Battle of the search engines
2007-09-27 11:35
California - Microsoft began phasing in a slick new version of its Live Search service on Thursday in a bid to gain ground on leading internet search rivals Google and Yahoo.
Microsoft's improved Live Search will be available throughout the United States in a week and globally by the end of October, according to vice-president of search and advertising platform group Satya Nadella.
"The core thing for us is to show user we made a quantum jump in search results," Nadella said while demonstrating Search at an invitation-only gathering at Microsoft's campus in Mountain View, California.
"This time, we feel we can claim we are as good as Google."
Google, based in Mountain View, is the world's most popular internet search engine. California-based Yahoo ranks second. Live, which replaced Microsoft's MSN search service in 2006, has been mired in distant third place.
"Relevance of results has been my big gripe about Live Search in the past," Gartner analyst Van Baker said during a "Searchification" event at which the enhancements were unveiled.
"It fell short of Google in relevance and I think Microsoft is catching up. The downside is Microsoft's messaging sucks. They need to give internet users a reason to give Live Search another try, and that is missing," he added.
Microsoft said it quadrupled its index of web pages from which search results are mined and refined software that figures out what people are seeking despite vague or misspelled queries.
Loosely based on workings of human brain
The search platform is "loosely based" on the workings of human brains so it can assess relationships between search words rather than just the presence of words on web pages, said Live Search team member Ramez Naam.
Relevant charts, maps, video and pictures are displayed on search result pages.
Microsoft's three-dimensional mapping service is woven into web searches in which location is a key attribute. "Think of it as the map becoming the graphical interface for the search engine," said Microsoft maps engineer.
The update adds BlackBerry devices to the compatible "smart phones".
Microsoft jazzed up its multimedia search to track news, trends and gossip concerning a perpetual internet hot topic - celebrities.
An "X-Rank" feature shows which celebrities are getting the most attention online at any given moment and what is being said about them.
Video search shows movie trailer style highlights of the content on results pages so people can decide whether to watch videos.
Product guides and reviews are built into Live shopping searches.
Health searches pinpoint online medical data using encrypted information to protect privacy, said Microsoft's health services group senior director Grad Conn.
Health query records are erased after 90 days, Conn said.
Nadella declined to specify how much Microsoft spent overhauling Live Search, saying only that it is a "substantial" investment to catch up with Google and Yahoo.