Microsoft Live Search gets Powerset boost
Google-bashing semantics
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Microsoft yesterday revealed how it has begun integrating Powerset’s semantic internet search technology into its own Live Search product.
The software giant reportedly paid $100m for the Silicon Valley startup in July in a - some might say - doomed attempt to challenge Google’s search dominance. Powerset was happy enough to make hay with Redmond, even though it isn't the search engine supremo.
MS has taken three elements from Powerset and knitted them into Live Search. Freebase Answers, improved captions for Wikipedia results, and new related searches are using the web outfit’s down-wid-da-kidz Factz engine.
"All of these projects are currently being ‘flighted’ on Live Search, which means that they are being shown only to a small percentage of users (if you get one, consider yourself lucky!)," Powerset said on a company blog penned by Mark Johnson.
He added that results of the tests would be analysed before Microsoft decides which features will eventually roll into the product. Powerset has also integrated some Live Search tech on its website.
"You’ll notice that we now have ‘related articles’ on Powerset enhanced Wikipedia articles. We’re getting these directly from Live Search," said Johnson.
Microsoft has been searching for meaning over the past few months following Yahoo!'s rejection of its overtures this summer.
The software titan hopes and pleads for a day when Microsoft might eventually out-Google Google. In the meantime it will continue to try and convince Wall Street that it is relevant to the web search biz. Surely that's more than a simple matter of semantics? ®
COMMENTS
"Hotmail"
has become the convoluted "╬™ Windows Live™ Hotmail".
As if Windows is a sexy selling point. Or anyone cares about Live.
On the Hotmail login page there's an promo saying we should "Share life as it happens - Get the new Windows Live™ - Free!". www.windowslive.com gets a mention. But there's no link to it!!!
And in any case, they're too late - the world is already "sharing life as it happens" on myspace, youtube, facebook, bebo, flickr...
They want to challenge Google, yet they still cling to the Yahoo-esque MSN 'portal' rather than jump wholesale to a nice clean start page.
One of the reasons for Google becoming a home page for so many people was the simple, clean, "front cover to the internet" look (in a "front cover of an encyclopedia" way rather than and not in a "front cover of Heat magazine" way).
That and the fact that you can find what you're after with Google. Live search is naff.
The one useful thing on Live was the maps - before Google added railway stations to theirs and took away Live's USP.
clone
Live Search looks and acts just like Google. As usual M$ fail to innovate. Instead they buy someone else's idea in the hope that this will give them an edge in the market place. I won't hold my breath ...
Microsoft can dry up and die...
I don't care what they come up with for their search model. Besides the majority of my searches on Google are through their Linux-specific portal. I'll gladly eat my words when Microsoft can equal Google on that front.
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