Internet Changes Everything

New Microsoft search engine opens war for Internet dominance

New Microsoft search engine opens war for Internet dominance

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Microsoft's new search engine launched opens a new front for the world's biggest software company in a new war -- for control of the Internet, analysts said.
A global beta, or test version, of MSN Search was launched in 26 markets and 11 languages, rivaling Google and Yahoo by scanning some five billion pages on the World Wide Web.

The move marks a new strategy for Microsoft, which up to now has relied on the underlying technology of Yahoo and others for its MSN Search.

"The release of our beta is a huge step toward delivering the information consumers are looking for online, faster than previous versions of MSN Search," said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president for MSN Information Services.

"With better results and more powerful search tools, MSN Search is creating a new, higher standard for online search -- one that helps consumers find the information they need, when they need it."

Microsoft has been developing its search engine for 18 months, and is trying for a bigger share of the lucrative business of Internet searches and advertising.

For Google, which in recent years surpassed Yahoo as the search leader, Microsoft's move could spell trouble, because the new search engine will be incorporated into Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, which sells as an integral part of the Windows platform that equips 90 percent of personal computers sold around the world.

Google wasted little time in responding, saying its search base had nearly doubled to eight billion pages.

"Comprehensiveness is not the only important factor in evaluating a search engine, but it's invaluable for queries that only return a few results." Google said on its site.

"That's why we keep building more advanced systems for crawling the Web and creating more sophisticated indices to sort what we find."

Analysts say Microsoft's move is aimed at keeping Explorer and Windows as the main technologies used for the Internet, and heading off migrations to other platforms.

"Microsoft's search quest is more about the Web than Google, as it was with Netscape during the browser wars," said Joe Wilcox at Jupiter Research.

"Like Netscape, Google poses no serious platform threat to Windows. The real threat is the Web and its informational utility that does not require Windows."

As for the search engine itself, Chris Sherman of Searchenginewatch.com said the MSN engine is "comparable to Google and Yahoo in scope, and for most of my initial tests, in relevancy as well."

MSN Search has some additional features such as being able to sort results by geography by clicking on "near me." The search engine determines the geographic lotion by the user's Internet Protocol address.

Sherman pointed out that Microsoft may be able to cut into market share of Google and Yahoo, but that those companies will be improving their products.

"Speculation has focused on whether this entry by Microsoft signals the end of Google's Web search domination. Not likely," he said.

"Google isn't going to stand still, as we saw with last night's stealth increase in Google's index ... Far from being a Google killer, MSN Search is instead a welcome new alternative for searchers, and a catalyst for sparking further improvements and innovations at other services."

Scott Kessler, Standard and Poor's analyst, said the launch has been largely anticipated: "We don't believe it will have a near-term material impact on Google."

But he noted that Microsoft may eventually push into the so-called "sponsored search" area, in which ads are geared to search terms, and that could hurt Google.

"Those who have the most to lose are smaller players like America Online and Ask Jeeves," he added.

Microsoft shares rose 0.84 percent to 29.98, while Google rallied nine percent to 183.02 and Yahoo added three percent to 37.79.

November 14, 2004 at 11:12 AM in Portals | Permalink | TrackBack (5) | Top of page | Blog Home