by 
Military intelligence. Jumbo shrimp. Business ethics. All classic oxymorons. For those of us in the internet marketing 
biz probably the most obvious one is Microsoft Search.
In light of the changes that have just occurred at Yahoo! there is renewed talked about what will happen to the Yahoo! search business. If there are rumors then there has to be mention of Microsoft. Today’s WSJ has a very in depth story that outlines the history of misses and mistakes that makes up Microsoft’s foray into the search business.
Today, we all can agree that Live Search is not exactly a market leader. They are the red-headed stepchild of the search industry (my apologies to all redheads reading this). In fact, the idea of Live Search still brings up reactions like “Microsoft does search?” to “Microsoft can’t do search.” to “Microsoft should stop trying to do search.” and all stops in between. As the article shows though, it’s not for lack of trying.
If you want the details you should check out the article. I’ll hit the high points for you. First, the opportunities that have been completely whiffed on by Microsoft to enter the search market are huge to say the least. Steve Ballmer has been at the center of all of them for the most part. In 2000 the company shut down its competitive product to the fledgling Google after only two month due to the concern that they would cannibalize other revenue streams. Huh? That one must look pretty stupid this far away in the rear view mirror. Second, there are numerous derailings, misreads and missteps that have occurred that have been well documented. While the past is not pretty the immediate future looks less than rosy as well.
Now admittedly this is a long quote but it says a lot so read on:
Mr. Ballmer is facing many challenges over the next year. A worsening economy is forcing him to consider cutting workers to an unprecedented degree in coming days. There’s no guarantee that a deal for Yahoo’s Web-search business would propel the company to the forefront of a rapidly changing industry, where competitors include “vertical search” engines for specialty areas such as health care. Many industry experts say Google’s present service may ultimately be seen as a primitive precursor to more-advanced services that better handle video or render results in three-dimensions. Microsoft, Yahoo and Google are all investing in such areas (emphasis added).
This is a pretty interesting line to toss in the middle of this history lesson on Microsoft’s search mishaps. If industry experts are right that the current Google model is indeed a primitive precursor what does that mean to internet marketers and maybe more importantly when?
Here’s your chance to be the search industry prognosticator that you know you are. Would it benefit Microsoft to buy a soon to be antiquated model with Yahoo! Search? Is there someone lurking in the shadows to be the next Google or are all efforts futile to unseat the royalty of the search world since Google will define the next generation of search anyway? So many questions and so many opinions.
Looking forward to your thoughts. Have a great weekend and try to stay warm.
