Everybody go search for 'Firefox.'
Posted on 02/01/2005 12:13:19 PM PST by crushelits
Microsoft's highly anticipated search engine debuted today, with the software giant officially entering the fray in a market that gets more competitive by the day.
Offered through the company's MSN Internet portal, the service is available in 25 markets and 10 languages, and promises to deliver more-relevant results, instant answers to specific questions, and a collection of tools that give Web surfers more control in targeting and refining searches.
Building on Vast Resources
In revving up the engine after years of testing, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) also has unveiled a redesigned MSN home page with search tools placed in a more a more prominent position. The search index has some 5 billion documents.
Among the features are "Instant Answers" from the Encarta encyclopedia and MSN Music library. New tools include Search Builder, enabling customized searches based on such criteria as a specific site or domain, country or region, or language. Users can conduct searches using category-specific tabs, and a new desktop tab lets those with the MSN Toolbar Suite search beyond the Web to include e-mail, documents and media files.
Better Late Than Never
Most of these capabilities are offered by search frontrunners Google and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO - news), with each company trying to one-up the other by offering such features as connections to mobile devices and video clip delivery. But for Microsoft, it is a case of better late than never.
According to recent research, there is an opportunity for Microsoft to carve a niche in the search engine market. Keynote Systems recently reported that while Google still ranks as the king of the search engine industry, Yahoo and MSN have improved their performance levels since the last study, published in May 2004.
Yahoo has boosted the number of users who say they would consider the site as their primary search engine by 20 percent, and MSN has upped its figure by 30 percent.
Shift in Balance of Power
"Microsoft has to compete in this arena, because it can't expect to dominate as it did in the browser wars," Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio told NewsFactor. "They already have a leg up with MSN, which is among the top five search services available."
DiDio noted that Google is losing ground, and that when Microsoft brings to bear its considerable resources in research and development and marketing, the balance of power could shift. "The Microsoft machine will kick into high gear with the launch of this search engine, and the key will be differentiating it from the competition by improving search capabilities," she said.
Indeed, the company is poised to launch a global marketing blitz to promote MSN Search, including ads on TV, the Web and in print.
Link to search engine please?
Everybody go search for 'Firefox.'
PING!!!
Oh Wow! A new way to add a virus to my machine!~}
It's the little things that count. For me, Google's GMail has a couple of thing that tip the balance in their favor. Namely a 1Gig mailbox with Pop and SMTP access for Free (meaning I get to use Outlook as my mail client). Not to mention the upcoming access to the scanned in archives of public domain literature for several Major Universities. In a market this tight, it's the little things and the freebies that will buy loyalty.
I did. Interestingly enough, it returned links apropos to Firefox.
Were you expecting something different?
Easy to find using Google.
http://www.google.com/search?q=microsoft+search+engine&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
First result:
http://search.msn.com/
Now I just need to figure out how to get a gmail account.
And a major negative. You can't just go there and sign up. You have to wait to be 'invited'.
I did. Interestingly enough, it returned links apropos to Firefox. Were you expecting something different? No, I just thought it would be fun to have the Microsoft guys see how many people are searching for the competing browser.
Freepmail me you email and I'll send you one.
Yep, go to the MS search engine site and get the blue screen of death.
Someone should tell Bill Gates that smoke signals don't count...
It's frontended by Linux, so the best you can hope for is a purple screen of death.
Does it have proximity searches?
The other engines have stopped providing proximity searches, which makes them useless.
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