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Microsoft plans to use Powerset to tailor search

Aug 20, 2008 3:09 pm by Kip Kniskern | 4 comments

Microsoft plans to use the tools it acquired in Powerset to “gain an edge against Google” according to a report coming out of the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose on Tuesday. Senior Vice President Satya Nadella believe that gaining, and then using, a better understanding of user intent will help Microsoft to stop spinning its wheels in search market share. According to Nadella:

“I believe this notion of understanding user intent–being able to analyze (search queries) and come up with search patterns and use them to shape the search experience–is one of the most important areas for us”

Microsoft continues to languish behind the search leader, with another round of bad news coming from Neilsen Online, showing Google continuing to gain, and Microsoft continuing to slip in US search market share.

However the news isn’t all bleak, as Microsoft believes strongly in the potential advantages provided by Powerset. And they’ve got another ally, too: Bill Gates. Scott Prevost, Powerset’s general manager, was quoted as saying that “Bill has definitely not retired for us”. Gates, who has stepped down from day to day operations, has said that he planned to continue to work on search.

Nadella also discussed plans to provide more directed experiences in subcategories such as travel, health, images, and video, according to the CNET Webware article by Stephen Shankland. Indeed Live Search seems to provide a better user experience in these areas already, although it has not seemed to help their cause much, yet.

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VasiS
I feel that live maps and image search are well ahead of google and yahoo. Web search needs to do a lil catch-up..
alien_brain
Not Just that VasiS,
Live Video Search is greatly better than most.
Providing instant preview..
They just need to polish the whole Photo, Video and Maps.
They have done great in features and functionality, but something is missing I feel.. Maybe the way it is or maybe the theme. Just not That proffesional or fashionable (in a simple way)
Now that they are leading in that area, If they Do promote this area, Web Search could benifit also.
They have already intergrated Live Search everywhere which is sort of good but not quite something for people to make a switch over.
Alber1690
It’s interesting how Live Maps is considered a great feat by MS and is now being used on my top sites, and yet people still flock to Google. Why? It’s now become a brand issue. On top of the technical aspect, Google now means “search.” Anything else is simply anything else but search. That’s the unfortunate mindset of many people. I mean, right now there’s a lot of online advertising for cashback, but seriously, how many people are going to switch search engines because of one feature they’re going to use once in a blue moon. They need to spice up the technical back end, and then run a massive campaign. Only that way will someone be even tempted to find out what the hell Live.com is.
quikboy
I hope they don’t push Powerset too much. I mean it’s practically a specialized Wikipedia search engine. Wikipedia is a nice place to get information and all, but there’s a bazillion other specialized websites, and Wikipedia isn’t that reliable all the time.
I don’t want that to get in the way of the usual web searching. Unless they make a separate vertical just for Wikipedia.
Most people still don’t know that Live Search offers great video and image search. Microsoft just needs to push a lot of cool next generation search tools and features to push Live to the top. Most people don’t feel compelled to go for Live if it’s mostly the same, or if they never even tried it.