Microsoft Bing Brings in the PR SWAT Team
July 30, 2012
Apparently a SWAT Team is just what the doctor ordered in the case of Microsoft’s consumer initiatives.
Microsoft is calling upon former Clinton advisor and PR maven Mark Penn to lead a “SWAT Team” focused on consumer initiatives and developing strategic development and branding to meet consumers’ changing needs. The first target of the team will be Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.
A recent article on ReadWriteWeb, “Microsoft Assembling “SWAT Team” to Boost Bing,” tells us more about Microsoft’s decision and Penn’s focus in the company. The article reports:
“‘Mark has an incredible background in research, demographics, marketing and positioning and a proven history in developing unique insights that drive success,’ [Microsoft CEO Steve] Ballmer said in a statement. ‘With a strong set of products and an exciting pipeline for the next year, Mark’s experience and out-of-the-box thinking will help us more effectively reach new consumers and grow market share.’
Despite Microsoft’s best efforts, Bing is still holding steady at second in popularity to search king Google. Searching has become synonymous with “Googling,” and Penn has his work cut out for him. I wonder if someone in Microsoft management used a decision engine to answer the question, “How do we catch Google in search?” Perhaps Penn will be the answer.
Andrea Hayden, July 30, 2012
Sponsored by IKANOW
Google Versus Bing
July 28, 2012
In the battle between Google and Bing, who will come out on top? Makeuseof presents, “Infographic: Can Bing Knock Out the Champ?” The site’s managing editor Mark O’Neill acknowledges that Google is currently way, way ahead of the game, but that:
“. . .one search engine, despite operating at a loss, is making themselves a continual irritant, and an obstacle to Google’s aim of total Internet domination. That search engine is of course Microsoft’s Bing.
“The constant attempts to one-up each other means that they are constantly innovating, and that is good for the end user (that’s you by the way). But with all the changes that occur on both sites, which search engine is actually the best?”
To help readers answer that question, O’Neill presents a well-organized infographic. We are not sure what this data ultimately means, but someone put a great deal of work into this comparison of Bing and Google. For example, it shows each system’s market share growth (along with Yahoo‘s) over the last three years. The graphic also presents side-by-side lists of other sites whose embedded searches are powered by each of the two platforms.
Though it does not offer any conclusions, this source is a good place to turn if you are curious about some of the stats behind the struggle.
Cynthia Murrell, July 28, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Microsoft Embraces Cloud in Google Battle Move
July 25, 2012
It appears Microsoft is putting much focus on the cloud with the upcoming release of Office 2013 in an attempt to stay competitive with Google Apps.
The battle is highlighted in the article on ComputerWorld, “Microsoft Office 2013 Fires Shot at Google’s Enterprise Push.” Analysts say the move to the cloud is necessary for Microsoft to keep up with the search giant in the world of cloud-based office apps. Microsoft’s release preview included the cloud up front with multi-device tools and touch screen capabilities backing up the presentation.
We learn in the article:
“According to a May report from research firm Gartner, Google is far outpacing Microsoft in the cloud business. Compared with Microsoft, Google is winning one-third to one-half of new, paid-for, cloud-based office system seats, the analyst firm reported.
‘Google’s call to action is appealing to organizations generally not pleased with their current situation,” Gartner noted. “Primarily, the disaffected are moving to Google Apps, legitimizing that choice, and helping Google grow its base and defy all the early predictions of Google’s defeat’”
A full preview is available at http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/en. Our opinion? We think neither company seems particularly concerned about search. How does one find a document amidst tens of thousands? Dropping buzzwords around does not make either company more navigationally easy to use, nor does it completely satisfy information-hungry users.
Andrea Hayden, July 25, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Did Google Clobber Microsoft or Did Microsoft Clobber Microsoft?
July 21, 2012
I am okay with Google becoming the new Microsoft and IBM. What I find interesting is that the dominance of Google is splashing over the neighbors’ lawns. Navigate to “How Google Clobbers Microsoft.” The story explains that Google has productivity software, better email, smartphones, and social media. Microsoft, on the other hand, has none of these gems.
My view is that Google entered the market for search when other search vendors were chasing portals. Now Google is a portal and an advertising company. The virtues of Google can be translated to one simple business proposition: monetizing eyeballs via advertising.
Microsoft is a software company anchored in MS DOS and the 1980 computer revolution. Google is a different animal, anchored in the Wild West of online advertising. The rules are made in gun fights, city slicker.
Microsoft, in my view, has tried to respond. Due to its management, Microsoft has been its own nemesis. We can attribute many things to Google and Google attributes many things to Google as well. The demise of Microsoft, in my opinion, is due to Microsoft. Google may be one factor, and some Googlers may assert that it is the primary factor. I don’t agree. Advertising and Google’s online services are not killing Microsoft. One needs only look at Microsoft to see the cause of the natural decline of a business entity. Exogenous factors exist. But the trick is to isolate the major factor.
Stephen E Arnold, July 21, 2012
Sponsored by Polyspot
Microsoft Acquisition Acumen
July 5, 2012
When big technology companies buy other companies, the trajectory of those weddings is fascinating. Google has been a voracious consumer and discarder of acquisitions. Anyone remember Dodgeball? I read some of the stories about Microsoft’s purchase of aQuantitative. The Reuters’ news story is representative. Navigate to “Microsoft Takes $6.2 Billion Charge, Slows Internet Hopes.” The failure of acquisitions is common, and I am not too interested in what is obvious. However, I did want to document this factoid, which unfortunately we don’t know if it is accurate:
In addition to the write-down, Microsoft said its expectations for futuregrowth and profitability at its online services unit – which includes theBing search engine and MSN Internet portal – are “lower than previousestimates.”
How big is the Microsoft online business? “Chalk Up aQuantitative as Another Bad Microsoft Buy” from the “new” ZDNet:
Last quarter, Microsoft’s Online Services Division, the home of Bing andits online ad technologies, lost $480 million (which was actually $300million less than the comparable previous quarter).
My conclusion? Microsoft has deals with Nokia, the Surface alienation of some hardware partners, and the Fast Search & Transfer technology. The company seems to have had some bad luck with its new initiatives. Perhaps this is a management issue? I suppose one can blame the customers which some Microsoft competitors employ.
Stephen E Arnold, July 5, 2012
Sponsored by Polyspot
Chrome to Displace Windows: Bold Assertion
July 3, 2012
If this is true, it is a very big deal. Business Insider declares that “Google Is Pushing Enterprises to Ditch Windows and Try Chrome OS.” Can you imagine the upheaval? I suppose it would be a good day for out-of-work IT pros.
Actually, even Google‘s Chrome leader Sundar Pichai realizes the takeover would be a gradual thing. Over the next six months, he has said, his company will be working hard to convince us that their cloud-focused OS is the way to go. He understands that complete domination may take a few years. The Chromebook is not the only option, either. The few folks who still prefer a desktop could turn to the recently released Chromebox.
Apparently, apps adoption is the key to the kingdom. The article reveals:
“Pichai believes that all of the companies that chose Google Apps over Microsoft Office could be talked into getting rid of their PCs altogether. ‘The thing that will seed the market for us is Google Apps,’ the Google VP said to a crowd at GigaOM Structure conference Wednesday in San Francisco. Google Apps is growing like crazy at ‘triple-digit-percentage’ rates Pichai said.”
Writer Julie Bort points out that it is hard to tell exactly how many apps that “triple-digit-percentage” represents. However, indications are that it is a significant number. Companies are already transitioning from their PCs to the cloud, and usually let employees chose their own thin-client devices. The question is, which OS will dominate the shift?
Cynthia Murrell, Juuly 3, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Microsoft and Mobile Device Optimization
July 2, 2012
The word of today is optimize, and Microsoft is once again scoring at the top of the technology class. The article, ‘Microsearch Announces Mobile Device Optimization Features for its Hosted Search and Retrieval Services’ at Scotnetwork.com explains how Microsoft’s new mobile device optimization can benefit online publishers of electronic documents that want to take their classes from home, so to speak.
Microsoft just created a cover all cheat sheet to pass any test:
“As most mobile device users know, some mobile devices simply will not accept long documents when the device is in wireless mode. And when they do, download times can feel long for the user, and bandwidth use can be expensive. Our new Publishers Services are totally optimized for mobile device users, saving time and money.”
“Our new document search & retrieval optimizations are compatible with all contemporary wireless devices, as well as wired computers. Users can set their own device download preferences on the go.”
Even taking notes is easier. Microsoft offers a sticky note feature which allows researchers to add page content on their screen that will remain when they return to the pages. Locating and viewing information in long documents will now be faster, easier and cheaper for mobile device users. Owners of online content will be able to score higher by appealing to wireless scholars using laptops, tablets and other mobile devices. Microsoft’s mobile device optimization just won the title of class Valedictorian.
Jennifer Shockley, July 2, 2012
Microsoft Snags a Big Search Project
July 2, 2012
Search Content Management recently reported on a new win for Microsoft in the article “FAST Enterprise Search at Core of European Court of Human Rights Website.”
According to the article, The European Court of Human Rights has quite a task ahead of it. After nearly a decade of using a site designed using Fulcrum Technologies’ document management software, ECHR has decided to use Microsoft’s FAST Enterprise Search to overhaul its Web site in order to make it as intuitive and simple as Amazon and simplify the search process. In addition to this, ECHR is also working to make the new site accessible to mobile devices.
It is imperative that this happens because the ECHR Web site currently receives 4.6 million visits a year from lawyers, government officials, students, professors, journalists and citizens seeking rulings and information about the state of individual freedoms in Europe. In addition to this, the new site will enable search of 90,000 documents on rulings that affect more than 800 million inhabitants.
When discussing the upcoming project, the article states:
“Beginning next week, ECHR expects to expand the reach of its site search capabilities to more than 5 million users and be able to accommodate 5,000 visitors at a given time when rulings are made. The integration of document management, enterprise search and a cloud-based collaboration in the Web CMS promises automated Google indexing for public-facing documents, improved ECHR real-time collaboration efforts and reduced overhead.”
Due to the nature and status of this project, being selected to do the ECHR’s Web site redesign is certainly a win for Microsoft.
Jasmine Ashton, July 2, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Google Executive Criticizes Surface and Windows 8
June 29, 2012
Google pontificates on Microsoft‘s new tablet, Surface, CNet News reveals in “Google Exec: ‘Surface Is a Very Complicated Strategy to Pull Off’.” Google should know; it is the new Microsoft. Remember the Google phone?
Though Google’s Sundar Pichai gives his company’s rival some credit for the innovation that went into the Surface, he expressed doubts about the project’s future. He seems to pin his criticisms on Windows 8, which he elegantly calls a “big disruptive thing.” He emphasizes that the OS may not work well on laptops. CNet’s Dan Farber observes:
“It’s not surprising that Google executives would cast doubt on Microsoft’s new plan to seed Windows 8 around the world. Google is escalating its efforts to compete with Microsoft, using the same ecosystem model — Google develops the software and hardware vendors make and sell the devices.
“Google just announced Chromebooks built by Samsung that run the Google Chrome operating system and use its Google Docs application suite. Pichai said that sign ups for Google Apps — its enterprise suite — are growing at triple digit percentages and that OEMs are signing up to produce Chromebooks as well.”
All good points. Farber notes that, like Microsoft’s Surface, Google operates from the precarious position of simultaneously working with and competing with its manufacturing partners. I would add that we can see how well that tactic works through the Android lens. Does Google hope the problems it has had with smartphones won’t translate to laptops? Perhaps they feel they’ve learned enough from their Android struggles. We’ll see.
Cynthia Murrell, June 29, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Do Google and Microsoft Really Understand the Web?
June 22, 2012
We humans are difficult for search engines to understand. For example, try this query: “terminal”. Okay, which is it, airplane terminal, bus terminal, computer terminal? You get the idea. Ars Technica explains “How Google and Microsoft Taught Search to Understand the Web.”
Journalist Sean Gallagher and associates picked the brains behind two of the Web’s biggest search engine projects, Google‘s Knowledge Graph and Microsoft‘s Satori. Both are efforts to move search from matching strings of text to connecting the dots of meaning. The result is an in-depth explanation that any search professional should become familiar with. The article informs us:
“The efforts are in part a fruition of ideas put forward by a team from Yahoo Research in a 2009 paper called ‘A Web of Concepts,‘ in which the researchers outlined an approach to extracting conceptual information from the wider Web to create a more knowledge-driven approach to search. They defined three key elements to creating a true ‘web of concepts’:
- Information extraction: pulling structured data (addresses, phone numbers, prices, stock numbers and such) out of Web documents and associating it with an entity
- Linking: mapping the relationships between entities (connecting an actor to films he’s starred in and to other actors he has worked with)
- Analysis: discovering categorizing information about an entity from the content (such as the type of food a restaurant serves) or from sentiment data (such as whether the restaurant has positive reviews).”
These ideas are still mostly unrealized, but Google and Microsoft are both beginning to make progress. Entity extraction itself is not new, but the database scale and relationship building of the current approaches are. Both companies’ entity databases are non-traditional. They are graph databases that map relationships between users and activities, much like Facebook’s Open Graph.
“Entities” have become complicated bundles of information. Each contains a unique identifier; a collection of properties based on the attributes of the real-world topic; links representing the topic’s relationship to other entities; and things a user searching for that topic might want to do. The article compares and contrasts how each company collects and manages these dossiers. One difference lies in each system’s UI—Google’s seems more about answering questions, while Bing’s new front end appears to facilitate taking actions.
Both Knowledge Graph and Satori give the user ways to help in the first results list, by narrowing the search or pointing the engine down the correct path. This sort of direction is still essential, since neither company is anywhere close to making seamless and accurate semantic search a reality. Both engines still have holes, and are already fighting lag from their growing data bases. And that’s just while working with just English! The article concludes:
“When other languages are added to the entity extraction language processing of the search engines, the number of entities and relationships they have to manage is bound to explode, both in terms of number and complexity. To truly ‘understand’ the Web, Knowledge Graph and Satori are going to have to get a lot smarter. And they’re bound to push the bounds of semantic processing and computing forward in the process, as bigger and bigger graphs of knowledge are shoved into memory.”
It seems that natural language search worthy of a futurist’s dreams is still years away. This article is a great window into the baby steps being made right now by two of the Web’s biggest crawlers.
Cynthia Murrell, June 22, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
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