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Microsoft Offers A Peek At New Search Engine
ObsessiveMathsFreak writes "The Inquirer is reporting that Microsoft is offering a preview of its new search technology. The search engine preview has a minimalist interface, similar to Google. Microsoft claims over one billion web pages searched, but admits the fact that searching is a little slow. This technology hasn't yet been incorporated into MSN Search, though the site claims it eventually will be. In related news, the Financial Times is reporting that Microsoft are to improve the regular MSN Search site by removing paid advertisements from regular internet searches, a move that will cost them 'tens of millions of dollars.' Are the Search Engine Wars finally upon us?"
Redhat, SUSE, Mandrake, etc. don't turn up on the first page. WTF?
... I think I'll stick to google.
Oh I get it. Microsoft don't want their competitors turning up in search results.
Hmmm
Looks like it still thinks that xfree86 is "adult content"
q =x free86&FORM=SMCRT
http://techpreview.search.msn.com/results.aspx?
...they'll have a "Microooooooosoft" graphic at the bottom of the screen to allow you navigate between pages of results...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
Search Error
MSN Search is temporarily unable to process your request.
Please try again in a few minutes.
EID: f:2114719238 - 1041:1041:10004:1059
HC: 71d61b16
Out of curiousity I also decided to check out MSN's Sandbox. This is pretty much their upcoming software and features. I was surprised to find pretty much everything they are listing has already been inplemented by Google. Time to play catch up!
NewsBot = news.google.com
MSN Toolbar = Google Toolbar
3 = I'm thinking this is just like Orkut, 3 is software that connects a small group of family and close friends, people who know and trust one another, so they can do fun things together in a whole new way. 3 is a beta test of an innovative application that lets users connect online, extending real-world social interactions.
NetScan = This is Google Groups.. searches USENET newsgroups
The only "original" item on there was TerraServer and that has been up and running for some time now.
I would be interested to see if MS decides to add much of the same features that Google has. Such as phone number searches, unit conversions, etc...Some things that make Google really unique. Perhaps MS could tie the search term, such as an address, to TerraServer will allow a person to get a direct overhead view of that place. However... They need to get some more updated maps to make this useful.
Hmmm.
Okay, random test. Search for "fisherman":
Sorry, no results were found containing "fishermen"
1 billion entries? Please.
Google:
Results 1 - 10 of about 1,350,000 for fishermen [definition]. (0.33 seconds)
Nice work so far MS...
about the performance and quality of the results of the search preview over at Webmaster World, including some feedback from MS employees.
Sorry, no results were found containing "microsoft fud"
with Jimmy Carter #4 and Michael Moore #3
Oh... and Hillary Clinton #5 and Howard Dean #7
And Michael Moore at #9 and #12
Rummy at #8
Slick Will at #14
Casual Games/Downloads
While I'm normally pretty pro-MS (I actually like their products - I'm not kidding) MS stands very little chance here.
They're fighting a marketshare war, and searches are pretty much a commodity - unless they've got something very specialup their sleeves, their searches are the same as anyone else's.
And let's face it, Google won the mindshare a long time ago. Just like everyone knows what Windows is, everyone knows what Google is, even non-techs. Hell, it's damn near a generic term for searching by now.
...why?
Why prevent a spider from crawling your page?
Just because it's associated with Microsoft?
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
Gentoo - no results
Redhat - 1 result redhat.com
Suse many results
slackware - many results
mandrake - mandrake.com 4th on list
XFree86 - adult content
Xfree - no results
linux - no results
Seems rigged to me
Okay, having just gone to the search engine site and entering in simple words, I get one of three results:
They claim to have indexed billions of pages... billions of pages of what exactly?!?
To participate in a war, you need reliable weapons to stand a chance. Teoma, Yahoo, Google, etc... they all have viable search technologies. MSN's search engine at their beta site is comparable to a blunderbuss. Highly inaccurate, prone to misfirings, and just as predictable in results.
Some people say "linux" gets results and some people don't. When I ran a search just now, it didn't get any results. Then I got an error page.
I tried searching for my website with "polygon comics" which is indexed in every search engine. None on their beta engine.
I tried "palo alto car show", which is likewise indexed by every search engine out there. Also no results from the MSN beta search engine.
From the impressions posted by other people who have been trying the system, it sounds like when the MSN beta search system is working, it ranks based on domains, favouring cyber-squatters and basically giving you info which may not even be relevant to your search.
RELEVANCE is what is important in a search system. That is more than just matching keywords. If MSN hopes to launch their own search which doesn't depend on other peoples' more reliable search technologies, they will need to work a hell of alot harder than what they've put up on their beta site.
As a long time user of search engines, I think MSN beta is a piece of ****(replace with a four letter explative of your choosing).
Winged Power Photography
Uber-corporation Microsoft (c) announced a new search service today. Microsoft bigwig Steve Ballmer had this to say:
"Our new search engine is the ultimate in modern search technology. It indexes the entire internet and stores it in a Microsoft Access (tm) database. Users querying the engine for a given term (such as "linux") are given links to a random assortment of possibly-related sites."
(interviewer) Google's search is lauded as highly relevant and lightening fast. Yet you've innovated and taken a different course, returning random results. Why is this better than Google's method?
(S.B.) "Well, you have to keep in mind that our concern is the average windows user. We have discovered a flaw in Google's technology; the heavy reliance on research, strong programming and intelligence, while novel, has resulted in a system where relevant, useful results are returned very quickly."
(interviewer) ..and your method is better than this because...
(S.B.) "Ok. When someone searches on Google, they are limited to only relevant items, because that's what Google has latched onto. The weakness in Google's method is that most pages are not returned, because a machine has decided they are irrelevant. The new Microsoft (c) paradigm is that we let the USER decide what's relevant and what's not; the machine makes no determination of what is or is not relevant. See how it's better? Look, 99% of all computers in the world run Windows. And people don't mind rebooting, not at all. We've added value to this model, someone's got to do the work, why not just dump it on the user, let them take the blame? My porsche won't go any slower because someone else had to do extra work. That's the beauty of the Microsoft way (tm)! We let other people do all the work, then we take the credit."
(interviewer) But most people say they like Google specifically *because* it returns relevant terms so quickly.. aren't you just dumping all the work of searching back on the user's lap?
(S.B.) "You clearly are an enemy of innovation. Look, People are smarter than machines. Therefore, since a person can only view one page at a time, a person must view every existing web page to know whether or not their guess of which page is most relevant, is in fact true. And so, our search engine is better, because we don't prevent the user--"
(interviewer) Isn't this all just a semantic argument against your economic competitor and technological superior, Google?
(S.B.) "This interview is over."
A Microsoft Public Relations Representative did note that search terms pertaining to the purchase of goods and services did in fact not return random results, and in point of fact return only a single link, to www.microsoft.com.
"A witty saying proves nothing." ~Voltaire
"d'Oh!" ~Homer