Microsoft is making search-engine headlines this week on two significant fronts. First, the software giant is readying the launch of the successor to Windows Live Search. Second, the company is reported to be in talks with Yahoo yet again on a search collaboration that would help both companies better compete with Google.
The upgrade to Live Search, code-named Kumo, will be demonstrated at next week’s D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif. Kumo is expected to be the most dramatic shift in Microsoft’s search strategy in years.
At the core of the improvements is a left-hand navigation scheme that breaks searches down into a number of related queries. The results also serve up information organized by category. A search for Pepsi would list details about facts surrounding the soda brand first, then offer general Web results, followed by results by category.
Opportunities for Microsoft
Professor N. Venkat Venkatraman, chairman of the Information Systems Department at Boston University’s School of Management, said it’s encouraging to see Microsoft persevering with the search engine for several reasons.
Search is an essential building block for many online services, and Microsoft is in the midst of transforming its business model to include online and cloud-based services, he said. The company cannot let Google control the gateway, he added.
Second, Venkatraman said, mobile search is still in its infancy. There is room for Microsoft to compete aggressively, and the stakes are high.
Finally, he said, search within social networks like Facebook and Twitter is still very immature. That represents yet another opportunity for Microsoft to gain a stronghold.
“Microsoft’s current low market share, while discouraging, should not deter Microsoft if they can come up with a more effective search engine that yields relevant, context-specific and timely results,” Venkatraman said.
Still Talking to Yahoo
Microsoft is apparently also looking for whatever advantage it can get in…