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Can Microsoft Beat Google?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the they-beat-netscape-apple-and-ibm dept.

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?""

5 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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    Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
  2. 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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    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  3. 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
  4. 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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    Have you ever been to a turkish prison?

  5. 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" ?