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Ballmer On Microsoft's Search Goofs
An anonymous reader writes "AP reports on CEO Steve Ballmer's regret over Microsoft's failure to get into the search market early on. Best quote? 'I want to make sure (a user) can't get through ... an online experience without hitting a Microsoft ad.' Nice to see they're still user-oriented."
"I want to make sure (a user) can't get through ... an online experience without hitting a Microsoft ad," he said.
So, does not the recent 600 some odd millions dollar fine by the EU suggest anything to these guys? The USDOJ let them off the hook, but the rest of the world is proving not to be as forgiving. Perhaps they should be a little more humble?...........Nah.
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'I want to make sure (a user) can't get through ... an online experience without hitting a Microsoft ad.'
And that is exactly why MSN Search will never be bigger than Google.
BTW, timothy, just so you know - when inserting a clarifying phrase into a quote, one encloses it in square brackets and not normal brackets.
Happy Trails!
Erick
http://www.busyweather.com/
Can someone say "unhealthy obsession"?
Fanaticism? Jealousy? Envy? Mod me to -1 and take my pain away.
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
No need. Just use Mozilla and say, "I will make sure I never see a Microsoft ad again!"
Or _any_ ad for that matter.
Apart from the wheely mouse (which I think HP invented), I can't think of *any* technologies that Microsoft got into early on. They missed TCP/IP, networking in general, the net (and the browser), etc.
Of their successes, with the honorable exception of their OS (copied from DR and then Apple) and their office suites (which they copied from, was it Lotus?), it's all been dubious business practices... Very successful company though they are, they are in no way innovative. Innovative isn't necessary for a monopolist position, and in fact is a bad business strategy - you might waste loads of cash, and you've got nothing to lose by preserving the status quo...
So it's just pure 100% Balmer, again...
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
It's no wonder they're behind in the search engine wars. Nobody wants to be intruded with ads they don't care about. I shouldn't get an ad for the newest version of Office when I'm looking up one of my favorite bands. And if I do get that ad I don't want it to be bigger and placed in front of my search results.
I remember when legal used to mean lawful, now it means some kind of loophole. - Leo Kessler
IE became the most popular browser primarily because you couldn't avoid it on any installation of Windows. Netscape, by contrast, you had to download, install, and -- in theory -- pay for.
Many Windows users will think it's too much to type in google.com and hit enter before they do a search, so Microsoft will once again use its monopoly to ruin a great product. Just like IE. Just like Windows Media. Just like Office. Just like Windows itself.
Remember, Microsoft's OS monopoly is so undermining precisely because Windows is the only thing most of the great unwashed computer users will ever see, and Microsoft controls what they see on that Windows computer. Well let's enjoy Google while it's still in business :-(
If it's not one thing it's your mother.
The quote in the blurb is taken totally out of context. It's presented as a way to convince the reader that Microsoft intends to do the following:
1.) Create a search engine that will be popular enough to rival Google.
2.) Create a method of forcing users to view unending advertisements each time they search, click, blink, etc.
3.) Profit unendingly.
What Ballmer was referring to was the amount of money Microsoft spends on advertising. He was using hyperbole to explain that many companies only spend 1% of their budget on advertising, and they should bring that up to 4-5%. He then said that when he gives money to his advertising people, he wants them to spend a metric shitload of it on online advertising, thus when people browse the web, even if they're not visiting Microsoft sites, they see Microsoft advertising.
He's not talking about abusing their own search engine to display ads but rather about spending their own money on advertising in the hopes it will net them more money.
That's not to say that I don't believe Microsoft deliberately manipulates their current search results and will continue to do so in the future in whatever incarnation their search engine may take, and it's not to say that I don't think Microsoft is a horrible company that breaks the law as much and as far as they can and that they need to be broken up in order to stop them from abusing the market any further, and finally it's not to say that they're not contributing to the downfall of capitalism and democracy and society as it is known for much of the Western world, but Jesus, if you're going to play ball, play fair. Only companies like Microsoft play unfair, and that's fucking wrong , and you can't say out one side of your mouth "Microsoft isn't playing fair!" and say out the other "Steve Ballmer rapes horses, with the dead bodies of children!"
Don't try to subvert truth like some neocon on a power trip.
While MS may be sitting on its cash reserve, Bill Gates is indeed doing a lot to better this world with his wealth. Please take a second look at his charitable works, especially his 3rd world health initiatives and his minority scholarship awards.
In the 7 billion they plan to spend on search technology, I hope they spend some money on fixing win XP's search within file option. For me, it sporatically works. I often have to use a windows 2000 box over the network to search an XP drive in order to "search within file".
the problem with this is the fact all those billions are in stocks. if he where to pull out even say 10% of his stocks, everyone would get scared, and pull out too, vastly dropping the costs of his stocks. and as for investing in new technologies with that money... take a look at the house he lives in now. take a look at all the various technologies that he had specifically invested into just so his house would be the way it is today. gates doesnt stay in the spotlight like everyone from hollywood, but sure enough, he is a person, and he does actually DO things. there is a constant stream of investments that he makes... but never anything such as fundaning an entire agancey the size of NASA.
When I saw the title "Microsoft's Search Goofs" I naively thought they might be apologizing for deliberately redirecting any searches for "xfree86" to porn.
Alas, I was not surprised to learn that they just want to send MORE ads our way.
MS has a long way to go before they can build a search engine that replaces Google in my regular use, especially if one of the main features of said engine is to send as many Microsoft ads at the consumer as possible. I use Google for its effectiveness and minimalistic site design. No popups, obtrusive banner ads, or flash ads to piss me off.
"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!" -Rush
Honestly, I almost think it is a good thing that Microsoft is joining the search engine fray. I have several reasons for this, but primarily, the first one is that search engine technology has seemed a big stagnant. Take Google, for example. With a great many websites participating in feeding search engines Spider Food, it is more difficult to find results that actually match what you are looking for. If microsoft manages to boost this, and cause a stream of activity in fixing these issues by providing a high powered level of competition, then I think its great.
Now, this does not mean I am advidly supporting Microsoft. This just means I'm supporting the addition of another wild card to the search engine battles that might have some good come out of it.
I certainly hope so at anyrate, as using Google gets to be more difficult with each passing day.
-- RJ
Hey, jackass.
Bill Gates is trying to do much better things than that with his 50 billion dollars.
Off the top of my head, he's trying to cure AIDS.
While I may hate some of his professional choices, if his charitable endeavors go even somewhat according to plan, I forgive him all his transgressions.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
First of all. It's weird to talk about market share for Mosaic. Secondly, when they decided to stop development of Mosaic, and ended the program, it was the best browser available. That says something. Particularly about netscrape. Once they left acadamia and got all that venture capital behind them they couldn't keep up with the poorly funded academics who picked up where those who formed netscrape left off?! That's pretty bad.
At least Microsoft had an excuse. They had totally missed the boat, misunderstood the technology, the market and were desprately trying to catch up on all fronts. In spite of that by the time they hit IE 4 they'd won. And not just through better distribution. That's huge.
Christ, look at what some of the late commers like Opera, and Konq have done! If netscape with their money had that kind of innovation. IE would be a smoking crater of a dead end, and MS would have bought out Netscape for big bucks and then some.