Microsoft Bets on Improved Web Search
March 9, 2009
I saw this story on March 4, 2009, and I came back to it today (March 8, 2009). I thought I could locate my Microsoft Web search timeline. Alas, it eludes me. I have been keeping track of the “improvements” and other Web search initiatives for a number of years. The list is of modest interest. The entries are little more than a sequence of dates and the Web search actions Microsoft took. When Microsoft bought Powerset, a provider of semantic search demonstrated on Wikipedia (a popular corpus for vendors), I made a note, July 2008, Powerset technology based in part on older Xerox PARC semantic components.
The story “Microsoft Eyes Better Searches, Bigger Market Share” via Newsfactor but available to me here said:
Microsoft is testing features that will give searchers organized results to save time, according to Nadella [the Microsoft search wizard du jour]. A feature has been added on the left side of the results pages to give users access to tools to help complete various tasks. The company has also added other features like single-session history and hover preview.
What I found more interesting was the data (maybe assertions?) included in the write up; for example:
- 40 percent of search queries go unanswered
- Half of the queries are about searchers returning to previous tasks
- 46 percent of sessions are longer than 20 minutes.
As I read this, I thought back to the phone call I received when I pointed out that search was pretty awful. The person on that call whose name I can’t recall told me that Microsoft had a system that made my criticism of search in general inapplicable for Microsoft. That call was in 2006 when I was finishing the third and final edition of the Enterprise Search Report that I wrote. (Hooray! I was done with a 600 page encyclopedia).
But this news story made it clear to me at least that search is a work in progress. And the issues addressed in the article and highlighted with the data above suggests to me that Microsoft wants to move from Web search to some richer information centric application; for example, “tools”.
Google enjoys a big lead over Ask.com, Microsoft, and Yahoo in Web search. Over the last year, Google has maintained its lead and in some sectors increased it as Ask.com and Microsoft lost share and Yahoo held steady or experienced fractional increases in usage.
The secret to Web search is anchored in traffic. Lots of traffic dilutes many search sins. Microsoft has to generate traffic. That’s a tough job, and I don’t think a new brand and tools will do the job. Microsoft has tried this before. I remember weird little butterflies stuck to buildings and sidewalks in New York. If I had my timeline, I would have the date. Seems like only yesterday.
Stephen Arnold, March 9, 2009
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One Response to “Microsoft Bets on Improved Web Search”
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good team up!