated search results in a heterogeneous environment Invented by Wade Shelby Beavers and David Joseph Borrillo Assigned to IBM US Patent Application 20060129530 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 9, 2004

Abstract

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for managing federated search results in a heterogeneous environment. A user enters a search term and the search term is submitted to multiple selected search engines. Search results are gathered from each selected search engine. A search ring is generated including a ring section to represent each of the selected search engines for enabling the user to view search results from one or more of the selected search engines.

Method and system for suggesting search engine keywords Invented by Cary Lee Bates Assigned to IBM US Patent Application 20060129531 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 9, 2004

Abstract

A search engine receives a search query having one or more keywords. The documents in the result set from that search query are analyzed to identify one or more additional keywords that further segment, or separate, the initial result set. These additional keywords are presented to the user who then selects whether to include or exclude documents matching the additional keywords. In this way, the number of documents in the initial result set is reduced in a relatively quick and effortless manner.

Go Daddy

Email filtering system and method Invented by Brad Owen and Jason Steiner US Patent Application 20060129644 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 14, 2004

Abstract

Systems and methods of the present invention allow filtering out spam and phishing email messages based on the links embedded into the email messages. In a preferred embodiment, an Email Filter extracts links from the email message and obtains desirability values for the links. The Email Filter may route the email message based on desirability values. Such routing includes delivering the email message to a Recipient, delivering the message to a Quarantine Mailbox, or deleting the message.

Xerox

Personalized web search method Invented by Lisa S. Purvis Assigned to Xerox Corporation US Patent Application 20060129533 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 15, 2004

Abstract

A method for contextualizing search results is disclosed. The method includes performing a traditional web query that returns a set of result pages, using collaborative filtering techniques to generate a set of predicted pages, comparing the set of predicted pages with the set of result pages, and ranking the set of result pages so that result pages that are also included in the set of predicted pages are ranked higher than those that are not. Methods herein also contemplate using the search history of the user or others to refine the results of searches.

Ask.com

Relevancy-based database retrieval and display techniques Invented by Tao Yang, Wei Wang, and Apostolos Gerasoulis US Patent Application 20060129552 Published June 15, 2006 Filed February 2, 2006

Abstract

Techniques to retrieve, rank and display data objects retrieved form a database are described. In particular, methods to assign a global ranking value to a data object based on a combination of that object's link-based (e.g., vector-space cluster analysis) and text-based (e.g., word frequency) ranks are described. Additional techniques to determine a set of concepts, topics or key words associated with each retrieved data objects are described.

My usual reminder about patents: Some of the processes and technology described in patents are created in house, and some are developed with the assistance of contractors and partners. A percentage are never developed in a tangible manner, but may serve as a way to attempt to exclude others from using the technology, or even to possibly mislead competitors into exploring an area that they might not have an interest in (sometimes skepticism is good.)

There are times when a Google or Yahoo acquires a company to gain access to the intellectual property of that company, or the intellectual prowess and expertise of that company's employees. And sometimes patents are just purchased.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Technology & Relevancy area of the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Bill Slawski at 8:42 PM | Permalink

June 16, 2006

Bill Gates To Work Part Time at Microsoft in 2008

Tons and tons of news coverage on Bill Gates's announcement he has given up his "chief software architect" role now and will be stepping down to be a part time employee and chairman in July 2008. Gates would like to spend more time working on his charitable foundation the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The BBC has a nice Q&A on the changes here.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:57 AM | Permalink

June 13, 2006

Search Companies Energetically Seeking Electricity

The Wall Street Journal reports that the search companies, including Microsoft, Yahoo, Ask and possibly Google are looking to find cheap electricity to power all the computers and hardware that power the companies. The article says that one large data center can use as much energy as a city of 40,000 people! The search companies are looking for locations next to cheap energy sources such as former defense bunkers, near hydroelectric plants, and other locations where electricity is cheaper. Microsoft's data center consumption of power doubled over the past four years, so this is a serious concern for Microsoft and other search companies.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:02 AM | Permalink

May 26, 2006

Ballmer On Google And Don't Be Evil: Laugh & No Comment

When I asked Barry Diller earlier this year if Ask needed some type of "Don't Be Evil" like Google, his answer got the audience roaring with laughter. "Be Evil," he said, then qualifying that businesses needed to be realistic. Now Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gets to swing at the same question in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. He basically dodges the question by saying Google doesn't seem to follow it.

Definitely check out the exchange in the interview in On The Record, Microsoft Corp, Steve Ballmer. It starts off:

Q: This is an old question, but it always comes up: What do you think of the "Don't be evil" mantra as a corporate culture?

A: Who are we talking about?

Q: Google.

A: Do they follow it? (Laughs.)

Q: What do you think of that?

A: I don't have any comment. I'll ask you. I mean, it's one thing to have a mantra and it's another thing to follow it. Dude, you've got to ask yourself that question.

Q: Are you saying that they don't?

A: I didn't say anything. No comment about it.

Well, I'd say he pretty much gave a comment on it -- and that he doesn't think Google follows it. C'mon Steve, be brave and just say so. Plenty of people would agree that it's either outdated or something Google doesn't always live up to.

So what's the Microsoft mantra? No catch phrase, but he says:

We believe in empowering people and businesses around the world to realize their full potential. We have a set of core values that we believe in.

Lots more in the interview, covering being engaged in China to never having read his Wikipedia entry to the fight not being over in search.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:10 PM | Permalink

May 12, 2006

Microsoft Fires Back at Google Over IE7 Complaint

News.com reports that Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, feels Google is asking for special treatment with the whole controversy on IE7 defaulting the search to MSN Search. Ballmer explains that if you configured IE to use Yahoo search, then when you upgrade to IE7, Yahoo will remain as the default. Only when you get a new computer, will the default search be MSN Search. Also, if you want to change that, the first option in the list is Ask.com, since the search engines are sorted alphabetically. More food for thought off Danny's last comment on this.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:34 AM | Permalink

May 11, 2006

Semel To Microsoft: "You Have No Chance"

The Financial Times has an article with a quote from Yahoo's CEO, Terry Semel, saying "My impartial advice to Microsoft is that you have no chance." Ouch! Semel continues by stating that "the search business has been formed," in response to rumors that Yahoo and Microsoft were to partner or merge. Semel did say that he did discuss with Microsoft the possibility of Microsoft "co-owning some" of Yahoo's search. But Semel said that it would not be a wise move to sell "your right arm while keeping your left." Microsoft just does not seem to be getting much love these days. Jeff Javis also has some blogging of his talk here.

Postscript: The New Yorker posted the video of the interview here, I am listening to it now and towards the end, is the quote. You have to listen to the way he said it, it is very cool. "My impartial advice to Microsoft is that you have no chance," said the CEO of Yahoo, Terry Semel.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 4:23 PM | Permalink

May 5, 2006

Microsoft: Back To The "Early Days Of Search" Songbook

Microsoft's Ballmer boasts of search engine progress from the Associated Press gives us an update from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, out of this week's MSN Strategic Account Summit, on how things are going on the search front. Short answer: big advances, but lots of work to be done.

Notably, there was no timeline on surpassing Google in six months, something we've heard before. Instead, Microsoft is back to the original songbook of "it's still the early days of search," what they used to say back in 2003, when they declared entry into the search wars. From Ballmer:

"I like to tell our people, 'I like the years when we make at least a year's progress in a year,'" Ballmer said. "I think we've made more than two years' progress in the last two years, so I'm excited about that. And yet, we have a whole lot more innovation that we want to bring to these areas."

And:

"We are hardcore about having the best search offering ourselves, with our partners," Ballmer said. "We'll just keep at it and at it and at it, and I have confidence in our ability to build a loyal user base."

From corporate VP Christopher Payne, who oversees MSN Windows Live Search:

"I think we'll look back on this as the DOS era of search."

And from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, acknowledgment of Google doing a "great job" but not to count Microsoft out:

"I think this is one of the rare cases where we're being underestimated," Gates said.

Overall, there's really nothing we haven't heard before. Seriously -- the statements yesterday are like the same things said back in mid-2003. Ballmer's right -- they've made huge progress in building a search engine, but it's one that feels still well behind the leaders -- who aren't sitting still themselves.

Imagine the situation if Microsoft had purchased Inktomi back at the end of 2002, rather than letting Yahoo get it for what seems like a pittance today, $235 million. They had the opportunity, one of my knowledgeable readers informs me, but decided it was too steep a price for something they thought they could built themselves.

At least passing on purchasing Overture, which Yahoo also got, hasn't been so bad. On the ad side, Microsoft has built up a strong solution with adCenter.

Want to go back in time and see what's been said before, from the Microsoft camp? Gates Dings Google, Yet Fails To Impress On Search Himself from me last January will take you through the years.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:03 AM | Permalink

May 3, 2006

Yahoo & Microsoft Have Talked Partnering, Merging

I was talking with Kevin Delaney of the Wall Street Journal on Monday about search things in general and mentioned the sense it makes for Microsoft and Yahoo to get together. Microsoft is behind with the core search technology. Yahoo's been struggling to upgrade its paid search service. Let's get these two kids together! And today in the Wall Street Journal, it turns out that there's apparently a faction at Microsoft that wants to do just that.

Via Paid Content, A Microsoft, Yahoo Tie-Up? from the Wall Street Journal has the details. Kevin and colleague Robert Guth write of there being two factions within Microsoft -- the "let's built it ourselves" group that has been in control so far and the "let's acquire" group apparently led by Microsoft senior vice president Hank Vigil.

Vigil is said to have led the failed negotiations to combine MSN with AOL. Frankly, a Yahoo deal makes more sense than that. AOL would have provided existing traffic but not solid search technology. Yahoo provides plenty of traffic, along with core search technology and a healthy, first-hand advertiser base.

What's not to love? Probably the high price of the acquisition, plus whether Yahoo -- especially cofounder Jerry Yang -- would go for it. But apparently it's plausible enough that both companies have talked informally over the past year.

The Wall Street Journal cites the hiring of Steve Berkowitz by Microsoft as perhaps being a tipping point. I'd certainly agree. Steve is the first serious outside person Microsoft has brought in for its battle in the search wars. Bringing him on was a big sign that what Microsoft has been trying to do internally hasn't been working -- and so something radical such as an Ask or Yahoo acquisition might be in order.

The big downside is that such an acquisition would give Microsoft yet another brand to confuse consumers with. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the years to push MSN, they've now shifted things behind making the stupid Windows Live brand their flagship. It's stupid for so many reasons. Let me bullet point two major ones:

• Most people I know don't really like the Windows brand. Heck, I'm a Windows person, fairly anti-Mac, but Windows still represents crashes and glitches to me. And this is the label you want to attach to your online services?  
• We're moving into a world where the operating system and my web-based services aren't necessarily connected. I love Outlook. I live in Outlook. But online, I might want to sync Outlook with Yahoo or Google's calendar. Forcing me to think -- overtly or indirectly through branding -- that I have to use all your products makes me want to use none of them. Let MSN operate as if it wasn't linked to your operating system or your browser and it will be a stronger service in the long run, not weaker.

So Microsoft's already coping with the confusion of two major brands. Adding in Yahoo further confuses matters, unless they perhaps make a brave, bold move and put everything behind the brand leader in the space, Yahoo.

Meanwhile, via Valleywag, Ballmer defends Microsoft's spending increase from the Seattle Times covers a likely leaked memo from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer naming Google as one of the company's chief competitors and requiring further "heavy investments" in search. The goal, which we've heard before, is to create "the web's largest advertising network, giving us an engine that twill enable us to monetize our services and compete against Google."

Ah -- but to compete against Google, you don't need an advertising network. You first need a quality core web search engine, which your heavy investment to date has failed to create. And so back to Yahoo, which has exactly what Microsoft needs, that core technology.

Microsoft's AdCenter May Fail to Topple Google From Dominance from Bloomberg covers how advertisers are getting a more formal look at the MSN adCenter service that Microsoft has rolled out over the past few months. Unlike Microsoft's failure in web search, I'd say adCenter is a big success. The service already has plenty of advertisers using it -- and anecdotally continues to draw lots of praise for its features.

Features ultimately mean little, of course. As the story cites, it's about volume. MSN could have rolled out a terrible product that advertisers would have coped with simply because it was the only way to reach MSN's substantial traffic. But to the company's credit, they did not do that. Instead, they've continued to refine and tweak and take advertiser feedback in a way that has earned them raves I rarely hear recently about the systems at Google or Yahoo. Volume remains key, but the features and wooing still certainly help.

And that brings us back to Yahoo, which has been struggling with an antiquated paid listings toolset. The Counterattack On Google from BusinessWeek covers how Yahoo's "Panama" update to its paid listings system has been progressing over the past two years and is nearing completion. But BusinessWeek correctly summarizes, in my view, the changes are more about bringing Yahoo up to Google's level of features rather than leapfrogging past Google and into features like MSN offers.

It's another argument that makes the idea of Yahoo and Microsoft getting together not wacky at all.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, Yahoo & Microsoft To Combine.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:00 AM | Permalink

April 22, 2006

Ask.com Chief Steve Berkowitz Jumps Ship To Microsoft's MSN

Steve Berkowitz, head of Ask.com and the man who has helped steered that service to new successes, has been hired by Microsoft to run its online business group.

Steve will be senior vice president of MSN's Online Business Group. Microsoft says:

He will be responsible for running the Online Business group, which includes include MSN.com, MSNTV and MSN Internet Access programming, advertising sales, business development, and marketing for Live Platforms, MSN and Windows Live. This team?s mission is to deliver world-class go to market leadership, that wins customers to our services and builds a world leading advertising business. The responsibility for the monetization of our Live Platform, MSN and Windows Live assets is owned by this team, and includes end-to-end management of the online P&L.

Steve is currently CEO of IAC Search & Media, which encompasses Ask. His start date with MSN is May 8. The New York Times reports that Steve's job at Ask is now being assumed by IAC Search & Media president Doug Lebda.

The news of Steve's hire was sent out to MSN employees on Friday with this announcement from Kevin Johnson, Microsoft's copresident of the platforms & services division:

I am pleased to announce that Steve Berkowitz will be joining the Platforms and Services Division (PSD) as Senior Vice President, Online Business Group, reporting to me. Steve succeeds David Cole, who will begin his leave of absence in May.

Most recently, Steve was the CEO of Ask.com, a division of IAC/InterActiveCorp. At Ask, Steve is credited with building the management team that orchestrated the turnaround of Ask.com, grew their user base, increased customer satisfaction, and gained share in the search market over the last year.

Steve is an accomplished senior executive with a rich skill set, including consumer brand building, media, marketing, operations, people management, finance, and technology. He also brings a great blend of start-up and high growth business experiences. Prior to joining Ask, Steve was the President and COO of IDG Books, where he successfully built a consumer brand by expanding the "Dummies" series of books to cover topics ranging from C++ to pet care.

Steve?s management experience, deep functional knowledge of the search and Internet space, and understanding of both the offline and online publishing worlds make him a great choice to lead the Online Business Group. He is a proven leader, and is excited by the opportunity to take the assets we?ve built in MSN and drive our software + services vision forward.

Steve will start this assignment on May 8th. David Cole and I will work together to ensure a smooth transition to Steve.

Please join me in welcoming Steve to Microsoft, and thanking David for his contribution to the company and to MSN.

Regards, Kevin Johnson Co-President Platforms & Services Division

I won't go into more depth on the move right now as it's the weekend, and I almost never work weekends. But I had to check my email today, saw the news from Microsoft and wanted to get something up quickly.

In short, I think it's a great win for Microsoft. Steve knows what it's like to be an underdog in the search space and fight your way back onto the radar screen. My main reaction really is why stop at Steve? Microsoft should have bought Ask long ago.

As I wrote before about the current search wars, Microsoft entered the battle against Google and Yahoo from square one. When it took on Netscape (and other players), it at least acquired technology rather than try to start from scratch.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, Ask.com Chief Berkowitz Heads To MSN.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:57 AM | Permalink

March 7, 2006

Microsoft Again Says It Will Beat Google In Six Months, Then Recants

Last week, the president of Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa Neil Holloway put down a new timetable for beating Google on the relevancy front -- six months. Sound familiar? "Gates Dings Google, Yet Fails To Impress On Search Himself" from me in January highlights similar promises we've heard from higher in the Microsoft executive food chain, including a specific six month promise that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made last June. Since that timeframe came and past, why on earth is Microsoft setting themselves up like this again? For the record, Microsoft claims Holloway was misinterpreted. I'm not buying it.

Here's one of the original articles citing him, from Reuters:

"What we're saying is that in six months' time we'll be more relevant in the U.S. market place than Google," said Neil Holloway, Microsoft president for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

"The quality of our search and the relevance of our search from a solution perspective to the consumer will be more relevant," he told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit.

Holloway then spins in comments on John Battelle's blogs that he was misquoted/misinterpreted/misunderstood:

Unfortunately, the comments attributed to me do not give an accurate reflection on a long and detailed discussion and I would like to set the record straight. I did not say that we would be 'twice as good as Google'. What I did say is that we are committed to investing in R&D aimed at providing a search service, initially in the US in six months, that performs better than the current industry wide standard of one in two urls being connected to the subject of the original query. I also said that our aim is to perform as good, or better, in that respect than Google. This is a long term goal. I did not put a date to it as this is work in progress.

OK, the Reuters article didn't have him saying that Microsoft would be "twice as good" as Google. It has him specifically saying that Microsoft would be more relevant to some unnamed degree than Google within six months.

So what about that six month claim? I have no doubt he said it and meant it exactly as it sounds in the Reuters article. That's because we've heard it before. As I covered in the aforementioned "Gates Dings Google, Yet Fails To Impress On Search Himself" article, Ballmer previously said:

In the next six months, we'll catch Google in terms of relevancy.

After saying that (over six months ago), no one quickly stepped up to correct Ballmer's comment has being misunderstood. Heck, a few months later, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates just added to expectations in saying:

In a very short period of time, we will actually have more than matched the kind of relevance that Google can deliver.

What's happening is that Microsoft has an outdated PR hymn book. Ballmer and Gates have been singing from it already, and Holloway simply was in the unfortunate position of being told to sing along without also being informed that the material is outdated and off-key.

Need some further proof? Holloway was also quoted in the Reuters article as saying this:

"Generally these days what you get back is URLs, and based upon research 50 percent of the time you do a search you don't get the URL you're looking for," he said.

Yep, this would be the same fact we were told when Microsoft announced plans to develop its own search technology back in July 2003. As I quoted Microsoft back then:

"As we've taken close look at search, we've asked, how can we improve the experience? Across the board, about 50 to 70 percent of queries go unanswered. That indicates to us that there's a lot of growth yet to come in the search category," said Gurry, who explained that the high failure rate is based on Microsoft's own internal research. "We've felt we should really develop our own [crawler-based] search engine to try and solve this problem."

That was over two years ago, and this fact has continued to be used as a speaking/selling point.

Hey, I don't disagree that search has a long way to develop. I'm sure Microsoft will continue to grow and create a great search engine. But trotting out the same pitch -- and now trying to rollback that pitch when it's not believed -- isn't the way to win public support. Skip the promises; focus on the deliverables.

As for the MSN Search team itself, it's also jumped into the fray with its own statement, and one that's more reasonable:

We believe that search is in its infancy. We believe there is massive opportunity to improve every aspect of the search experience including: basic web relevancy, new types of media, refining and interacting with your results, leveraging search server infrastructure to provide new services that were never before imagined, and so much more. We are committed to building the world?s best search engine which helps you get your answers as quickly as possible ? and we are excited to spend many years continuing to innovate on our customer?s behalf...

...That said, we won?t try to predict the progress of our competitors and so we won't forecast when we might take the lead, but this is a long term game and we are committed to helping drive the next wave of innovation in search for our customers.

Now let's see if the hymn book changes for the Microsoft execs out there.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:33 AM | Permalink

February 22, 2006

MSN Search Now Powering Microsoft.com

A post by Eytan Seidman at the MSN Search Blog yesterday revealed that in December 2005, MSN began "quietly" powering Microsoft.com Web search. You may also go to http://search.microsoft.com/ to access the Microsoft.com interface to MSN Search.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:41 AM | Permalink

February 10, 2006

Nicol Asked to Build MSN into the Portal "It Should Be"

Nicol to 'bring out the soul' of MSN from News.com covers how new(ish) MSN general manager John Nicol was asked by Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of information services at MSN, to build the MSN portal into "what it should be,"

an entertainment hub.

The article continues by explaining that MSN has "nearly 60 percent reach among U.S. Web surfers in December" and is "ranked second among portals, behind Yahoo, which has 68 percent active reach, according to Nielsen/NetRatings." It is John Nicol's job to build out MSN as a "media network" that is the future of all media networks. That means you can expect to see your media universe connected. Watching a show on TV, hey maybe you want to learn more about the dress one of the characters is wearing? Maybe you want recent news about the football game you are watching? Or maybe you want to buy a ticket to the next baseball game you are watching on TV?

So when can we expect to see this?

Nicol said he is planning a big public launch for the new MSN later this year but expects to roll out some sections and features earlier, like a new travel section, which will come within the next few weeks.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:18 AM | Permalink

January 26, 2006

Microsoft Mix 06 Looks At Mashups, Web 2.0

Microsoft's Mix 06 event in March doesn't have much on search now other than letting Amazon pitch its Alexa Web Search Platform, but perhaps more will come later. The event really is focused on Microsoft taking the entire Web 2.0 thing and trying to make it its own. Seriously, they say that right here on the event blog:

Andy: Seems like everyone is desperate to take ownership of web 2.0 - and this conference looks like microsoft's effort pack it in and be more open to true collaboration and alternative considerations....!!

Ray: Hi Andy -- in fact, that's exactly our intention. We obviously have our own take on the Web and where it's going. I suspect that in some places we agree with Tim O'Reilly and his particular "Web 2.0" crowd and in some places we disagree. At MIX, though, we really do want to hear all the alterative viewpoints and so we thought it was important to make sure that Tim had a seat at the table.

That comment is a reference to Tim O'Reilly, who will be doing an unscripted one-on-one talk with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates at the conference.

You'll find the event home page here, agenda here, blog here. For details of sessions, head to hard to find session details page here. Here are the two sessions involving search so far:

Build Your Own Search Engine Speaker: Jeff Barr (Amazon)

Amazon subsidiary Alexa.com is leveling the search playing field. For the first time, developers looking to build the next "big thing" in search or an ultra custom search engine have access to the 300 terabytes of Alexa crawl data, along with the utilities to search, process, and publish their own custom subset of the data-all at a reasonable price. Developers no longer need a million dollar budget or to reinvent the wheel designing search algorithms, to be able to build their own search engines or create customized Web services based on data from the Alexa crawl. As a full-service Web analysis and Web service publication platform, the Alexa Web Search Platform should allow any user with an Internet connection to access Web content on a large scale and provide new services or applications to the online community. Jeff Barr provides an overview of the Alexa API and shows developers and designers how to get on the new, leveled search playing field.

Making Your Site Look Great in IE7 Speaker: Markus Mielke Focus

In this session, learn how to build and maintain standards-based sites that work great in IE7. Learn how to take advantage of new capabilties such as better HTML and CSS standards support, RSS and Search integration, and new security features.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:49 PM | Permalink

Microsoft Announces Two New Research Labs: Live Labs and Search Labs

Just weeks after announcing the formation of the Microsoft adLab, the company is announcing two new research labs, Microsoft Live Labs (MLL) and Search Labs.

MLL will bring together researchers from MSN and Microsoft Research and will be led by Dr. Gary Flake, a technical fellow at Microsoft. Dr. Flake came to Microsoft last year. Before moving to Redmond he was the person in charge of Yahoo Research where I had the opportunity to interview him in 2004.

Microsoft Live Labs will focus on, "Internet-centric applied research programs including: rapidly prototyping and launching emerging technologies, incubating entirely new inventions, and improving and accelerating Windows Live offerings."

A list of some of the Windows Live current projects can be reviewed here. Projects include everything from the Live.com home page to Windows Live Local (directory, maps and "birds eye" magery) to the soon to launch Windows Live Expo (classified ad/social marketplace).

Ray Ozzie, Craig Mundie and David Vaskevitch, Microsoft Corp's chief technical officers, will all serve as the Live Labs Advisory Board.

From the announcement: Live Labs will investigate a broad and comprehensive set of research topics such as multimedia search, machine learning, distributed computing, data mining, as well as engage in rapid prototyping, and the incubation of disruptive technologies. Unlike basic research, which is geared toward visionary discoveries that may or may not end up in actual products, and product development, which is very feature focused and geared toward solving tactical engineering problems, Live Labs applied research will study the relationship and applicability of theories or principles to the solution of a problem, or an actual product or service.

Search Labs In addition to Microsoft Live Labs, the company is also announcing another new lab, Search Labs (SL), that will have a presence at both MS headquarters in Redmond and the Microsoft Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View, CA. SL work closely with Microsoft Live Labs.

Search Labs will be run by new MS hire, Ashok Chandra, a former VP at Verity. SL will focus on personalization and socialization and also build datamining, verticals, and parametric capabilities, "to go beyond the search bar experience."

The press release has more including info about grants, fellowships and sabbaticals for members of the academic community.

Finally, Dr. Flake has published "Live Labs - a Manifesto" that offers details on the vision, mission, philosophy, and structure of the Live Labs. In the vision section of the manifesto Flake writes: This is not Web 2.0. It's World 2.0.

Learn more from the MS Live Labs web site.

Postscript: Ina Fried has more info in this News.com story.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:04 AM | Permalink

January 19, 2006

Keynote Says Google, Yahoo Preferred in North America

Keynote Systems has released the results of its annual study of North American searchers and their satisfaction with search engines. The study ranked user satisfaction by tracking the search behavior of 2,000 users on AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, Google, MSN Search and Yahoo, and found Google and Yahoo were clear #1 and #2 favorites, respectively. Today's SearchDay article, Survey: Google, Yahoo Still Favorites in North America, has the details. Also see yesterday's SearchDay article, Study: Google #1 in China, for details of a similar study Keynote performed in China.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 10:47 AM | Permalink

January 5, 2006

Gates Dings Google, Yet Fails To Impress On Search Himself

Via Good Morning Silicon Valley, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates let loose on Google in an interview with the Associated Press before his CES keynote yesterday, complaining of Google's "honeymoon period" and the perception that Google can do anything, including producing a "robot that will cook hamburgers." Of course, Microsoft's had its own extended honeymoon period in search. It has failed to deliver as much as Gates says Google will fail as it branches out. Moreover, the tired lines of slamming Google aren't making the Microsoft case any stronger.

Let's deal with the key quotes from Gates first. Apparently in response to rumors of what Google will announce at CES, Gates said:

"I hear they're coming out with a robot that will cook hamburgers, too. Let's spread that rumor ? there's nothing they can't do."

Continuing on, Gates said:

"Whatever they announce, they announce. They're in their honeymoon period, and anything they announce gets hype.... They will obviously branch out beyond internet search, but I think the expectations won't live up to reality."

Let's spin that around. More than two years ago -- in June 2003 -- Microsoft announced it was getting serious about search and launched the first part of its own crawler-based search engine. We were told then that Microsoft thought there was plenty of room for improvement in search. Good spin for a newcomer trying to make room in the space, but it was also true enough.

Last February, we finally got the polished version of MSN Search. It didn't deliver anything better than Google or Yahoo or Ask Jeeves. Now a year after launch, it still doesn't push past Google, either in terms of relevancy as Microsoft itself admits or in terms of traffic despite a multimillion dollar ad campaign.

How long does the honeymoon last? Because if Google's getting a long one, Microsoft's had a long one too.

Hype? Microsoft still gets hype as the biggest challenger to Google when Yahoo's sitting around trouncing it in search and breathing much more down Google's neck. But Yahoo gets largely ignored because Microsoft is just as much a hype magnet as Google. If either Google or Microsoft fart, someone deems it worth a news story and starts compiling a table charting the smell and impact.

How about some substance rather than breaking wind? I'll get to that, but let's recap what promises and other statements Microsoft's given us over the past year:

• Bill Gates: "Today's Search is Nothing": Promise at beginning of last year that research will make the state of search at that time look like a joke. Same thing we heard in mid-2003. A year-and-a-half later, we're still getting promises.  
• Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: Google "One-Hit Wonder": Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggests Google doesn't have many tricks up its sleeve. Yet the one trick they apparently do have, Microsoft has yet to match.  
• Microsoft Slams "Perfect" Google Again: Gates mocks the idea of Google as perfect.  
• Ballmer On How They "MSN You" in Holland, Korea & Google Was Curing Cancer: Ballmer mocks Google, suggesting they'll cure cancer next.  
• More Google Chatter from Various Sources Including Bill Gates: Google's arrogant, and he wants the press to feed that -- plus digs that Google doesn't understand that to organize information, you need tools, editors and subject experts. Ironically, MSN Search used to have all that before it dropped such tools and editors to pursue the holy grail of matching Google's algorithmic results.  
• Bill Gates: MSN Search Will Soon "More than Match" Google in Terms of Relevance: Gates says that in a "very short period of time" Microsoft will have "more than matched the kind of relevance that Google can deliver."

So here we are at CES, which albeit isn't focused on search. But with Google and Yahoo making keynote debuts on what was formerly Microsoft's turf -- and attracting tons of attention in the process -- maybe tossing a bone to the search crowd might have made sense. Show off some of that expected relevancy to come. Let's have it. Wow us. Skip the video game fight. Give me a search engine shootout.

Instead, reading through the Gates keynote yesterday, search seemed to be barely mentioned. Specifically, I count the word "search" or "searching" mentioned 10 times out of 14,759 words. OK, I'll through in 20 mentions of "find" or stems of that word. That's gives us 0.2% of the text devoted to search.

Most of those mentions are about changes to make it easier to find music content and video content through Microsoft. Good thing, since they've got plenty of competitors already doing that now. Searching for things on your computer will be easier. Good thing again, but I've got plenty of tools that already let me do that now -- and people like Google beat Microsoft in offering them. Beyond that? Search is apparently on the Start button in Vista.

Yawn.

If the continued ripping at Google for being "perfect" is getting like beating a dead horse, the entire "search will be in the operating system" thing is even worse. Geez, I didn't buy that as a Google killer back in 2003 and before. Nor since then has it proved a killer knockout. As a reminder, search is on the Start button in XP right now. It was built into the menu of Windows 98, for goodness sake. It's been built into Internet Explorer since IE3, at the very least.

How about some real search deliverables? Two months ago, Gates said:

"We need to surprise people and do a search that is way better than Google, and we are very on top of that. The idea of development tools, a natural interface, productivity software ? Google is not in any of those categories. People are acting as if they will magically be in these other categories with something more than a 'me too' offering. It is kind of fun that people underestimate what we are going to do here."

So what, nothing to wow us at CES? Do we have to go into another year of search vaporware? And will Microsoft complain that they're going to get another year of hype when anything they do gets compared to Google, despite that the press attention would be better spent on comparing Yahoo to Google?

Too harsh? These are Microsoft's top executives talking -- and talking pretty bluntly and negatively about the competition. Let's also recall what Ballmer said in June:

"In the next six months, we'll catch Google in terms of relevancy."

As Gurtie aptly pointed out at Threadwatch recently, those six months have now passed. Gates certainly didn't declare MSN Search to have surpassed Google yesterday at CES to back up Ballmer's statement.

MSN Search has gotten better. There are a lot of good, talented people on that product. And the former MSN Virtual Earth -- now Windows Live Local -- is awesome especially for the ability to build custom maps that mix different types of business together. But it's tiring to hear the Microsoft leadership just rip at Google rather than deliver successes that speak for themselves. CES was an opportunity for that, and it looks to have been wasted.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:34 PM | Permalink

December 23, 2005

MSN Getting Cleaner Look In The Microsoft Three Portal Strategy

I want Microsoft to pick a portal brand and go with it. We've had MSN. Then this year, we got the new Start.com, which seems to be a pared down alternative to the flagship MSN. Then we got Windows Live after that, which seems like a Windows-branded portal. I can't see anything over there at all, by the way -- but info here and a blog about it from Microsoft here. Now Barry spots a WebmasterWorld thread noticing that MSN is getting a new pared down look, as this beta site shows. You almost want MSN to stay cluttered so there's some reason to consider the other two choices.

Postscript from Gary: I've been tracking the new MSN home page beta since August 2005 with posts here and another post from October.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:16 AM | Permalink

November 25, 2005

Bill Gates: MSN Search Will Soon "More than Match" Google in Terms of Relevance

In an interview with Information Week, Bill Gates talks about Microsoft Research and speaks briefly about search and of course mentions a competitor that begins with the letter "G". Gates says that coming soon MSN will have "more than matched" Google in terms relevance. Here's the full passage:

Gates says: Search is an amazing example where we relied somewhat on an outside company, Inktomi, which Yahoo bought, then decided to build our own search effort essentially from scratch. Now, in a very short period of time, we will actually have more than matched the kind of relevance that Google can deliver. The role of Microsoft Research in that has been phenomenal.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:34 AM | Permalink

November 11, 2005

MSN Begins Beta Testing New Homepage

MSN officials have posted that they're now testing a beta version(s) (IE only for now, Firefox support "coming soon") of the MSN homepage. Of course, the MSN Homepage team is chronicling their activities on a blog.

According to "the MSN homepage team's Blog," random visitors to http://www.msn.com will also be selected to check out various beta versions.

Neal Freeland, Group Planning Manager, at MSN writes: One of these versions looks pretty similar to Yahoo! Last year they tested a page that looked a lot like MSN. I guess we're both just curious about how our audience reacts to a competitor's page. Remember, this is just a test. Thanks for the help :)

Btw, I've posted about MSN testing some a new look to their home page first in August that soon disappeared. This official launch, in the past week or so, includes a number of features (several similar to Live.com and Start.com) sites. Kerry Woolsey, from MSN lists several of the beta's features and also touts the reduction of ads on the page.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:27 PM | Permalink

November 9, 2005

Microsoft's Ray Ozzie: "We Knew Search Would Be Important"

We've read numerous comments from Microsoft's Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer in the recent past about web search and Google in particular. This time it's Microsoft's CTO, Ray Ozzie, with a few thoughts that were published internally and seen by News.com.

Key Quotes: "We should've been leaders with all our web properties in harnessing the potential of Ajax, following our pioneering work in OWA (Outlook Web Access)," Ozzie wrote. "We knew search would be important, but through Google's focus they've gained a tremendously strong position."

"Google is obviously the most visible here, although given the hype level it is difficult to ascertain which of their myriad initiatives are simply adjuncts intended to drive scale for their advertising business, or which might ultimately grow to substantively challenge our offerings," Ozzie wrote. "Although Yahoo also has significant communications assets that combine software and services, they are more of a media company and--with the notable exception of their advertising platform--they seem to be utilizing their platform capabilities largely as an internal asset.

Postscript: You can read the memos yourself directly through Dave Winer's Hypercamp, where he's gotten copies of them.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:44 AM | Permalink

November 5, 2005

More Google Chatter from Various Sources Including Bill Gates

Yes, it's another story about Schmidt, Brin, and Page (aka the Google Guys) in the latest issue of Forbes. It's titled, Google Thinks Small.

Here are a few key passages: Google is now at $6 billion a year in revenue and $7.6 billion in cash, employing 5,000 painstakingly chosen people. Schmidt and other insiders believe they may have found a world-changing way to run a company. (Then again, nothing Google does, in its own view, is ever average.) Most firms still look like the refining and manufacturing businesses of Rockefeller and Ford. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, children of the Internet, have built a world where a well-chosen elite accommodates flexibility, shifting roles and, above all else, urgency.

One success in ten tries is okay; one in five is superb. Everyone from a failed venture moves to another urgent project. "If something is successful, you work it in, somehow," Schmidt says. "If it fails, you leave."

On Working at Google One key rule: You can't call any idea "stupid." (Nor is most any idea too wild. On a recent day at the Google campus a bulletin board invited workers to a session on the dream of erecting a 200-mile-high elevator into space.)

You'll also read about the Google interview process.

Finally from Forbes: Marc Meyer, who knew Schmidt at UC, Berkeley and worked with him at PARC, says Schmidt sees a day when Google will hold everyone's data on a "trust me" basis. "He told me, ?If you want it to be private, don't put it in a computer,'" says Meyer, now at a recent tech startup. "Eric has an Anakin Skywalker conundrum. He has absolute power, and it will be hard to resist the Dark Side."

Schmidt counters:"I joined a small company full of smart guys, and it still feels like that. We just have to change outside perceptions."

OK, so that's Google. Now, on to Microsoft.

Via Search Engine Guide, this Computer.co.uk interview with Bill Gates where he spends some time discussing what else, Google.

Gates says (again we've heard some of this before):

?Which Google products are you talking about? Seriously? Other than search, which are you talking about? Google Talk? Wow. A total ?me too? product. Even Gmail ? what is the unique thing?? he says.

?We need to surprise people and do a search that is way better than Google, and we are very on top of that. The idea of development tools, a natural interface, productivity software ? Google is not in any of those categories. People are acting as if they will magically be in these other categories with something more than a ?me too? offering. It is kind of fun that people underestimate what we are going to do here.?

Gates on Google and the Press and Who Should Organize the World's Information

Here's my favorite quote from Bill G: Google is great, they are smart people, the press should continue to feed their arrogance as much as possible,? he says.

?They say they are going to organise the world?s information. Well, we don?t think that is our job. We think you need to get tools to editors and subject experts to let them organise the world?s information. There is a bit of a philosophy difference here. The only sure winner is the consumer.?

Posted by Gary Price at 6:25 PM | Permalink

October 26, 2005

Bill Gates Visits The Holy Land and Talks Search

The AP article: Gates Promises Tough Battle With Google, includes comments from Bill G. while in Israel.

He acknowledged the intense competition with Google, which dominates the highly profitable market for Web searches. But Gates said Web-search technology still has room to improve. "Internet search as it is today will be dramatically better in a few years, whether it's us or Google," he said. "We're both going to be making dramatic improvements there."

This is just about the same thing Bill G. told News.com at the beginning of the year when he said that the search of today is "nothing."

See Also: Gates Talks Google (via News.com)

See Also: Microsoft's Ballmer on Chair Throwing and Competing with Google

See Also: Full Text of Steve Ballmer's Recent Keynote Interview at Gartner/IT Expo

Posted by Gary Price at 6:58 PM | Permalink

October 21, 2005

Ballmer On How They "MSN You" in Holland, Korea & Google Was Curing Cancer

Gary wrote earlier of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently denying any chair throwing at a conference, but Good Morning Silicon Valley highlighted another quote from Ballmer that caught my eye: "People say 'I'm going to MSN you' in Holland and Korea."

Really? I'm still sort of reeling in disbelief from the entire A9d it mention on the OC earlier this year. I thought perhaps Ballmer was referring to MSN Messenger. I can more readily see people in Holland or Korea saying they "MSN you" and meaning sending an instant message. Heck, I could see anyone anywhere saying that. But the News.com story quoting Ballmer makes it clear this was about web search, as I've bolded:

He pointed to the strength of Microsoft's MSN brand outside of the United States as proof that the company is making strides in the Web search market. "People say 'I'm going to MSN you' in Holland and Korea.

I couldn't resist adding to this other comment he made about Google:

If you read the papers today, other than curing cancer, Google will do everything.

Actually, Google WAS curing cancer at one time. Google Compute, launched back in 2002, let Google Toolbar users donate processor time to Folding@home, a Stanford protein research project with cancer cures as one of its goals.

Interestingly, I guess Google stopped providing this support around 2003. That's the copyright at the bottom of the Google Compute page, which says the toolbar no longer can be used to help the project. Hmm -- opportunity perhaps for Microsoft?

Postscript: Reader Dennis Pallet who lives in Holland writes:

I just read your blog entry about how Dutch people say "I'm going to MSN you" when they talking about MSN web search, but this is absolute nonsense.

I live in The Netherlands myself, and most people have never even heard of MSN Search. The phrase refers to MSN Messenger. Almost everyone here seems to think MSN = MSN Messenger, and don't even know about the MSN brand.

Like I said, the News.com story made the quote out as if it was a reference to web search, but perhaps there was some confusion. It certainly makes a lot more sense to hear it being connected to MSN Messenger.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:28 AM | Permalink

September 13, 2005

Gates Talks Google

Bill Gates sat down with CNET for an interview today about a variety of topics including web search and Google. The complete interview is posted here.

Here are a few quotes from Bill Gates:

On API's Our search API is way better than their search API. Clearly, they are working in that area. They haven't done as much on the server piece. They had a Google server, but it was very bad at corporate search.

On Organizing all of the Worlds Info ...they have this slogan that they are going to organize the world's information. Our slogan is that we are going to give people tools to let them organize the world's information. It's a slightly different approach, based on the platform-ization of all of our capabilities and not thinking of ourselves as the organizer.

On the Honeymoon Period You do me-too Google Talk, and it's a big deal. But we had our honeymoon phase, and it was fun from maybe 1985 to 1995. And we've had lots of competitors in their honeymoon phase. But I'd say, in some ways, this is the biggest honeymoon I've ever seen.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:01 PM | Permalink

May 31, 2005

Microsoft Slams "Perfect" Google Again

Forget the previous Microsoft party line on Google, where Microsoft admitted to being "stupid" in falling behind in the search space. Now it seems to be one of snicker at Google's success. Spotted via Search Engine Lowdown, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates said during a conference last week in apparently sarcastic tones:

Google is still perfect; the bubble is floating, and they can do everything.

This follows on Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggesting indirectly earlier this month that Google was a "one-hit wonder" that "nobody thinks can do any wrong."

Google, of course, does plenty of wrong. More on that and Ballmer's remarks in my past post, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: Google "One-Hit Wonder".

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:41 AM | Permalink

May 19, 2005

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: Google "One-Hit Wonder"

Spotted via John Battelle, The World According to Ballmer at BusinessWeek has Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggesting that Google "may just be a one-hit wonder."

Well, it's been a long-running hit, if so. OK, the vast majority of Google's revenue comes from ads. But the places those ads are placed are diverse:

• On search results at Google
• On search results elsewhere
• On web pages
• Now in RSS
• And not even just paid text links

And the things Google offers:

• Search of all flavors, a significant product
• Blogging
• Email
• Photo Management
• Web Analytics
• Mapping & Satellite Coverage

That's just top of my head stuff.

But skip the "one-hit wonder" comment. What's more significant is Ballmer calling Google "the one nobody thinks can do any wrong."

If anything, Google is coming under more and more attacks for various things, in particular for being too dominant. Heck, that's been going on since 2002, as I wrote back then:

In particular, Google's biggest challenge may be that so many people now see it as the only search engine that "matters," a marketplace dominance in search that seems akin to that which Microsoft has with operating systems, office software and web browsers.

Despite the stronger competition from Yahoo and Microsoft, fears about Google have only grown, from where I sit. And that's why the Microsoft comment is so alarming.

If they really believe people think Google does no wrong, then they fail to understand just how dominant Google really is. That's because when you are dominant -- like Microsoft is in other spaces -- there are plenty of people who see wrong in what you do. And plenty of people are growing to be critical about Google.

That's the point Microsoft ought to be making. Ironically, Microsoft is a potential balancing force in the space, because Google is not universally loved and dissent is growing, despite the vast legion of fans.

Postscript: Gary's found the transcript of remarks here.

On the other hand, the only way really to hit a home run is to keep taking swings, got to keep getting up there and striking at the ball. Sometimes you miss, but really successful innovation is a matter of probabilities and patience and tenacity. No one bats even close to a thousand, which is why the hot company of the moment, the one that people really think could do no wrong, may just be a one-hit wonder. What counts is sustained, successful, tenacious innovation over time.

As you can see, Google's not actually named. BusinessWeek did say it was a clear allusion to them, and I'd take it the same. But it could also be applicable to the general idea that there always seems someone new coming up in any field Microsoft plays in.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:32 AM | Permalink

May 2, 2005

Seattle Times On MSN's Road To Finding Search

Seattle Times technology reporter, Kim Peterson, offers an in-depth review and history Microsoft's search efforts in the article: Microsoft learns to crawl.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:50 AM | Permalink

April 18, 2005

MSN Surveys Web Searchers

While perusing the Sympatico/MSN.ca home page this afternoon I noticed a link to a 19 question "search survey" that MSN is asking users to complete. Here are a couple of questions:

+ If you had to find something out, what would you do to get the answer most quickly" Note: The librarian in me was sad to see that library, librarian, or independent info pro was not enumerated as choice. )-:

+ "When you buy a new electrical or electronic appliance do you..."

+ When you are driving how often would you say you get lost?

+ When you do ?get lost? online, on average how long before you find what you are looking for?

+ If you do ever give up internet searches, what is the main reason?

The link to the site I found includes "CA" (for Canada) in the url. I also noticed that the url works if you replace the CA with US or UK which means it's likely that MSN is surveying searchers around the globe. However, I was unable to find a link to the survey on the U.S. or UK MSN home pages. I didn't check every country code but noticed that the survey is also available in Spanish if you use MX (Mexico) in the url.

Postscript: eltelendro tells SEW that he was asked to complete the survey via msn messenger. Here's a screenshot.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:24 PM | Permalink

April 6, 2005

Talking With MSN Search

Spotted via Search Engine Roundtable, Interview with MSN's Web Search Team from Rand Fiskin at SEOmoz covers a range of topics, such as why the service was created, understanding its in a solid third place versus Google and Yahoo but hoping that being in the game will change that, some brief coverage on dealing with spam and other topics.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:06 PM | Permalink

January 21, 2005

Update On New MSN Search Going Live

Yesterday, I noted that when I visited the regular MSN Search site, I got the look and results that also show at the beta MSN Search site like a growing number of others. So what's the deal. Is the beta gone? Am I just one of the increasing number of those being shown the beta as MSN has promised would happen this month. And if and when the beta site really is out of beta, won't it stop saying beta on the site?

From Microsoft, this statement:

MSN has been recently scaling up and scaling down the MSN Search beta service. This continues to be part of the testing process as we near the final version and incorporate user feedback. Until we fully launch the site, you may expect to see various changes occurring. Once the service is final, the "beta" label will be removed.

In other words, it's not out of beta yet. Even if you see the "beta" site now showing up when you visit the main site, others may not. But when the word "beta" disappears, then it'll be official for everyone.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our forum thread, IMO – New MSN Search is NOW LIVE!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:46 AM | Permalink

January 5, 2005

Bill Gates: "Today's Search is Nothing"

News.com has just posted a Q&A interview with Bill Gates on a variety of issues including search, web browsers, and why he doesn't have a blog.

After saying the MS was in the search business before Google, Gates says Microsoft has a, "commitment to build unique search technology across the board," and points to the work being done at Microsoft Research (see: Microsoft Research Gets Serious About Search and a compilation of several MS Research search-related papers and patents I compiled in July.)

Gates goes on to say, "...our research agenda will allow us to take today's search from ourselves and Google and make what we have today look like a joke." Later in the interview he talks about search being a "significant" business (aka "big revenue") for MS and again says that, "today's search is nothing."

When the interview turns to talk about desktop search Gates says, "...we want to compete on the desktop because that's a key innovation area for Windows...we think the competition between ourselves and Google and Yahoo will improve things." This is after he says that most of the reviews he has seen gives MSN Desktop higher marks than Google Desktop.

We're planning our own comparative review of desktop search tools for Search Day but I can say that I've been impressed to this point when using MSN's desktop tool. Of course, this comparative review from Slate published yesterday, places Copernic's desktop search product (one I've liked and used since day one) at the top of the list while giving MSN a higher grade than Google.

Finally, Mr. Bill says that local search (finding your local pizza parlor) isn't all that good these days and says again that search in 2005 is not very good. In this instance he uses the word "crummy."

On the topic of weblogs he says that MSN Spaces has nearly one million users and because of RSS the decay rate (people starting and stopping blogs) is improving. Gate says he's toyed with the idea of blogging but doesn't want to start something he can't finish. That said, he's keeping the idea of starting a blog in mind.

OK, those are a few of the highlights that I took away from the interview. When it comes to search I think that a major issue Mr. Bill has to deal with (at least for now) is public perception (right or wrong) of Microsoft versus the almost always positive (maybe even an understatement) things that the public and the press have to say about his search competitors. Innovation in the research lab is one thing but getting the masses (not early tech adopters) to try something new, understand how it might be useful to them, and then want to use it on a regular basis, is something else. They'll also have to deal with the press wanting to compare whatever they offer with what Google has done, is doing, or will/might/could offer in the future versus looking at the product. Of course, throughout all of this Google, Yahoo, Jeeves, and all of the others will also be innovating. Plus, I believe that vertical search tools will continue to offer plenty of new search options. Bottom Line: Yes, this is going to be fun.

As MS rolls out more in the way of search, we will begin seeing plenty of "traditional" advertising. This is somewhat ironic since Google has been able to build its brand and reputation without having to do any of it.

Posted by Gary Price at 7:41 PM | Permalink

December 13, 2004

News From MSN Coming Today

MSN let us know last week that they'd be having a news conference today. About what, we still can't say -- but news of the conference itself has gone out to the public via the MSN Search Blog. The blog invites anyone to listen in and provides call in details. So if you're around today at 10am Pacific with time on your hands, feel free to tune-in.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:09 AM | Permalink

December 2, 2004

MSN Rank Checker & Other Gadgets

Search engines have generally disliked rank checking tools, so what a surprise to read on the official MSN Search Blog a tip about one. I'm enjoying that blog! The Search Beta Extensions also mentions a desktop "search widget" and a Firefox plug-in. And a tip on the rank checker, which is for MSN only, don't use a full URL. IE, drop the http:// portion.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:10 PM | Permalink

November 30, 2004

Microsoft Blogger Scoble Sticks With Google -- Though MSN Deserves A Break

He might work for Microsoft, but blogvangelist Robert Scoble says he's sticking with Google over his company's own search engine for now. Two reasons -- too many ads above the fold and disappointment with the results of a search on "microsoft blog." See his Just a little search comparison entry for more.

MSN deserves a little more credit on the ad side, however. I tried a search for dvd players on Google, MSN's beta search site and Yahoo and measured from the top of page down to the first editorial web listing. (For the record, I'm running 1024x768 on a 20" LCD monitors).

On Google, it was 12.5 centimeters to the first result. Above that were two different ads stretched horizontally across the screen, followed by Google Desktop OneBox results, then Google News OneBox results. Eliminate the Google Desktop results, and it's a 10 centimeter drop.

On the MSN Search beta site, it was also a 10 centimeter drop. Even though MSN Search has three ads, rather than two, they are a bit more compact. The two ads on Google take up 3 centimeters of space, while MSN takes 4.5 centimeters -- but MSN doesn't integrate any news search results in the query, so it saves a bit of room overall.

Over at Yahoo, it's a 17 centimeter stretch. Four ads are shown horizontally, taking up a giant 8 centimeters of space.

All this will vary depending on the search, of course. In some cases, Google won't have horizontal ads. And if it lacks OneBox results, even more space is saved. However, things like OneBox results or Yahoo's Shortcuts are sometimes more relevant that the usual primacy given to web results, so I won't fault them for that at all. It's good invisible tab implementation.

Instead, I think it goes more to first impressions. As noted, the Google horizontal ad box is simply smaller in size than MSN's and often doesn't show at all. MSN isn't that bad for getting you to web results, if that's what you want, but they can still feel a bit further down.

As for the search test, it's always dangerous to rate search engines on the basis of just one query, yet that's often what will resonate most with searchers, especially in the case of ego searches. It doesn't matter that you should do a battery of tests. If someone searches for what they expect and don't get it, that search engine is deemed to have lost.

Again, a little slack for both MSN Search and Yahoo. Google brought the blogs.msdn.com site up first as Robert felt a good search engine should do. But Yahoo and MSN Search weren't bad in putting it there second. And arguably, the blogs.msdn.com site might not be the top answer for that query.

While it is where Microsoft employees blog, it doesn't appear to be the official Microsoft blog. In fact, from what I can tell, there doesn't seem to be an official Microsoft blog at all. So who is to say what should be first for a query on "microsoft blog?" Ultimately, the searcher -- making Robert right subjectively but not objectively for everyone.

FYI to the blogs.msdn.com site, if you do want to be first for "microsoft blog," put those words in your HTML title tag! That's simple, long-standing SEO tip would probably be enough to move you to first on MSN and Yahoo.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:57 PM | Permalink

November 15, 2004

MSN Search Insider Offers Look At MSN Searches

Ian over in our forums gives a heads-up of a new MSN Search Insider feature that has sprung up. It shows the top 200 queries on MSN Search (annoyingly in random order), top "movers" in TV, sports and music, and a "duels" feature pitting top queries in a race against each other.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:15 AM | Permalink

October 19, 2004

Microsoft Search Research

At the Web 2.0 Conference last week, eWeek Senior Editor Peter Galli spent a few minutes chatting with Microsoft's Rick Rashid, senior vice president for research.

Galli's interview: Microsoft Research Efforts in Full Swing, is now online. You'll read about web search and personalization. Peter asks about blog searching but Rick says he can't comment.

Danny recently posted a roundup of coverage from Microsoft Search Champs and I blogged about Microsoft's Text Mining Search and Navigation team.

and on a somewhat related note...

A new paper co-authored by Susan Dumais from Microsoft Research was published on the web today. It appears in the e-journal, Information Research.

Title: Information behaviour that keeps found things found Authors: Harry Bruce, William Jones, University of Washington Susan Dumais, Microsoft Research

This paper reports on a study that the researchers call: 'Keeping found things found on the Web' or 'KFTF'. The research focuses on the classic problem of ensuring that once a useful information source or channel has been located, it can be found again when it is needed. To achieve this goal, individuals engage in information behaviour that the research team refers to as keeping and re-finding. The research study observed both types of information behaviour.

Posted by Gary Price at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 4, 2004

Microsoft's Search Champs A Man's Club?

Microsoft's new Search Champs initiative, which involves 30 bloggers to help the company brainstorm search, counts only one woman among 30 participants. That's Liz Lawley, who comments about the situation here: i feel very alone. Super search guru Tara Calishain would have been an obvious (and excellent) choice. And she was but couldn't make it, as she comments here: Microsoft's "Search Champs" Team.

OK, brainstorming quickly between Gary and I, how about:

• Reva Basch
• Mary Ellen Bates
• Susan Feldman of IDC
• Marti Hearst at UC Berkeley
• Susanne Koch of Pandia
• Jennifer Laycock of Search Engine Guide
• Elizabeth Liddy of Syracuse University
• Marydee Ojala, editor of Online magazine
• Barbara Quint of Searcher magazine
• Avi Rappoport of Search Tools
• Amanda Spink at the University of Pittsburgh
• Genie Tyburski of the Virtual Chase
• Leslie Walker from the Washington Post
• Our own Elisabeth Osmeloski

I'm sure we're still missing plenty of women -- and we could go even longer if we added names of people purely involved on the search marketing side of things (or employed by other search engines, like Monika Henzinger at Google or Srinija Srinivasan of Yahoo).

In short, there are plenty of women in search out there. The real issue might be that they don't all have blogs, so they may not have been visible to blogger Robert Scoble, who helped organize the Microsoft search champs. He comments here: In trouble with Liz.

Postscript: Robert tells me Microsoft asked him specifically to gather people who weren't already known for being involved in the search industry, so he mainly went after those he felt blogged interesting things about search on a more casual basis. That's one reason some on the list above may not have been included.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 17, 2004

Microsoft Research Gets Serious About Search

Microsoft Plays Up Search in Research Reorganization Source: Microsoft Watch

Several new "search oriented" groups have formed after a reorganization at Microsoft Research. The article mentions that a text mining, search and navigation team, "is prominent among the newly minted groups."

A couple of weeks ago The Economist ran an article about the work of Eric Brill, a member of this group, who is developing "answer engine" technology. Here's a recent paper (co-authored by Brill) on the topic that's mentioned in The Economist article: Automatic Question Answering: Beyond the Factoid

Finally, for the past year I've been compiling a list of links to MS Research publications about search along with a selected list of MS search patents.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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