EightBlack.

Microsoft has just pulled back the curtain on a new release of its Live Search Platform. I took a quick look this morning.

I will say this - the interface is clean and it has some neat features - such as a nifty feature within the “images” tab which when you hover your mouse over the thumbnail, the image expands and you can see further details.

According to the Live Search team blog, here’s the essence of what’s been included in this update:

• • Relevance, relevance, relevance. We’ve quadrupled the size of our index, which means we can return the right results for your searches. Improvements like enhanced ranking algorithms, auto-spell correction and better stop word handling help us return the best results.
  • Speed. Pages load much faster than before.
  • Streamlined look and feel. We focused on the end-to-end experience from the homepage throughout the site. For example, search results are now easier to read thanks to work on typography, contrast, colors and spacing.
  • More high-interest content. You asked us for more in Entertainment, Shopping, Health, Local and Video search and we’re happy to deliver it.

I’m not sure if the average user gives a rats toss about “an enhanced ranking algorithm”. And they say that they have quadrupled the size of their index - but they don’t give us a baseline of how big the index was in the first place. And then “speed”. Allegedly the search app now runs on premium gasoline - whereas before it ran like an old dog. Or something like that.

But what I don’t get though is why make it a clone of Google. Yahoo!’s already the same. Now the big 3 all treat the “sponsored link” area exactly the same. If it’s all the same, then the average user is going to gravitate to what he knows best - Google. Always will.

I think if Microsoft want to stay in the race, they’re going to need to place a much bigger bet. Take more risk. I’ve said this before - along with a lot smarter people than me and it’s this. Microsoft need to spin off Live Search and make them a separate entity. Entirely. Steve Ballmer shouldn’t be allowed in the building. All he should see come across his desk are “Capital Request Authorisations”. For shitloads of money.

Because unless MS start to differ in the search space (like Jason Calacanis with Mahalo), then all they can hope for are tiny increments of growth in a space that Google continues to thrive in.

Oh, and one last thing. The folks at Redmond should quietly tap Jerry Yang on the shoulder and get a deal done. Before someone else does.

And if that’s too cryptic for you, let me translate. “Steve, get off your arse and pick up the phone and talk to Jerry Yang at Yahoo!” And bring your cheque book.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 28th, 2007 at 8:33 am and is filed under Microsoft, Search Engines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.