June 04, 2007, 3:57 PM — What bloggers are saying about the latest in information technology
It's safe to say at this point that search engine technology has reached a certain level of maturity, since (1) nearly everybody uses it, and (2) the biggest search engine company, Google, has grown phenomenally, is very rich, and has almost universal recognition. Search technology could stand some improvements, and for the most part, everyday users of Google don't even begin to take advantage of the true power of search. Most people I know can't even create a good search argument. Still, it's here to stay, and even if you don't know how to use it well, it still works.
Michael Arrington broke the latest news in the search engine world on June 3 that Microsoft is taking the next step. There is very little information at this point, except that Microsoft has twenty so-called "rock star" developers whose unenviable job is to create the "next generation search engine." According to Arrington, his sources say the new search product will be a horizontal engine, and will be "very cool."
I digress here to recall the early days of the dotcom boom, when dotcommers I knew pitched venture capitalists with the same phrase, creating business plans with lead sentences that read something like, "this technology is very cool." Remarkably, such subjective nonsense actually led VCs to fork over millions of dollars to technology that had very little practical application and no way to monetize itself. Still today, cool is what sells in the tech business. For example, Apple Computer's whole marketing department exists to tell us not that the Mac is technologically superior, or that it has useful features. They exist to tell us that the Mac is "cool." And it's a marketing plan that works.
Back to the business at hand: The new Microsoft search engine still seems to be a rumor at this point, and so I decided to check out Truemors (http://www.truemors.com) to see if there was any mention of the new Microsoft plan. Nothing there, although I did notice a "Truemor" post that informed readers that "There is this cool place to search for stuff on the Internets (sic) called Google." I don't know if the poster has been living on Mars, or was just being facetious in response to the Microsoft rumor, but he brings up a good point. A blog on Emerging Earth notes that this isn't the first time Microsoft wanted to trump Google in the search business, in fact, it is Microsoft's third try, with both MSN Search and Live Search failing to "dethrone" Google.
The Search Engine Watch blog says that Live Search results are usually just about as good as those of Google results, but the key phrase is "as good as." If results were better, Microsoft may have already sent Google packing, but coming out with something that's only as good as an already existing and widely used product just doesn't cut it.
Microsoft may have a slim chance of success if it does indeed improve the core results of its search, but then again, it's like my relatives in the Old Country say, "jest musztarde po obiedze," or roughly, "that's bringing out the mustard after dinner's already over." To not put too fine a point on it, it's just too late in the game for Microsoft to come out the leader in the search business.
