Are Microsoft's search woes just branding issues?
Don't get me wrong, Microsoft clearly has a branding problem when it comes to search.
In a Wall Street Journal item posted Wednesday, online executive Yusuf Mehdi makes the case that its akin to the issue Pepsi faced with Coke some years back. In blind taste tests it scores far better than it does with the brand attached. But, at this point, I wonder if Microsoft's issues don't run deeper.
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I agree with the notion put forth by Mehdi that Google has become synonymous with search and that has made life difficult for anyone trying to take on the behemoth. And, clearly Microsoft hasn't helped its case by pitching its search and online efforts under a host of different brand names.
But the software maker has been at the search game for years now. It has made the case in presentations as far back as I can remember that search can be "more than just 10 blue links." But search has changed only incrementally, something that benefits the incumbent.
It is not that search has stood still. In addition to generic search, Microsoft, Google, and others offer all kinds of vertical search engines for things like photos, health topics, and news. More recently, the search players, including both Microsoft and Google, have done a better job of integrating those results back into main results page.
But, to really take on Google, it is going to have to leapfrog its rival in some significant way. I would argue the barrier isn't an impossible one. Once upon a time we all used Yahoo. But the company's efforts to date, things like Live Search Cashback and others, haven't been significant enough to prompt massive switching.
The software maker is trying to solve its branding issues. Whether it is ultimately Kumo or another name, the company is working on a new name for its search efforts. I have no doubt that with a big ad campaign, it can make any name recognizable.
But to really stick, it will need a really breakthrough product. The question is, does it have one?
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Actually Google is hardly 1-trick at all. You haven't been paying attention.
It's a brand problem. Not enough people use it. It's still one of the top 10 most visited websites, but there's something with the branding.
On the topic of the google homepage - you can customize it the way you want it - so if you need to be fancy you can have that. But personally for me keeping it clean and small is big plus.
I wouldn't waste my time with Spartan, Kralimarko. His comment earned his M$ kickback from his masters. There are only 2 reasons anyone would ever use M$'s search - they don't know better and they like getting bribed to use junkware.
If I see something branded "Microsoft," I go the other way. Hey, they did it to themselves through years of bullying competitors and ultimately their own customers. You made your bed, Microsoft. Now lie in it.
wasn't their original mission to have "a computer on every desk in every home running Microsoft software" or something like that
Google is still better than Live Search though
Except in the use of illegal marketing tactics, MS has never innovated or led in any area whatsoever; they are followers at best, and plagarists more often than not. There is GPL code stolen by MS embedded deep in their operating systems. If it were removed, Windows would stop working.
Enlighten us on what tactic this was and how long ago it was.
I don't know... I've used the following technologies by Microsoft and I seem to believe they kickass...
Xbox 360, LiveMesh, SharePoint, Office Communication Server...
These are just to name a few.
Actually it was Commodore who brought computing to the masses (with the Commodore 64). It was the best selling computer of all time and was available in the consumer market for more than a decade (in succeeding iterations). Commodore's vision statement (from its founder) was...
"Computing for the masses, not the classes!"
PCs and Macs were WAY more expensive in those days than Commodore computers like Commodore 64s and Amigas.
After some intensive search (on google), I came across this little obscurity : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft
Microsoft has one distinction thought. With any other crime in the U.S., when you get convicted for the crime, you need to give up all the benefits that you got from that crime. Microsoft got convicted of illegal monopolization and of course they should give up that monopoly (hence the break up imposed by the Judge then). So in 2000 they went all out in support of candidate GWBush and when he got elected he directed the Justice Department to give MS a slap on the wrist and let them keep the monopoly.
This is why many people dislike/hate Microsoft. This is a company who got away with antitrust murder.
There is GPL code stolen by MS embedded deep in their operating systems.
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No no no! Don't be like them and pull out baseless accusations from where you sit, quote them! Otherwise you're no better than the M$ lawyer scum who claim Linux infringes on a bunch of M$ patents, but we won't tell you which ones.
That said, I hate M$ with more passion than almost anyone here. Their search woes are more than a branding issue though, otherwise they would be able to bribe people into using their junkware search. They can't because it sucks. Period. Deal with it and stop crying already.
It goes deeper because Google understands the web and works with it. Historically MS did not understand the web and worked against it. MS doomed itself by resisting standards and trying to undermine them. The reason I left everything Yahoo was because of all those annoying blinking ads. Google got it and made its ads less obtrusive.
It goes deeper because it goes down to MS' bread and butter, the OS. Google has cloned hundreds of thousands of servers on a rock solid OS. (The last I heard, they have over 500,000 servers but that was a few years ago so they are probably approaching a million.) Google puts this massive infrastructure to great use with the killer map/reduce technique. I shudder the notion of having to duplicate this with MS only technology.
Google was relatively late to the search party. They came at a time when Alta Vista was technically superior. But the world beat a path to Google's door because they built a better mouse trap.
MS, stick to Office, Windows and Visual Studio please
you might be right, but you half to see the comedy in that MS has to do a huge ad campaign to solve the branding problem they created trying to take on google, who to this day has not done one ad ever and it is globally known house hold name.
Here is a thought maybe MS should spend time fixing there most important product, Windows instead of trying to introduce not so great products in every market under the sun.
Like I always said MACs advantage is its limitations, the fact that every mac is the same at the most u get bigger numbers in your stats.
THat makes it easier to make a great running OS with a list of what maybe 100 components that are used in MAC's over the years?
Try making an OS for a PC that is universally compatible, has thousands of variations for every compenent, and uses different technologies. Lets you install different browsers, make appearance hcanges at the core of the OS, lets you access and modify hardware components from within the OS.
What windows problems? Spit it out I love how fanboys like to make claims but never back it up.
before Apple fanbois posts this
MAC=Media Access Control
pop open cmd and type ipconfig /all to find yours
@ASUKid
I would like to second what reyes said
Windows is compatible with just about every x86 computer out there, that gives Windows things like driver issues, many BSOD's are also due to hardware
Linux also has hw related problems that can scare away non-techie consumers. Linux runs on more hardware than Windows does, so it has more hardware compatibility problems.
Quote: "Windows is compatible with just about every x86 computer out there, that gives Windows things like driver issues, many BSOD's are also due to hardware. . . "
Translation: Except for some driver and hardware compatibility issues, Windows has no compatibility issues.
You funny!
Freedom is a frightening concept to slaves. Thankfully M$ has built a great wall around their apologists, with little "Windows" for them to look out to the real world while they're being whipped bloody with the cruel WGA whip.
Without walls and ceilings, who needs windows or gates?
Seriously I don't use MS because I'm tired of them trying to be the be all and end all in computers. Perhaps they should spend more time making better operating systems and improving the performance of their bloated office app instead of trying rule the computer world.
Yahoo to much blabber blabber yaaaa
Microsoft goes to techhy to dark to futuristic, and doestn pay attention to todays trends.I dont know if they have like a brand book, with points and tips on how microsoft products must look or tend to look like, if they do I htink it needs a serious lookover.
they had the best search engine hands down.
until two things happened- google started competing with a text base search and altavista went ad crazy.
they even added images to the text only search.
then I switched to google.
Microsoft would never make a text based search engine.
It would have to be "pwetty" with lots of annoying ads flashing across the page.
and a distinctive microsoft look and feel (i.e. targeted at the illiterate)
I hope there are enough literate people who actually search with words and are looking for word to keep the video noise to a low level.
at least until *I* quit searching
And even when full text searching is work, it is relatively slow. And this is from a product that uses 600 MB of memory on the server (store.exe). Yes, a lot of that is probably caching of e-mail and attachments rather than in memory indices, but surely it could be done better.
If Microsoft can not get search to work reliably in a flagship product, it should come as no surprise that they have problems with web search.
If I want to get a list of yellow-pages sites or other SPAM sites, I search on Google. If I want the pages I'm looking for, I use Live.
lol
please remember to drink your coffee in the morning
then maybe you will stop making pointless posts
1) Choose a better name and accept that "Live" is even less meaningful than "Google" and only a fraction as catchy.
2) Integrate your services. Make it so users can get into their email straight from the search page.
3) Make it load faster. Your site is a utility. Just like you want a web-browser to start fast, you want email and searches that load fast. When I perform over a hundred searches a day on Google, that half second makes a big difference.
4) Your products need to feel fast. (Note this is different from "load fast". Spinning things doesn't make your product feel fast.
5) Your design is overly conservative and emotionless. It needs to be much more minimal and fun.
6) Consolidate your services. MSN is a good brand-name, but either convert all your services to Windows Live or call them MSN or change them to something else.
7) Abandon social networking services. Many of the people using the site already use a social networking service. Trying to shove your efforts into their faces is just extra irritation.
8) And finally - pay attention to your statistics. How many people want to see what the editors of MSN think inside their hotmail?
Microsoft doesn't have a branding issue with Windows Live, it has an attitude issue. Microsoft has set out to be better than Google, rather than to be the best at search.
Wow. Prostitution at it's ugliest. I'd recommend taking a step outside, but 1. you might get arrested since prostitution is illegal and 2. the great outdoors is likely very frightening to a shut in slave like you. So stay right where you are.
- by Maccess April 8, 2009 8:25 PM PDT
- Branding Issue? Duh. Microsoft is among Technology's best known brands.It was well known even before Google and Yahoo.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (51 Comments)It's a product problem. Microsoft is trying to fix in its typical style by adding more "features." It won't work.
What's wrong with Live Search -
1) Results are occasionally way off.
2) The Website is too tied into your windows computer, trying to do all sorts of things behind your back. It's a website...let it work that way, not a let me "help you by exploring your computer while you search."
3) Because of #2, it's too heavy.