Friday, September 28, 2007

FT.com / Companies / IT - Microsoft to release search update

FT.com / Companies / IT - Microsoft to release search update

Microsoft to release search update
By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco

Published: September 27 2007 05:21 | Last updated: September 27 2007 05:21

Microsoft, which has the third ranked US web search service, will release on Thursday a major update in an attempt to win market share from Google and Yahoo.

The company said the changes to Live Search represented a significant advancement in its core technology and the consumer experience.

The new version has specialised content in the entertainment, shopping, gealth and local categories. The company said up to 40 per cent of searches fell into these “verticals.”

“Our engineering focus is on the areas that matter most to our 185m consumers who use our service every month,” said Satya Nadella, corporate vice-president of the search and advertising platform group.

“With the core platform in place, we intend to win customers and earn their loyalty one query at a time.”

Google had a 56.5 per cent share of searches in the US in August, up 1.3 percentage points on the previous month, according to comScore.

Yahoo’s share was 23.3 per cent and Microsoft’s was 11.3 per cent, followed by Time Warner, including AOL, and Interactive Corporation’s Ask network, which both took 4.5 per cent.

Microsoft said the index of web pages on the new Live Search was four times larger and more relevant results would be returned. They would be easier to read in a new, cleaner user interface.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

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