Microsoft Gets Live (er)!

I started writing this post thinking that I was going to be able to get a chance to dissect all of the reasons why Microsoft is still light years behind Google in terms of search relevance and user experience.


I began searching for all of the usual suspects (Paris Hilton, Canon Powershot) and taking screenshots of the various experiences. Then it hit me…the experience of Live was really not so bad.


Overwrought with curiosity, I opened two tabs and began plugging away, searching for everything from “George Clooney” to “Criss Angel” to “how to change a tire”. While the Google experience was, without a doubt better, for the first time I thought to myself “at gun point, Live search would be something I could actually use”.


In the past if forced to use Live Search at gun point, I may have had to suffer the consequences of not being able to deal with inefficient SERP’s.


(POI: Do a search for “how to change a tire” on the two engines side by side. You will see Google still returns more relevant results, however when you refine your search on MSN to “How to change a flat tire” and leave the site and come back, then search for “how to change a tire”, Live will serve up the more relevant result. Google’s logic still seems to be better, as the engine knew that the if someone searches for “how to change a tire” they are most likely looking for how to change a flat tire, but Live did a good job of getting me to the same point as quickly as possible.)



So what has changed?


Here is a link to the official Microsoft Live press release that outlines the changes in further detail, but here are the core changes:




  • Over fourfold increase in index size




  • Substantial improvements in understanding query intent.




  • Significant enhancements to core algorithms




  • Increased focus on query refinement




  • New Web data extraction model




  • Expansion of Rich Answers




The other major change to the engine was based on research that shows that over 40% of queries fall into four categories. Live is attempting to provide better results in the following verticals:




  • Entertainment




  • Shopping




  • Health




  • Local




Other key focuses were announced including mobile search. All in all, I think the Microsoft has just stepped over Yahoo and, while they are not a threat to Google now, you never know what the future has in store.


Check Out More Article On Live 2.0




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