Microsoft is to launch a new search engine tomorrow ZDNET reports,
Microsoft ready to launch search engine
. Alternatively it may be about to launch a public beta, if you believe eWeek,
MSN Search Beta Set to Launch
. Apparently Microsoft isn't commenting officially at the moment.
Steve Ballmer is quoted as saying, "We will catch up, we will surpass", a comment presumably referring to Google search functionality.
I think I could fairly be described as sceptical until shown otherwise about the latest offering, assuming that it is the same technology that was in public beta a few months back. Search performance was, to say the least, disappointing. It failed even on basic search tasks and came nowhere near to displacing Google as the most efficient way to search, not least to search the Microsoft.com Web site.
Microsoft is right to aim to "catch up". But, the reality is that you can only "catch up" when you are behind. And, for the time being at least, behind is where Microsoft are on search engine technology.
It will be interesting to do some tests on the new beta, if that is what the rumours prove to be referring to.
Posted by Andrew Watt at November 10, 2004 04:24 PM | TrackBack