Thu, 8 May 2008 08:53:22 by Matt Hopkins
There is something strangely familiar about the new live.com interface.. and a clear sign that Microsoft are starting to look at Google and see where they can emulate their success.
For me, this is definitely good news.. not enough to make me switch search engines yet.. but encouraging.
The problem with MSN / Live.com was never really with the interface. In fact, I'd say that Yahoo has a greater interface problem than any of the others. The Yahoo home page is still stuck in the late 90's search engine "portal" concept. The simplicity of Google's interface was one of its original attractions. It seems that Microsoft are finally starting to understand this.
Further improvements to the SERPs (search engine results pages) were announce Back in October by Microsoft, with better snippets, a larger index and improved spam control. All good things.
It is true the the MSN / Live.com search is getting better and if you look at the search engine market share, MS is gaining albeit slightly.
March 2008 Search Engine Market Share | Nielsen // NetRatings
Yahoo
March: 18.1%
February:17.6%
Change: +0.5
MSN
March: 12.0%
February: 11.2%
Change: +0.8
My main beef with the MSN / Live.com search is the name... or lack of a name. Is it MSN? Is it live.com? Why is it live.com? It is a terrible name... do they want to compete with Google.. then they need a name that you can remember and to use it consistently. I may "google" an author.. or a friend.. would I ever "live" a friend? or "live" anything!
The interface is an improvement. The results are getting better. No doubt Microsoft has decided to "wake up and smell the search engine".. but the name is terrible. Microsoft please rebrand.. or keep it as MSN.. or at least be consistent in the use of a single name.
Matt Hopkins
Managing Director |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
