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Microsoft's effort to crack the near monopoly of Google |
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Thursday, 07 July 2005 |
Microsoft has unveiled what its founder Bill Gates calls "more precise and powerful" search capabilities on msn.com.
The announcement is widely seen as Microsoft's effort to crack the near
monopoly of search technology pioneer Google, which too has recently
added a host of new features.
"Our goal at Microsoft is to use the power of software to solve our
customers' toughest problems. Searching the Internet today is a
challenge, and it is estimated that nearly half of customers' complex
questions go unanswered," Gates said in an official announcement,
writes the Hindustan Times.
Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, paid hundreds of people
to test the MSN Internet search program over the past 11 weeks and to
help engineers improve the results by ranking searches against market
leader Google and No. 2 Yahoo!, vice president Yusuf Mehdi said Monday.
The company spent 18 months developing the program, which is now
available at the msn.com site, and wants future versions to let users
delve through video content and text from books, Mehdi said. By using
its own software, instead of relying on other companies, Redmond,
Washington-based Microsoft can add functions that win over more users
and help boost advertising revenue, informs Newsday.
As an example of how difficult it may be to get people to switch, a
nationwide survey of search-engine users by the Pew Internet &
American Life Project found that 87 percent have successful search
experiences most of the time today, including 17 percent who said they
always find the information for which they are looking.
Most of the features on Microsoft's search engine are also available on
competitors' offerings. The company, however, has added a feature that
uses the Microsoft Encarta digital encyclopedia to provide answers to
questions, such as "who is Abraham Lincoln," as opposed to gathering
results based on keywords.
Nevertheless, one important area Microsoft will have to catch up in is
local search, a major focus of its competitors, particularly Yahoo.
Over the last six months, Yahoo has made significant improvements,
including the addition of traffic information to its online local map
service, reports Information Week. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 November 2005 )
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