Microsoft tries to close the Google Gap

Microsoft for now is not even trying to lure users away from rival Google, but it would like to entice users of its MSN portal to more frequently use Live Search

Microsoft thinks its Live Search can match Google in some areas now, but the company has been the underdog in search for so long it's not even trying to lure users away from its rival -- at least not yet.

Showing off a dizzying array of tools to reporters and analysts at its Silicon Valley campus in Google's hometown of Mountain View, Calif., Microsoft executives said several times that the company is focused on providing a better search experience for current users of Live Search, hoping to get them to search there more often.

The Redmond, Wash., company also wants to lure users of its MSN portal to more frequently use Live Search. They compared Live Search's results to those of Google in some cases and said customer research showed its user satisfaction catching up to Google, but didn't talk about grabbing market share.

The numbers are damning: About 37 percent of Web searchers sometimes use Live Search, but only about 11 percent of all searches are done on the site, Microsoft said, citing independent statistics. The average user of Live Search does 15 searches on the site per month, while the comparable number for Google is 55.

Microsoft runs behind Yahoo and Google, and Derrick Connell, a general manager in product management at Microsoft, acknowledged that the search product was actually losing market share in the first four months of this year. But the company hopes to gain ground at least among its current base with the new capabilities.

Over the past three years, Microsoft has quietly invested in basic things such as coverage, expanding its index to more than 20 billion Web documents, executives said. But it's more flashy additions in video, health, local search and maps that may help Live Search make an impression.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/27/Live-Search-plays-to-its-base_1.html