Category: Of Note in Search Biz

Recall the earlier post about Google Images, which demonstrated that the index was rarely updated? Well, the folks at Google clearly were listening. When Sergey calls something embarrassing, something has to change. Now, when you query Google Images, you will see Google News images in your results. That’ll solve some of the problems, but it’s just a patch – news only archives 30 days, if memory serves. It’s quite clever, though.

Example: Arafat.

Thanks to Nathan for pointing to this.

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Stewart Butterfield at Flickr is onto something….

Well, the rumours were true, the launch is real, and the Microsoft search engine is officially here, if in beta, and still in the “Sandbox” for now. I’m told that MSFT intends to roll it into MSN after garnering feedback for the next few months, probably sometime in the first half of 2005.

Microsoft’s angle on the engine is “providing more useful answers.” In the presentation I was given, MSFT showed some new research which claimed that the time between a searcher’s query and a full answer averages 11 minutes. It’s within this window that MSFT hopes to improve search – getting an answer, quicker.

I haven’t had time to play with it to the extent I can say that it’s better or worse than its competitors, but clearly, this is a significant engine. (I’ve included links to the press site, which features the new engine, at this writing, the beta site was still the old product). Product manager Justin Osmer, who gave me a tour, says he’s confident the engine “will get us in the game.” The index currently boasts 5 billion pages indexed, and includes some innovative features, including a location-based search called “Search Near Me” and a Yahoo-like approach to well-worn keyphrases like musician’s names and the like. The engine also includes an Ask-like question answering capability. Before Google upped thier index to 8 billion, clearly in response to this news, Microsoft claimed, in early press releases, to have the largest index. Clearly it’s back to the indexing board for them on that count, not, as Linden and many others have pointed out, that it really matters in the big scheme of things.

Search Near Me works either by interpreting your IP address to geolocation, which does not always work, or allowing you to set your preferences to include your actual location. Image and News search is also integrated.

The interface is clean and uncluttered, and includes a “Search Builder” tool that allows you to customize your query for better results. I’ll have more on this in coming days, but for now, suffice to say the game is on, and Microsoft is very much on the field.

In conjunction with the launch, Microsoft has also debuted it’s own Microsoft Search Blog (I’m honored, really…) along the lines of Google and Yahoo’s entries. It’s first entry is now up. I’m pleased to say, the comments are open.

But perhaps the most important news I gleaned from talking to Osmer was this: Microsoft has every intention of opening up its search APIs and allowing third party developers to leverage their search platform for new and innovative applications. This is where the future lies, in my mind, and I find that declaration a refreshing indication of where Microsoft is heading. “Our intentions down the road are not only to continue to grow the engine,” Osmer said, “but to also set the groundwork for a third party ecosystem that would allow others to use our technology. We as a company realize that there is a significant difference between shrink wrapped software (in other words, MSFT’s bread and butter) and the online world.”

Amen. Let the games commence!

Draft release in extended entry.

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Yep, that’s what the Google home page now says it indexes…it also notes that this is a “nearly doubling”. Now I am sure this has nothing to do with the launch of MSFT’s search, more on that at 9 pm PST….Google’s blog has the details.

Besides the MSFT news, more is coming and much more has past that I missed last week or that merits a quick post, but I’m buried so here’s a roundup:

First off, Dogpile has launched a new feature it calls “IntelliFind” which “utilizes sophisticated query intelligence to assess the likely intent behind every entered query, enabling Dogpile to return more relevant results from a wider array of content sources.” Dogpile is a metasearch engine, using results from Google, Yahoo, Ask, About, LookSmart, and many others. I’m not a huge fan of how they list paid results, but the service keeps innovating, worth checking out.

Last week 10×10 got a lot of buzz, this service lists the top 100 images and phrases that are driving news in any given hour. Cool to look at.

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What’s a sign of a maturing business? One that takes care of its “developers.” In the case of Google (for now, anyway), that means the agencies and search engine marketing companies that manage AdWords accounts on behalf of multiple clients. (Soon, one might presume, Google will have a robust developer network of the more traditional kind, a la Microsoft or Apple, but I’m getting ahead of the story).

Today Google announced “Google Advertising Professionals,” a program designed to cater to SEMs and agencies. Google has long lagged Overture in the Manicuring the Hand That Feeds You category, I am sure this program will be a welcome addition in the search marketing space. Details in release, in extended entry.

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I was wondering why the MSFT folks were so eager to get me in front of a PC this week (I will see a preview Weds and report back asap): MSFT will debut its search to the public this Thursday, well ahead of sked. Hmm, wonder if there was a fire under that team’s ass, stoked by Bill and Steve?

From the WSJ piece (the Journal is open this week, thankfully):

The Redmond, Wash. software maker on Thursday will open to the public its service for searching the Internet after eighteen months of development. The company is trying to tap into the lucrative business now dominated by Google of combining Internet search and advertising.

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