News

Microsoft To Unveil New Search Engine

Microsoft Corp. plans to officially launch its updated and renamed Internet search engine, the latest step in a massive effort to make headway against market leaders Yahoo and Google.

Microsoft Corp. plans Tuesday to officially launch its updated and renamed Internet search engine, the latest step in a massive effort to make headway against market leaders Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc.

Live Search had previously been available in test form and is the successor to MSN Search, Microsoft's current search engine. It ranks a distant third in U.S. popularity after Yahoo and Google, according to the most recent data from Nielsen/Net Ratings.

The release also is part of the Redmond software company's push to offer a number of free, Web-based services under its new "Live" brand name. The approach has been aimed at helping the company establish a fresh, separate Internet brand for those services, but it also has confused some users more familiar with the company's traditional MSN Internet branding strategy.

"In general, I don't think a lot of consumers outside of computer enthusiasts ... are aware of Windows Live or know what it is," said Matt Rosoff, independent researcher with Directions on Microsoft.

Microsoft plans to use Live Search on its MSN portal, and it also planning to promote Live Search later this fall. But Rosoff said the company needs to do more _ whether it's a massive marketing push or some sort of broader tie-in with other products _ to tell uses what Live is, and persuade them to switch from Google and others.

"In the end, users need easy access to Microsoft's search engine," Rosoff said.

Among other changes, Live Search will include improved ways to refine a search engine query so a user can better differentiate whether they are searching, for, say, the jaguar animal, car or Apple Computer Inc. operating system, said Christopher Payne, corporate vice president for Microsoft's Live Search effort.

It also has improved how people can search for and view images, Payne said.

Microsoft on Tuesday also plans to officially launch Live Local Search in the United States and the United Kingdom. The search offering, which has long been available in test form, shows detailed photographic images of some parts of the country based on searches for addresses and places of interest.

Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.