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Microsoft Search Engine
Out Tomorrow?
dd
www.ecommercetimes.com
Confident
that its technology now is on a par with its competition,
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) reportedly plans to formally launch its
long-awaited new search product tomorrow, taking the search wars to a new
level in the process.
Microsoft reportedly has
been working on the search engine for 18 months and made a beta version of
it available for public and developer tryouts this past summer. Analysts say
the fact that the launch might have been scheduled indicates the company
feels the technology is at least good enough to be competitive.
A Microsoft spokesperson
declined to comment on the prospective launch or whether it would be
accompanied by any marketing efforts, adding that the company plans a
specific announcement at midnight eastern time tonight.
Speaking at Microsoft's
annual meeting yesterday, CEO Steve Ballmer said the company recognizes it
must come from behind in order to be a major player in the search wars, both
in terms of technology and in garnering the millions of dollars in
advertising budgets now being funneled into search placement.
"We will catch up, and we
will surpass," Ballmer said. At the same meeting, Chairman Bill Gates added
that Microsoft's search improvements would soon be rolled out, with the
result being "an even better search capability than people have ever had
before."
Determined
To Win
In the past, Microsoft
executives have publicly rued not acting sooner on search.
But anyone who doubts its
ability to enter a market late and still have a significant impact needs
only to examine its history in the browser market -- where it rendered
nearly irrelevant the once-dominant Netscape -- to know that search leaders
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and
Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) will have their hands full.
Enderle Group analyst Rob
Enderle said one lesson of the Netscape turnaround is that Microsoft is
capable of pouring as much time, talent and money into a sector as necessary
to make itself a player.
"The track record of coming
from behind is there," he said. Other companies that can attest to
Microsoft's abilities in that area include
RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK) which has seen Microsoft's Media Player gain
prominence in a market it once dominated.
Some analysts say Microsoft
will have a harder time elbowing into search because there are already a
number of established players and because search capabilities, at least to
this point, have not been naturally integrated with the desktop.
However, even that is
changing, with Google launching a pre-emptive strike last month with a beta
release of its own desktop search tool. Yahoo has recently confirmed that it
also is working on its own desktop search product.
Goodbye
Yahoo
Search Engine Watch editor
Danny Sullivan suggested the rumored release might be a more public beta,
leaving Microsoft room to tweak and continue to improve the technology, if
necessary.
"Past releases have largely
been aimed at search marketers, web masters and others wanting to play with
the new technology," Sullivan said. "It looks like this is for public
consumption" which indicates a higher level of confidence in the technology.
The search release might
get another beta location or might be moved directly into the MSN search
slot, displacing results currently supplied by Yahoo.
Sullivan said a key
development to watch for will be when Microsoft integrates its desktop and
e-mail search tools with its Web search, enabling users to search all those
types of information at once. Another key date is next June, when
Microsoft's contract to take paid search listings from Yahoo subsidiary
Overture (Nasdaq: OVER) expires.
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