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Can Microsoft Beat Google?

An anonymous reader writes "With all the hype surrounding the recent release of MSN Search, are the search engine wars heating up? There's an interesting article that states, "As the veteran Microsoft enters the already flooded search engine industry, and Google still being fresh and refreshing to most people, it begs the question: can the old supplant the new?""

11 of 603 comments (clear)

  1. Begs the question by Catskul · · Score: 4, Informative

    No damn it. It doesnt beg the question. Begging the question is a logical falacy.

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  2. Re:uh .. by gUmbi · · Score: 2, Informative


    MSN frontpage: umbteen kilobytes of clutter, flash, and totally irrelevant BS.


    The Microsoft Search engine is not actually pretty clean - it's not the same as the MSN home page: http://search.msn.com/

  3. Re:According to Googlefight ..... by Chess_the_cat · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's apparent you have no idea what Googlefight is.

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  4. Re:uh .. by Jugalator · · Score: 3, Informative

    guess which one im gonna pull up for a simple web search.

    Well, doh, their web search engine page maybe?

    google.com (in my locale)

    Size of main page: 1237 bytes
    Size of inline elements: 12748 bytes

    search.msn.com

    Size of main page: 1368 bytes
    Size of inline elements: 29201 bytes

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  5. Re:Too Late by Chess_the_cat · · Score: 4, Informative
    Maybe not but I have heard MSN used as a verb in the context of instant messaging. "MSN me later." And since the name of the search engine is MSN Search I can definitely see people say MSN it. Conversely, I can see people use the word "google" to mean any type of online search which is precisely why Google fought to keep out of the dictionary. They saw that brands like Kleenex, Escalator, and Hoover became generic and have lost a lot of meaning. In fact, Escalator had to be given up by Otis Elevator because a judge ruled that it had entered the popular language and could no longer be protected as a trademark. So I can see 5 years from now people saying "google it" but heading to MSN Search or whatnot.

    Here's a great article about how worried Google is about their brand becoming a generic term.

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    Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
  6. Msn-bombing is already started. by VDM · · Score: 2, Informative

    Regarding search quality, MSN bombing is already starting, without involving Google searches. If you search for 'merda' (italian word for feces, unpolite), the first result is a Vatican City congregation.
    E.g., http://search.msn.it/results.aspx?q=merda.

  7. Boo hoo by $mooth · · Score: 2, Informative

    "The power and information google has and will continue to imporve upon is scary." Here's a crazy idea: if you don't like Google's business practices, don't use it. I don't remember anyone holding a gun to my head if I wanted to use yahoo's search

  8. Re:Too Late by ad0gg · · Score: 4, Informative

    Umm... 3 years ago google was responsible for 70% of all searches on the internet. Last stat I saw, they are now at 47% and that was before the launch of Microsofts new search engine. Inktomi(yahoo) was been rising and now makes up 27% of all searches.

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  9. How many wars can Microsoft fight at once? by Shag · · Score: 2, Informative
    Microsoft's got tons of money, so it can have a presence in a lot of different market spaces, but bog-standard Windows clients and Office are still its cash cows. It's had mixed results trying to leverage its strength on the desktop into other segments.

    Windows server: Sure, some folks buy it, but plenty don't. So far, Microsoft only has about one third of this space, and Linux is nipping at its heels. They knifed Windows for Itanium, to the disappointment of both Itanium users.

    Server appications: IIS has lost market share to Apache in recent years, and Exchange isn't ubiquitous yet either. SQL server enjoys showing the web its limits.

    Windows CE/Mobile/Tablet/whatever: Still no monopoly, and since sales of PDAs are shrinking and tablet PC's haven't really caught on, even if MS did take over this market...

    Game Consoles: XBox did just have its first profitable quarter. Ever. But it doesn't seem to sell so well overseas, and Nintendo and Sony haven't been persuaded to go away yet.

    Media: Media Center PC's aren't selling so well, and in a world with iTuneszilla stomping around, Windows Media suddenly seems less likely to rule the universe than it did a few years ago, even with "PlaysForSure."

    Internet Services: Even with its added features, MSN Messenger doesn't seem to be destroying AIM or Yahoo Messenger. MSN doesn't seem to be destroying anybody in general, even if Verizon throws it in free with DSL, and even if MSN is the homepage for Internet Explorer. Now Microsoft wants to go after Google, too.

    It's pretty interesting to consider that Windows Client and Office are so frickin' profitable that Microsoft can afford to throw gobs of money at their unprofitable products and divisions (which are pretty much everything but Windows Client and Office) and still have huge heaps of cash left over.

    (Oh, and I left off Apple, because if 95% of the world abruptly switched to Apple, Microsoft is second only to Apple itself in Mac software development, and would still be one of the most profitable companies out there, on sales of Office for Mac, VirtualPC, etc. Also, because as long as Apple is out there, and isn't owned by Microsoft, Microsoft can point at it and say "look, there are other choices, we're not that much of a monopoly!" :)

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  10. Re:Untrue. by HuguesT · · Score: 5, Informative

    1. Beta had a better image but with VHS you could record more than 60 minutes at a time. Everyone forgets this little point BTW. Case closed.

    2. Mac vs IBM. Cost as soon as clones came in. Still the same issue BTW by and large. IBMs had IBM behind it, and that's why it became a success with business, thanks to Lotus as well). Who cares about the OS, it's all about the applications, even today.

    3. Cars are status symbols and a lot of irrational issue surround them. Few people buy cars on technical terms, otherwise no one would have ever bought an Alfa Romeo for instance.

    4. Ogg originally required a floating point unit, and so wouldn't run on low-end players. MP3 was first to market. Few people can actually hear the difference between MP3 and Ogg and most don't care. The quality of either is much much better than either FM radio or tapes.

    5. Extended warranties are popular with many products such as Apple computers for instance, where it does make sense because after 3 years the computer is still worth something.

    Marketing works to some extent but are not the be-all and end-all of everything. Perhaps you've heard of the term "hype" ?

  11. Re:Marketing is the problem by Luthair · · Score: 2, Informative

    He could be posting from work where IE can be the only option approved for us.