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Microsoft Plans News Aggregator

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the following-google's-business-plan dept.

wyldeone writes "ZDNet says Microsoft is planning on creating a news aggregation service similar to Google's Google News. It will draw headlines from over 4,800 sites. It will also provide customized feeds, similar to Googles News alerts. Here is the beta version of the site."

49 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. What's new? by BWJones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, what is new here? Seriously.........Is this another case of Microsoft coming late to the game and saying "Oh, well, we have one too", or is this another case of Microsoft publicizing they have something in the works that will come out any time now to keep other folks from entering into the fray? Come on, if you are going to get into the game, offer something new. For instance, take a page from the Apple playbook when Apple realized a little late that mp3s and online music was the way to go, Apple put some thought and effort into things and came up with not only the iTunes music store, but also the iPod. Both of which were nice innovations and spurred other companies to improve their products.

    From the looks of Microsoft's news bot site here it appears that ther innovations are links to Hotmail, shopping, other proprietary properties and news programs of either Microsoft and NBC, and notably in the Science/Health categories, we have business news about companies such as Boston Scientific rather than real Science news. It's also more bandwidth intensive than the Google news site.

    --
    Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
    1. Re:What's new? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well, from the FAQ, it looks like MSN is using generalized clickthru and your personal history to customize the results. I don't think Google does either of those.

    2. Re:What's new? by carnivore302 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, Microsoft coming late to the game is part of its success. They take a concept that has proved to be a success and extend it with their own additions. The (in)famous "embrace and extend strategy".

      Sure, sometimes it backfires or fails miserably. But then again, if you don't risk now and then, you will not make significant gains either. Microsoft knows this all too well.


      Click here for the Mystery Futures Link!

      --
      Please login to access my lawn
    3. Re:What's new? by costas · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, at least one thing that MSN Newsbot dows that Google News doesn't, is that MSN attempts to personalize the news page based on passed clicks. Now, my newsbot has been doing that for almost 3 years now (plus a lot more, like customized XML and PDA feeds, peer networks, etc) with a more varied selection of sources (end of shameless plug :-)

    4. Re:What's new? by teal · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Jeez! Does Microsoft come up with anything new anymore? Their entire business plan seems to be to find something someone else is making money on and to copy it.

      I have a feeling that this is the behavior pattern of a dinosaur as it goes off to die. In this industry it really is innovate or die, which gets harder and hardeer as a corporation gets large and lethargic. Again, I think Microsft rewally is their own worst enemy.

    5. Re:What's new? by AstroDrabb · · Score: 2, Funny
      Oh, just what I want. MS trying to "guess" what news I want to see. Just as they do with their OS, always trying to make a choice for us dumb end-users. I will take Google, just give me _all_ the news and let me pick and choose, or like Yahoo! where I can pick different news feeds. The last thing I want is some corporation like MS making a chioce for me.

      I can see this state-of-the-art algorithm used by MSN News.

      if(_newsTopic == LINUX_TOPIC)
      showMoreMSNewsArticles();
      else if (_newsTopic == ANTI_MS)
      showMoreMSNewsArticles();
      else
      showMor eMSNewsArticles();
      --
      If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
      it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
    6. Re:What's new? by glinden · · Score: 2, Informative

      Memigo is very cool with a ton of power user features. It's a fantastic site.

      If you're looking for something simple and easy to use, Findory News is another good choice.

    7. Re:What's new? by AstroDrabb · · Score: 2, Insightful
      But c'mon, Microsoft is not going to slant their entire page
      Why not? MS use to mess with MSN searches for Linux, etc. For a while, any Linux search would return content from MS's site about switching, or studies about how MS Windows has a better TCO. It was actaully on /., and after a while, MSN finally changed whatever they were doing and the Linux searches seem better, though not near the level of Google.
      --
      If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
      it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
  2. Deja-vu by peterprior · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Ahh.. the good old "rip off something another companies done" move. Good to see they are still as innovative as ever. Doesn't google own any patents on this?

    1. Re:Deja-vu by nomadic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Patents on a news aggregation service? Google came really late to that game, if any patents exist google sure wouldn't have them.

    2. Re:Deja-vu by Cereal+Box · · Score: 2, Funny

      You must be kidding. A patent on Google News? Do you think Google News was the first website to collect a bunch of news stories from various sources and post them on a page? Do you even know what site you're reading right now?

      Microsoft isn't ripping anyone off any more than Google is.

    3. Re:Deja-vu by Skevin · · Score: 2, Funny

      Of course it's brand-spanking new! Even as we speak, Microsoft is gearing up to release its revolutionarily innovatively original news site, Dashslot! Dashslot, whose slogan is "FUD for Nerds, Truth in Tatters", will allow members of the ever growing anti-OSS movement to coelesce into a coherent online community, by conglomerating news stories about events and/or legislation that threaten the blessed Utopia Microsoft has promised to us, the Faithful. Members, once logged in with a Microsoft Passport ID, may leave comments on an electronic bulletin board via the relative ease of Outlook, or simply respond to them, whether or not they relate to the original news stories to which they are tied. Flaming is kept to a minimum, because no one is Anonymous on Dashslot! Everyone is your Komrade! As such, it is in everyone's best interest to report any suspicious behavior to the site's moderators: Admiral Octopus-Sashimi, Bloody, and Indian On Your Knees, who outsources our polls.

      Unlike other news conglomeration sites, Dashslot will allow you to use any HTML tags in your comments whatsover, including the famous tag, <script language="vbscript">. You thus are even allowed to embed unsigned ActiveX Controls and DLLs into your comments for the convenience of your komrades, but they will need to run Internet Explorer 6 or higher (on minimum security settings) to fully appreciate your efforts. But wait, there's more! You have limited ability to moderate the scores of comments left by other komrades, which ultimately affects their karma. This is where Dashslot derives its famous logo: -1

      Since there are many news sites hostile our ideology, Dashslot includes a new feature called "One Click Denial of Service". This feature, also called the Dashslot effect, allows a Komrade to crash an offending IIS webserver in the course of a single visit! (Rumors of this feature already occurring spontaneously are treasonous and subject to execution without trial by firing squad, who will then in turn be executed by gas, lethal injection, and the electric chair all at once. Please consult your MS Passport Terms of Service for details regarding mandatory Firing Squad Duty.)

      Dashslot will bring together the programmers and techies of the world, and bind them to a single unifiying vision, without the corrupting influence of other opinions! We will help everyone on all corporate levels communicate on the same level with eachother, because we will have already told you what to think beforehand! We will rally the faithful masses to the glorious banner of proprietary software, defining the dawn of our New World Order! Dashslot's presence shall herald the coming of a new age of hope for those who remained faithful to Microsoft. Everyone else is just a freaking heretic and will be litigated to hell. See you in court.

      Solomon Chang

      --
      "Twice half-assed makes an ass whole." --Solomon K. Chang
  3. Great.... by Roskolnikov · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One OS
    One People
    One Nexus

    I can't wait to see how they 're-write' links and searches
    to 'enhance' your experience.

    --
    Unix, an obscure operating system developed by bored researchers in an attempt to get a better game playing experience.
  4. It's about time by foistboinder · · Score: 5, Funny

    Finally a news service uncluttered with
    anti-Microsoft stories. :)

    --
    Yet Another Web Site
    1. Re:It's about time by optimus2861 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      This is modded funny, but Microsoft (or at least, any MS chuckleheads who monitor Usenet) has been known to yank posts from the microsoft.public.* newsgroups (at least from their own NNTP servers) that are overly critical of Microsoft policies -- do a Google on a chap named "kurttrail" in microsoft.public.windowsxp.general. He's a very outspoken critic of product activation and Microsoft EULA policies, and MS has attempted to censor his opinions on more than one occasion under flimsy pretexts (i.e. "this topic is not for a general newsgroup").

      Usenet being what it is, the censorship is pretty ineffective (generally, most news servers won't honour third-party cancel requests in unmoderated newsgroups) but it is quite petty. Especially since kurttrail is a damn good debater and tends to come out on top in any real debate the MS-defenders get into with him, which only makes MS's positions look worse.

  5. Why is it... by scifience · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why is it that Microsoft feels the need to do everything Google does? Microsoft is not exactly losing money.

    I'm waiting for the day that Microsoft announces that they are buying back all their stock just so they can do another IPO to be like Google!

  6. Next - Embedded in Longhorn by grunt107 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would wager that this news service will get embedded in the Longhorn desktop presentation layer. This would hide the IE browser from view (although its underlying tech would be the content server), allowing MS to further embed its applications further into the OS offering.

    1. Re:Next - Embedded in Longhorn by DarkGreenNight · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This could be the next logical step. And if correctly filtered information comes to your desktop there'll be not much incentive to go to other information services.

      You'll be able to see the headlines of selected (in the bad sense) newspapers, and the newsfeeds of your favourite webpages. No incentive to go to the webpages, no incentive to go similar services (news.google.com), everybody plummeting (no ads revenue), but microsoft and friends. And then their friends will start to require subscription, after all you'll be already registered with passport.

      Of course it can also be good, but we are trained to distrust monopolies. So, if bad times come, we'll be able to say "I told ya!". Or at best we can fight to avoid the nastier effects.

      Any ideas?

  7. Will we see a bias? by digitalgimpus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Considering MS owns MSNBC, I wouldn't be suprised if it's a bit bias towards it's own property.

    I like Google partly for neutrality.

  8. 4800? by isdfnmo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who needs 4800 news sources?

    I have BBC, NYTimes, a few industry-specific, a few 'for interest' (e.g. Economist, New Scientist, Reason.com), a few for sport and one for UK TV Listings. Maybe a dozen tops and I am one of the most well-informed people I know.

    Too much information = too easy to lose the salient stuff.

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur
    1. Re:4800? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Maybe it is to actually get news without spin? A lot of those news sources are actually foreign papers (including Al-Jazeera on Google's site). It is nice sometimes to get a different point of view. Of course, on the other side, a lot of times 90% of those sources are just pulling the same exact AP or Reuters release verbatim.

  9. Re:horrible by hedge_death_shootout · · Score: 5, Funny

    yet more "innovation" from Microsoft - have the EVER thought of ANYTHING original.

    Let's see...
    An MS-bashing post.
    On Slashdot.
    Castigating MS for stealing ideas.
    How original!

  10. Click on the "Bourne slays competition" link... by rixster · · Score: 4, Informative

    and you're in for a surprise.

    --
    Two wrongs may not make a right, but three ....
  11. Very Strange by Prince+Vegeta+SSJ4 · · Score: 3, Funny
    I couldn't access the site

    Something about a conflict, dumping physical memory, and then the browser went all blue and restarted. Strange, I've never seen anything like it.

  12. Microsoft News...The name you trust. by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 2, Insightful


    Ummmmm, yea, Microsoft as a news provider. Just the job for a convicted monopoly. And don't say, "They're just getting news from other sites" because what you choose to cover is the biggest bias in the news industry.

    I wish they would get over this illusion that they are a content provider. They are SUPPOSED to be a software company, and hell, I'll even throw the X-Box in that category. Maybe if they stopped trying to own one of everything and just concentrated on their damn OS, it would be worth buying.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    1. Re:Microsoft News...The name you trust. by rpdillon · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think the point was that Microsoft's news site would be set as the default...amazing as it may seem to the readers of slashdot (and I don't mean to be sarcastic), most people who use computers actually don't change the defaults (as we do so often). I'm not sure why, but I'm constantly amazed at how pervasive the "default" is.

      Case and point: IE comes with windows, it's icon is put on the desktop. It has, what, 90% market share? It was considered big inroads for Firefox the other week when Firefox gained 1%. I bet MS could ship Firefox with windows and bury it in a menu somewhere and people would STILL use IE, so long as it was the icon that appeared on the desktop.

  13. "Most Popular Articles"... by southpolesammy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ok, Slashdotters, here's your chance to googlebomb (hmmm, ok, guess we need a new catchphrase here) the MSN Newsbot. Go to the site and use the "Find Your News" search field to look for things like FOSS, SCO-MS interplay, RIAA, or get really nasty and search for things like goatse and other wrteched sites.

    Let's give MSN's newest beta a warm sendoff...

    --
    Rule #1 -- Politics always trumps technology.
  14. So how could they do this... by gillbates · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Without breaking copyright law? Are they really going to license content from every single site? Or will the Feds bust them like Adam McGaughey?

    --
    The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
    1. Re:So how could they do this... by RazzleFrog · · Score: 4, Informative

      Have you never seen how these sites work? They don't copy the entire article onto their site. They provide a link to the original site with a short blurb. This doesn't infringe on any copyrights and, if anything, the sites are getting free advertising. In the case you link he had the information on his site. Now that doesn't necessarily mean he was infringing but you can't compare the two.

      Imagine the precedent if they did. It would totally destroy the search engine industry (which is basically all this is).

  15. Google news isn't entirely original either by acomj · · Score: 4, Insightful

    newshub been doing news gathering for a long time..

    google came and did it better..

    Now MSN is throwing its hat in the ring. AOL will provide a web page with news/ other stuff based on what you want to see which is oddly good (It shows movies playing at the closest movie theaters..)

    There a probably lots of others I'm missing.

    Competetion is good. Hopefully everyone competes and makes theses sites better.

    Win Win Win...

  16. Not AGAIN... another COPIED innovation! by Seraphnote · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Come on Microsoft! Geez. With that whole RESEARCH department you have and $50 Billion, you'd think we'd see MORE than this tripe innovation from you! Oh wait that's right, you put all your time in the AESTHETICs, mouse cursors, icons, freaking large graphical interfaces that treat the user like a child and use up half the screen's space...

  17. Google News is beta too... by Artega+VH · · Score: 2, Informative

    at least the australian version says Beta..

    The MS one is too busy, hard to follow. Whereas the Google one is as clean as can be expected for a screen with so much information and so many links.

    So let me get this straight. Which beta is better? Do we really need a slashdot poll to know that answer? Didn't think so...

    --
    groklaw, wired and slashdot. The holy trinity of work based time wasting.
  18. Layout by umrgregg · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, it makes you want to stab your eyes out for one...

    --
    NMG
  19. Current headlines... by gad_zuki! · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anti-Trust Legislation: Evil or just Wrong?

    Macs turn people gay.

    Office XP: Best Software Ever!

    Internet Explorer Holes Largley Fiction

    Bill Gates Lands on Moon

    Dennis Miller Funniest Man Ever

    An Editorial by Clippy©

    Better Computing Through Crashes

    Spyware Ain't So Bad

    Your Computer is Old, Buy a New One with XP Now

    How I Caught a Cold from Viral Open Source

    Windows Saved my Life!

    Jesus Uses XP

    MS Wins Nobel Peace Prize

    Service Pack Two Will Cure Impotence

    Child Killed by Linux Installer

    etc

  20. Looking at the two sites ... by ggvaidya · · Score: 4, Informative

    ... all I can say is "HA HA HA HA HA!"

    See for your self. If you can read anything past the ugly blue-black-and-white font, you're a braver man than I.

    Google news stories seem more interesting as well. MSNBC basically has a lot of US-related tabloid articles, while Google has some real news. An example:

    World news according to MSNBC:

    1. U.S. hands over four French suspects at Guantanamo
    2. Prosecutors dissect Berkeley fishing story (about a murder in S.F. - how is this world news??)
    3. Jenkins asks to see US lawyer

    In contrast, Google has:

    1. French Guantanamo detainees back home
    2. Sudan Says US Using Darfur to Topple Government
    3. Freed Egyptian Says Treated Well by Iraqi Captors

    Also, Google allows you to go to country specific news feeds. I'm sorry, but MSN is going to have to do much better than this to steal my clicks. And before you argue that it's still beta, Google News had much better functionality than this before it first appeared on the Google front page.

  21. Little experiment by jsse · · Score: 4, Informative

    Search for Linux in http://newsbot.msnbc.msn.com(within first 20 hits):

    Opinion: Why Linux isn't ready for the Desktop
    Vulns: Linux Kernel Unspecified Local Denial of Service Vulnerability
    Vulns: Linux Kernel Floating Point Register Contents Leak Vulnerability
    Vulns: Linux VServer Project ProcFS Weak Sharing Permissions Vulnerability
    Vulns: Apache mod_userdir Module Information Disclosure Vulnerability
    How Microsoft Can Embrace Linux

    I love biased news source. So here I'm. :)

  22. I don't get it by Harmfulfreeradical · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is it just me or does this thing not even work on Macs? I'm using IE something or the other on OSX and I get nada - newsbot.msn.com no work. Tried it on PC and it looks like MSNBC to me. What a waste of electricity.

    --
    Don't worry: your brain will eventually work inspite of you.
  23. Re:I can imagine the programming... by ggvaidya · · Score: 2, Funny
    IF newsarticle CONTAINS microsoft + internet explorer + bug THEN SEND TO null ELSE SHOW on page ...don't kill me because I can't program.
    D00D, TH4T 15 50M3 733T VI5U4L B4S1X H4X0R1NG!!!!!!
  24. Quick observations. by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's slower than google news. Because it uses the left hand side MSNBC toolbar (with its less than instantaneous menus) less actual news fits on my screen.

    Finally, this statement is somewhat disturbing.

    "Newsbot (beta) responds to your reading preferences. Clicking on articles determines what we base your recommendations on."

    MSNBC does go out of its way to label AP wire service stories as such, which is a nice touch-- I really don't need to read the same story 700 times.

    However, google does print the headlines of stories from three sources for each news item, which is more useful that a simple "Also covered in Sun, Herald-Tribune, and ABC". Speaking of which, is that the Chicago Sun, International Herald Tribune, and American Broadcasting Company? Or is it The Sun, Southwest Florida Herald Tribune, and Australian Broadcasting Company?

    1. Re:Quick observations. by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "Newsbot (beta) responds to your reading preferences. Clicking on articles determines what we base your recommendations on."

      I find this disturbing too, though probably not for the same reasons as you do.

      I could care less if the site uses my browsing history to determine what I like and don't like -- it's better for them and for me if they can target ads well enough that I don't see ads for things I wouldn't buy.

      The reason I don't like the idea is that because the importance of news should not be based on what I WANT to read about, but rather what I NEED to read about. It would be very easy to establish a pattern of interest that would result in an echo-chamber situation, where I was never exposed to a viewpoint I didn't already possess or agree with. That kind of situation does not make a person any more informed; what, then, is the purpose of news?

  25. ***Today on Microsoft Galactonews Feed*** by pandrijeczko · · Score: 4, Funny
    Geek-freaks of Earth, your attention please...

    This is Prostetnic Borg-o Gates of the Galactic Microsoft Planning Council.

    We are about to build a Galactic Longhorn Expressway through your system and, regretably, your Open Source has been scheduled for demolition.

    Plans have been on display at 1 Microsoft Way for 5 of your Earth years, locked in a filing cabinet in a disused lavatory with a sign on the front saying "Beware of the DMCA".

    The demolition will take slighly more than 2 of your Earth decades, just as soon as we've got XP Service Pack 2 working.

    Prostetnic Ballmer will be passing amongst you shortly with a collection box into which you may deposit your Linux CDs and free software floppy disks as part of the amnesty.

    Thank you for your time...

    --
    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
  26. Need to clean my glasses by Stephen+Samuel · · Score: 2, Funny
    When I first read it, I thought the headline was:
    Microsoft plans new aggravator..

    Made perfect sense to me at the time... I was just surprised that they'd put that in a press release.

    --
    Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
  27. Too little, too late. How about some innovation? by iapetus · · Score: 2, Informative

    Or isn't MS allowed to do that any more?

    While we're waiting, why not try newsmap, which does some interesting things with Google's news feed.

    --
    ++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
    Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
  28. Interesting Headlines... by brunes69 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Emphasis on 3rd line added by me....

    Rapper Ja Rule Charged With Assault
    Kansas City Star - 12 hours ago Popularity Rank: 17 Similar Stories: 23
    Register now for your chance to get passes!
    TORONTO - Rapper Ja Rule appeared in a Toronto courtroom Monday on a charge of assault causing bodily harm.Authorities would say only that the...
    Also covered by: CBS News BBC AP via News-Journal Kentucky.com Times Union ABC 7
    More photos & full coverage

    Register for passes? To what, the assault?

  29. New web address for newsbot by ppz003 · · Score: 3, Funny

    http://www.msnoogle.com

    We tell you what's going on, and you will believe...

  30. MS announces Dotdotbackslash by dpbsmith · · Score: 4, Funny

    This just in. Microsoft has announced a beta version of a revolutionary new news aggregation service to be called "Dotdotbackslash." Unlike automatic services such as Google News, this one relies on the human judgements of hundreds of Microsoft MVPs to locate and make available the most relevant information needed for IT managers.

    Slogan: "News for PHBs--Words that Buzz"

    --

    "How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!

  31. the beta of this has been up for some time by jamner · · Score: 4, Informative

    This article was posted back in Nov of '03. go figure.

  32. Re:Ahh, why not. It's Tuesday. by gosand · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Whinging" is a totally valid word; it's just not used in America. Because, you know, English was around far, far longer than your pitiful country.

    Absolutely. But for you to use a word that is not used in America (technically the United States of America - just calling it America is kind of ignorant) is sort of a faux pas on your part. It is a British word, so why would you use it when composing a post towards Americans? It doesn't show that you have a better vocabulary, just a different one. Whooptie doo.

    The fact that you spent so long replying says it all, really. You just can't accept that there are major flaws in your country. You're told at school that America is great, the govt. tells you that America is great, and you want to believe that America is great.

    And how would you know what they tell us in school? I can accept the flaws of my country, but it sounds like *someone* may be a little jealous. Otherwise, why would you spend the time verbally attacking the USA? Upset that you can't win a Tour de France?

    Well, you need a change. Go and live in Switzerland or Sweden for five years, and take note of the high standard of living, low crime rate, intelligent people and general good quality of society. THEN make your opinion up about America.

    Umm, that would give me a better opinion of Switzerland or Sweden, not the USA. (oops, there is your faux pas again) Perhaps you should come live here for 5 years in order to get a more accurate opinion of this country.

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  33. i've been trying to do the same thing by Fo0eY · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've been building my own news aggregate too

    same sort of idea, let the user see what they want, do some searching and browsing by category

    i really want to do something like slashdot does and let you pick the channels that show up by default, but I just haven't gotten there yet

    anyways, it's at http://fooey.net/NewsArchives/

    only problem is the stupid thing is too addicting, and I end up spending WAY too much time reading the hundreds upon hundreds of articles scrolling through it every day