Microsoft To Launch Homegrown Search Engine 300
Mr. Christmas Lights writes "While Google is currently the king-of-the-hill in search engines, Microsoft continues to lag in market share and uses Yahoo's technology/results. But Cnet reports that they'll launch on Thursday their own homegrown search engine , although it appears this is mostly a face-lift (despite a year of development and $100 million investment). According to Bill Gates, they 'will introduce a homegrown web crawler and algorithmic search engine ... later this year,' which is almost certainly their tech preview (you can look at this now) -- but will that be ready for prime-time in less than two months?"
About time (Score:4, Funny)
Re:About time (Score:3, Funny)
Re:About time (Score:5, Interesting)
For me it was sucking several gig a month off my site, and was obviously very badly coded since it was refetching the same pages over and over (cachable pages, non-cachable pages and 404's). So in the end I gave up and outright blocked the damned thing - yet another bit of shoddy MS code out to break the internet..
Re:About time (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:About time (Score:5, Informative)
Re:About time (Score:3, Informative)
Re:About time (Score:2, Informative)
Unconvinced... here's some stats from my logs:
MSNBot hits: 10217+77 bandwidth: 441.67 MB
Googlebot hits: 116+90 bandwidth: 16.13 MB
This is after the modification
Re:About time (Score:5, Informative)
User-agent: msnbot
Disallow:
iptables -A INPUT -p all -s 65.54.0.0/16 -j DROP
Or even better, if you have the TARPIT module:
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s 65.54.0.0/16 -j TARPIT
Re:About time (Score:2)
So (Score:4, Funny)
Re:So (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So (Score:5, Funny)
Fortunately IE has enough in the way of exploits so the default start-up page gets hijacked often enough.
Re:So (Score:5, Interesting)
You mean the same people who use the default favorites? I looked at the default list once, then deleted it. It looked like a paid list from the yellow pages of the travel and media sections in the phone book.
Re:just like Firefox plugins ? (Score:2)
yahoo, amazon, ebay etc etc
Yes, AOL, MSN, ESPN, Disney store..
Most of it is media outlets, Media previews, search engines (Lycos, Ask, etc.), and shopping sites. Yahoo happens to be all 3 sections bundled into one.
Re:So (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:So (Score:5, Funny)
I've got a running gag with my team that if I can find the answer to their problem in 3 google searches I get their pay for that week. The number of dumb question I get is WAY down.
Re:So (Score:3, Interesting)
Smart. Back when I worked as a Tech Support manager (pre-WWW, post 'net), the techs would constantly come to me with the same questions... I'd fire back to them "did you find anything in IZE?" (a simple but useful outline database back then). If they said no, I'd look...and about 1/3 of the time found the answer there.
Th
Re:So (Score:3, Funny)
What's google?
how did you find such a person? (Score:3, Funny)
i imagine you had to use google to find such a rare person? :P
Search for Windows..... (Score:5, Funny)
Needs some fine tuning before it's ready for the prime time, me thinks.
Re:Search for Windows..... (Score:2)
I stand corrected (Score:2)
Re:Search for Windows..... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Search for Windows..... (Score:2)
OS, Web Server and Hosting History for search.msn.com
http://search.msn.com was running Microsoft-IIS on Linux when last queried at 3-Nov-2004 17:10:15 GMT
OS Server Last changed IP address Netblock Owner
Linux Microsoft-IIS/5.0 2-Nov-2004 193.108.93.132 Akamai
Linux Microsoft-IIS/5.0 30-Oct-2004 212.23.32.6 Akamai
Linux Microsoft-IIS/5.0 29-Oct-2004 81.52.205.38 Akamai Technologies
Linux Micr
Microsoft's problem (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft's problem (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft's problem (Score:3, Insightful)
"Lower what prices?" you might ask. Well, Google isn't a charity. I expect Microsoft will compete with them on advertising rates and whereever else Google makes mo
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Microsoft's problem (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously, its their browser, why shouldnt they make the homepage their search? Moz's default is a moz branded google, how is this different?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft's problem (Score:2)
What's more, with previous forays into new fields MS had the advantage that the user didn't have to download or buy/install a large application etc. But google can just be your homepage ... where is MS' advantage ?
I'd be surprised if it is a success simply because MS cannot deliver a clear reason to the user to use it.
This isn't insightful (Score:2, Insightful)
They do not need a better algorithm than Google (which is becoming increasingly gamed by shady companies and not as good as it was anyway), they just need something "good enough", like their OS is "good enough".
As for reversing the trend, Microsoft have 1) leverage in the form of their existin
Re:Microsoft's problem (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft's problem (Score:2, Insightful)
Gmail and Google Desktop Search are not accidents. Hotmail is extremely popular, and with Google Desktop Search, Google has learned that people will install replacements to Microsoft's own built-in services if they are better, and if they are branded.
And the browser war was never won. That was just the browser battle. By removing value from browsers, all Microsoft did was reduce the incentive for it to update its own browser after it ga
Re:Microsoft's problem (Score:3, Insightful)
For microsoft to win the search engine war, google would have to lose it, and that's not very likely.
Even worse (Score:2)
Creating a new search engine will not help many people
Creating a new service that allows people to ____ (that no one has thought of yet) can help many people.
Prediction for most popular queries on day 1... (Score:5, Funny)
google
Algorithmic search engine? WTF? (Score:5, Funny)
Marketing speak confuses me! Please stop!
Re:Algorithmic search engine? WTF? (Score:2)
this article is oooooold (Score:5, Informative)
Re:this article is oooooold (Score:2)
Re:this article is oooooold (from the submitter) (Score:2)
After reading his comments and looking again at the article, I said "oooops, I goofed" ... and Cnet musta goofed too ... BUT Now CNN is also reporting that Microsoft is getting in [cnn.com]
Slow (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Doubtful this will take any ground. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Doubtful this will take any ground. (Score:2)
Unless Google can do something really special (which it looks like they are trying to do - they can see the handwriting on the wall after seeing what Microsoft did to Netscape, Real et al. when they bundled their browser/media player as an inseparable piece of the OS) Google will fall just like Netscape and just like Real.
Microsoft don't innovate in user in
Re:Doubtful this will take any ground. (Score:2)
200,000,000 the day I went into a stationary shop while tripping on Acid
Tech Preview? (Score:3, Funny)
Search engine wars (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Search engine wars (Score:2, Funny)
No, Bill Gates is just trying to impress his wife. "Look at my search engine honey, search for 'bill gates nude'. I bet you have never seen THAT before!"
Dutch? (Score:3, Funny)
Maybe.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Search Results: (Score:2)
Results 1-15 of about 31192494 containing "windows"
Results 1-15 of about 25424770 containing "microsoft"
Results 1-15 of about 6769904 containing "unix"
Re:Search Results: (Score:2)
The best part of all... (Score:2, Funny)
Similarities (Score:3, Interesting)
http://search.yahoo.com/ [yahoo.com]
http://search.msn.com/ [msn.com]
http://www.google.com/ [google.com]
Best search engine (Score:5, Funny)
http://www.search.msn.com/results.aspx?FORM=SRCHW
Re:Best search engine (Score:4, Interesting)
Example:
http://www.search.msn.com/results.aspx?FORM=SRCHW
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&
Surely Microsoft haven't chosen to rip-off their design based on the market leader?
lack of trust (Score:5, Insightful)
In the past, it has been shown that Microsoft blocks search results that are contrary to its own business interests.
W3C page for HTML nowhere in the first 20 results (Score:2, Insightful)
If their past strategy is any guide... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:If their past strategy is any guide... (Score:2)
Google, and only Google, so far, has realised this. It comes down to an analysis of the last source of the money that you can control. Web sites get money from advertisers; so most web sites try to keep their advertisers happy. But Google realised that in order for advertisers to make money off by advertising on their website, the website's users had to be happy. (Okay, this explanation may be a bit oversimplified, but I was up at 4:00 AM to roll new software to production systems so don't a
Almost there... (Score:2, Informative)
Looks just like google (Score:2, Insightful)
1. Release a sub-standard product which looks like the better original.
2. Rely on their massive brand penetration to increase market share.
3. Throw enough cash at something to make it worthwhile.
It irritates me that they do this - it slows the rate of internet progress down by duplicating other peoples ideas. Why not invest in google and build on what someone else has done, rather than trying to completely monopolise all areas of the internet?
Huh? (Score:2)
.
So... you voted for Bush-Cheney eh?
Hello?? I say Bill Gates invented the universe and Bill Gates is great and people here think I'm speaking sincerely??
Strange place, this here, today.
wtf? (Score:4, Interesting)
I thought it was only marketing that didn't understand that just because it looks the same, doesn't necessarily mean you've done nothing under the hood.
THE bot? (Score:5, Informative)
"msnbot/0.11 (+http://search.msn.com/msnbot.htm)"
It was only stoppable by blocking the IP. (robots.txt was only read once before it started) Great, smart bot, really.
3 bad results. (Score:5, Interesting)
Linux. No pointers to linux.org.
Google. Returns the Dutch/Belgian version of the page. Why?
Re:3 bad results. (Score:4, Informative)
Linux. No pointers to linux.org.
Google. Returns the Dutch/Belgian version of the page. Why?
These are no longer true. I know it used to do this but now ...
'Orange' returns Orange.co.uk.'Linux' returns linux.org
'google' returns google.com
'microsoft sucks' returns fuckmicrosoft.com
'abu graib' returns the photographs of inside the prison.
'lindows' returns lindows.com
This is from Firefox 0.8 on Redhat Linux.
BB
Re:3 bad results. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:3 bad results. (Score:2)
Orange County Government Web site
http://www.co.orange.ny.us/ cached feedback
Linux - first result:
Linux Gazette | Making Linux just a little more fun!
Linux Gazette would like to thank its sponsor: Latest Posts - Home - Past Issues - Old Format - Th
Re:3 bad results. (Score:2)
Mine were from the U.K. also.
There are two different databases working at search.msn.com. The first at www., and another at techpreview. www. presumably has some forced results for common terms (like Linux/ Orange) and even returns the .co.uk versions from msn.co.uk
techpreview. on the other hand, seems untuned. It returns a wierd advertising blog when you search for 'news'. So their "algorithmic search" isn't quite there yet.
Maybe they need to sacrifice some pigeons.
BB
Everybody love MS! (Score:2)
Country-specific redirection borked (Score:3, Interesting)
Minor detail, sure, but add it to the shaky performance of the actual search, and this product would seem to require more than a couple of months of fine-tuning.
Filtering out queries (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course. And while they do that, I won't be using it.
Re:Filtering out queries (Score:2)
--Ender
MSN Bombs (Score:2, Interesting)
The barrier to entry here... (Score:2)
It'll be crap, but it'll be the preset default (Score:2)
But they don't need to, they will heavily leverage it via Windows and IE, It'll be "built in" and soon it'll be such an "essential" component of the OS that no Windows-copy can be sold without it.
That's how MS leveraged DOS to spread Windows, and how they leveraged Windows to kill netscape w
Search Results (Score:5, Funny)
Search entry: "Antarctic Penguin"
Search Result: A paperclip pops up on your screen and says "It appears you are searching for a penguin. Did you know Microsoft servers are cheaper to run than Linux? Would you like to buy one now?"
No faith in their own product (Score:4, Interesting)
Nice and clean (Score:3, Insightful)
I can't say that this will be my first stop when searching (Google will be until they stop being the best) but often times, if my result is not in the first few pages of Google, rather than figure out the exact phrase I need to search for to find the site I am looking for, I just hit a few other engines to see if my original phrase does the trick.
I can see how this new MS search page would become stop number 2, in front of Yahoo as long as they keep it clean and light like Google is. Then I'll move along to Yahoo of Lycos or wherever.
So yeah, I think this is a good improvement for my general searching needs, but it is going to take something amazing to replace Google as my number one choice. It's sort of a brand loyalty at this point.
One more app to ignore (Score:2)
1. Leverage their strangle hold on the desktop. Most people go with the defaults anyway, so this will drive them a lot of traffic.
2. "Integrate" it with a version of Office. This is a "feature" as their new versions of Office are more net aware anyway, this will become a "feature" of Office showing their "innovation".
3. When all else fails, "integrate" it into the core operating system so that you can't remove it. Again, this will be a "feature"
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Will Microsoft never learn... (Score:2)
They are scared that something could come along and supplant the PC desktop and it's desktop based apps that their success comes from.
Despite the fact browsers, network computers, mobile phones and the like haven't done it yet. They want to be in every market that just might threaten their current dominance, and push things back to a PC destop hub to keep it relevant.
haha (Score:3, Funny)
"Results 1 - 10 of about 8 containing deander2"
first off: "about 8"?!?
second, WTF? can't they check for 10 results?
Re:haha (Score:2)
Results 1-5 of about 5 containing "deander2"
The fact that they put a static text "about" doesn't bother me too much, and it appears they fixed the static "1-10" which did bother me.
It's hardly brilliant... (Score:2, Interesting)
search.com
AltaVista
Yahoo
Excite
Al l TheWeb
Lycos
Search for 'Search' on new MSN:
Vault: the most trusted name in career information
Destiny Group
CareerBuilder
Realtor.com
Lycos People Search
So, the fifth link on MSN is nearly - but not quite - relevant.
Incidentally, Google doesn't list itself until 20th when you search for "search" on it. Which is interesting... maybe it's because of its minimalistic website which doesn't mention searching very much.
Obsolete news.... (Score:2)
New from Microsoft Press (Score:2)
You'll learn clever and powerful methods for using the new and advanced Microsoft(TM) Search Wizards and the new Microsoft Search(TM) API, including how to implement Microsoft(TM) Windows(TM) Scr
they are not honoring robots.txt (Score:2)
Sorry, I am not posting the link, you just have to trust me or test some other site.
no NEAR operator (Score:2, Interesting)
More tinfoil hat fodder. (Score:2, Interesting)
I wouldnt put it past them to code a phone home feature for clickthroughs for this.
Even if they get caught doing it, I can just hear the argument now, "Heck Yahoo, AltaVista and others collect aggregate data. Just look at what the URL becomes when you mouse over the link from thier lists."
I for one, love that google STILL does not do that.
Ready for prime time? Of course not. (Score:2)
Webcrawlers ! (Score:2)
How long before so many webcrawlers become the dominate form of Internet congestion?
Google Desktop (Score:2)
Privacy concerns notwithstanding, and since I'm not using Google Desktop on a public machine I'm not very worried... why would I bother using MS's tool? I already have one that works quite well. I assume it will get better or I'll find a better one (e.g. PDF searching, integration with Firefox/Opera, etc.).
Homegrown? (Score:2)
Google needs to fire back (Score:2)
Re:Do they have to ? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Netcraft says the hosting servers run on Linux (Score:2, Informative)
Mostly wrong. [netcraft.com]