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

September 15, 2005

September 13, 2005

MSN's Developer Center is Now Live

The web developer community will be interested to learn that the MSN Developer Center (Danny provided an overview of last week), is now live. The center contains infomation, developer toolkits, and links to forums for the following MSN services:

MSN Search
MSN Messenger
MSN Virtual Earth
MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search
"Extending" Start.com with "Gadgets"

You'll also find a link to the MapPoint Developer Center.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:26 PM | Permalink

September 12, 2005

Try WSFinder To Find Web Services & APIs

Trying to track down which company is offering an API these days? The new WSFinder service is a search service / wiki that allows this. One of the founders Chris Law tells me they've got about 90 APIs and web services that developers can find and tap into. You can keyword search or browse directory categories such as these related to search: Blog Search, Book Search, Desktop Search, Enterprise Search, Maps and Geography, Product Search, Shopping and Web Search. Have fun!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:49 AM | Permalink

September 9, 2005

New MSN APIs To Be Offered

MSN is to offer series of APIs for MSN Search, MSN Virtual Earth, MSN Messenger and MapPoint for developers who wish to tap into or enhance these products. The program and information isn't live yet, but it will go up in the near future here.

Microsoft says the new area will "give developers one-stop access to a full range of tools, technologies and guidance for greater success in building powerful applications that interact with MSN services and data. Resources include technical articles; newsgroups, forums and blogs; software developer kits (SDKs) for MSN Search, Windows Desktop Search and MSN Messenger." News.com also has a story here: Microsoft Web plan takes aim at Google. Below is the further information MSN has sent us:

MSN will be unveiling a development platform of new application programming interfaces (APIs), Web services and other components designed to help developers build more innovative search, mapping and instant-messaging capabilities. MSN is focused on developing innovative, software-driven and globally scalable communications and information services that will provide consumers with the most useful online experience. The third party developer ecosystem is a key component of delivering on this objective. By opening up our platform to the developer community we hope to extend the opportunity to innovate and create new services and applications thereby providing an even more useful experience for our customers. Below are the specific details for each API by product:

MSN Search: Developers will now have access to the MSN Search Web Services API for non-commercial use, giving them access to the functionality that spans search results for Web site content, local attractions, maps and directions, digital satellite images and other information. Because the MSN Search Web Service is powered by MSN.com search engine, results delivered through the API are the same as what users would see on search.msn.com. The new MSN Web Search Services complement and expand upon the previously released Microsoft Windows Desktop Search APIs within the overall developer platform.
MSN Virtual Earth: Businesses and developers can now access API for MSN Virtual Earth beta for commercial use. In January, customers will have two additional options to choose from to fit their specific needs.
In addition to the service being free, businesses have the opportunity to make money by placing advertisements on their sites in a revenue sharing model (more details to be announced at a later date).

If developers and businesses do not want to utilize the geographical local search capabilities or advertising, they have the option to sign a contract with Microsoft that gives them transactions at a low cost and a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for their MSN Virtual Earth-enhanced applications. This is the model used today for MapPoint Web Service

Additionally, customers can utilize the MapPoint Web Service as their online mapping platform with millions of points of interest, mapping coverage for 27 countries, driving directions, numerous map styles, an SLA for enterprise reliability, and an extranet for uploading custom information.
MSN Messenger Activity API: Developers will be able to create applications that can be used as an extension to MSN Messenger, enabling users to connect in more ways with people on their contact list. This program is a natural progression that builds on MSN games (MSN Instant Games Clubhouse) and other share activities that are already available in MSN Messenger.
As part of this initiative, MSN is also announcing the World?s Application Development contest, to inspire developers to create new applications that will benefit more than 170 million customers around the world. Winning submissions will be eligible for prizes, based on the creativity, launches, and their use of other MSN services in the development process. For more information on, please visit www.worldsbestapp.com.
MapPoint Web Service 4.0: Developers will benefit from new functionality and options for customization included in the newly announced MapPoint Web Service 4.0 featuring new mapping functionality, extended geographic coverage and language support. Customers and partners utilize MapPoint Web Service?s familiar development platform for more easily creating mapping and location-aware applications and services to help them visualize business processes and data.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our forum thread, MSN APIs Coming September 13th

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:24 AM | Permalink

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