Posted on: Tuesday, September 23, 2003
TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft developing own search technology
• Microsoft weighs security service
By Helen Jung
Associated Press
REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp. may be the most recognized software company on the planet, but when it comes to searching the Internet, people are much more likely to "Google it."
Microsoft wants to change that, and it's betting millions that someday it will be as well known for search as Google is. The software giant's push comes amid an exponential growth in information — on desktop computers, on online photo albums, on Web sites.
"And the more information there is out there, the more difficult it becomes to find relevant information and content," said Rob Lancaster, a senior analyst with the Boston-based Yankee Group. "The information glut, as it is popularly known, is becoming a real problem for lots of businesses."
Beefing up search is a smart move for Microsoft, Lancaster said, and should strike some fear in the hearts of Google Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and other companies that offer search engines.
It won't be easy to shove those two aside, however. Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch online newsletter, noted that Google and Yahoo have loyal followings.
And several other players are also trying to grab some of the multibillion-dollar possibilities in Internet searches.
IBM Corp. just announced a searching technology, called WebFountain, designed to not only find text in a variety of places online but also analyze its meaning.
Still, Microsoft has a strong position currently as one of the Web's top three search sites.
"Unless they make some terrible mistake they're going to continue to be a very strong player," Sullivan said. "If they've decided it's important and they want to grind away at trying to solve the problem, they have a good track record of putting together good software to do that sort of thing."
Microsoft has its eyes set beyond mapping the World Wide Web.
It is developing search-related technologies to do everything from sorting through digital photos to combing through items scattered on your desktop computers.
Analysts estimate that Microsoft, which has long relied on outside companies to provide the search tool on its MSN Web site, is spending millions developing its new search engine.
MSN decided several months ago it was time to create its own technology instead of relying on search companies Inktomi and Overture, said Kirk Koenigsbauer, general manager of MSN.com. He said it was unrelated to Yahoo's acquisitions in the last year of Inktomi and Overture.
