Go read Ina Fried’s interview with Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi about the company’s efforts to break into search. What you’ll see is classic Microsoft. The company is breaking down the problems it faces with search and taking apart each problem individually.
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Where their efforts are failing, according to Mehdi, is “cases where you are looking for more than just a URL, (if) you are looking to get some insight or you want to actually make a decision.” Unfortunately, large numbers of searches on the web are exactly that – loosely correlated informational queries, as opposed to navigation. Internet marketers will tell you that the usage pattern for many sites is Learn – Shop – Buy – Use. If you don’t catch the customer at Learn, then you have less ability to guide them through Shop and Buy.
And that is where Google has Microsoft beaten at the moment.
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Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
