Is Microsoft Getting Social? - One Step Behind, Again
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In the search engine game, Microsoft started out behind, and it has been continuing to slide. ComScore Networks tells the story. In January of 2005, searches using Microsoft’s MSN sites accounted for 16 percent of all U.S. searches, while Google accounted for 35.1 percent. A year later, Google handled 41.4 percent of all U.S., while MSN’s share of U.S. searches had slipped to 13.7 percent.
If you check the figures from Nielsen/NetRatings, the story is even gloomier. According to their research, MSN’s share of U.S. searches started at 12.8 percent in January of 2005, and slipped to 11 percent a year later. Nielsen/NetRatings show both Google and Yahoo gaining share in the same period. Commenting on their market share, Christopher Payne, vice president of Windows Live Search, said “Obviously I’d like that number to be better. We need to do more to differentiate.”
How does Microsoft hope to do that? Well, early last month Neil Holloway, the president of Microsoft’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operations, stated that the software giant’s search technology would be more relevant in the U.S. than Google’s within six months. You could almost hear Microsoft executives wincing at the faux pas. Payne admitted surprise at the comment, and given his position, one would think he’d know. “This is not our philosophy,” he insisted.
Still, there is certainly room for improvement. Research conducted by Microsoft revealed that generic search engines can’t answer half of the queries users ask them. Those aren’t exactly the best odds; who would want to follow a map that was right only 50% of the time? It seems like the search engine field is more than ripe for something new and web-shaking. Bradley Horowitz, vice president of advanced products at Yahoo, observed that since Google released its Web page ranking system, “we really haven’t had another breakthrough for some time now, until social search.” So what does Microsoft propose to do about it?
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