Comments on: The True Fiction of Microsoft Live Search

By: Can an $80M Ad Campaign Help Microsoft Search?

Can an $80M Ad Campaign Help Microsoft Search? — Tue, 26 May 2009 03:32:13 +0000

[...] has tried many tricks, including giving people cash-back rewards, to grab a bigger market share in the search business. The results don’t match the efforts. [...]

By: Why Microsoft Fails to Win Online - GigaOM

Why Microsoft Fails to Win Online - GigaOM — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:46:54 +0000

[...] the web has a certain Moby Dick like quality. Me-too products, muddled branding strategy and constantly playing catchup with competitors has reduced the king of software to a punch line. The more they try, the further they get. In the [...]

By: George Nimeh

George Nimeh — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:52:33 +0000

Om, first off, I’m a big fan …

Most of the time you’re spot on, but I need to take issue with a point in this post. You write, “Remember a company called iWON? Well, despite all the cash and prizes it handed out, it failed miserably.”

That is simply not true.

Actually, while the rest of the first generation of dotcom companies were going bust, iWon was profitable, took on $240M in venture funding, bought Excite in the fire sale, created and/or rolled up a couple other search-related companies, and then sold for just under $500M to Ask.com … which then sold to Diller for $1.2 billion.

I don’t think paid search is right for Microsoft, btw. It is about innovation, not buying market share.

~G~

By: Episode #14 - Shameless Junkee

Episode #14 - Shameless Junkee — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:50:00 +0000

[...] Of Life: Microsoft Confirms Windows 7 for 2010 (17 screenshots) Hot new updates to SkyDrive! The True Fiction of Microsoft Live Search GameStop Gives Up On Zune – Top Stories [...]

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:13:53 +0000

Is Microsoft attempting to compete with Ebates? Who owns Ebates?

By: AayCee

AayCee — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:35:53 +0000

This is such a lame and lazy analysis. It is painting a picture that using money to grow one’s bussiness is somehow evil.

“Live Search Cashback” is not same as “Google Search” but more like “Google Product Search”(or “Google Shopping”). Having said that it is eay to see the innovative cost-per-acquisition bussiness model in this vertical search segment, which should have been the highlight of the analysis.

And don’t forget that Google also pays aquire search queries. Searchbox on FireFox, Safari etc. help peddle use of Google’s search engine.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:28:20 +0000

To me this is not a way of providing good content, but a way of scrambling for more profits from lack of ingenuity. Live search is one of the most cluttered web searches on the web right now and I believe it will continue to decline in popularity to others if Microsoft cannot devise a more “content rich approach” to its search engine. Of course Microsoft will still make money off of this endeavor but will at the same time alienate many of its current users. There is a difference between looking like a sweatshop and looking like a mom and pop shop.

By: Domain Name Wire » News » Microsoft to Harness Generic Domain CashBack.com for Search - The Domain Industry's News Source

Wed, 28 May 2008 14:02:41 +0000

[...] The world was abuzz a couple weeks ago when Microsoft announced its new cashback search engine. Less reported was that Microsoft quietly purchased the domain name [...]

By: Microsoft Live Search Cashback: Some Links

Microsoft Live Search Cashback: Some Links — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:31:19 +0000

[...] GigaOm Analysis [...]

By: Jerry

Jerry — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:25:22 +0000

live.com is actually a decent search engine. In my experience it actually returns better results than Google when searching archives of technical email reflectors.

By: Ram

Ram — Mon, 26 May 2008 07:39:20 +0000

“We will charge less and crush the competition” – Microsoft

We will charge nothing and crush the competition – Google

Gmail’s huge storage space, free analytics, Jotspot, Writley, NumSum
Microsoft seems better to me

By: Suchi

Suchi — Sat, 24 May 2008 10:25:34 +0000

MS will try every possible thing it can think of.

By: Squawk Box May 23 — Alec Saunders SquawkBox

Squawk Box May 23 — Alec Saunders SquawkBox — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:32:37 +0000

[...] commentary was around Microsoft Live Search Cashback. Now that the story is out, and people have had time to digest it and a chance to play with it a bit, some are finding it pretty compelling. Rich Tehrani gave a [...]

By: shyam

shyam — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:17:25 +0000

More thoughtfull and unbiased comments from Om compared to what Mike is trying to push on techcrunch.

By: NoDomainsForSale

NoDomainsForSale — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:39:05 +0000

Microsoft would be better off acquiring traffic directly on the ‘buy the Internet’ theme of Kevin Ham, rather than trying to buy consumption itself.

A good place for Microsoft to start would be with the acquisition of Seattle-based Marchex, which operates thousands of subject-specific and location-specific portals that sport a mix of imported content and relevant ads.

The two companies are located near each other and have compatible corporate cultures.

By: ReelSmart.com :: Video, Technology, Digital LifeStyle, Macintosh Tips, and Opinions » Will Bribery Help Microsoft in Search?

Thu, 22 May 2008 22:58:41 +0000

[...] Microsoft is planning on offering money just to use their search. Sounds like the 1990’s all over again with the folks from Redmond [...]