Microsoft has claimed that its search engine results
will be more relevant to users than Google’s within six
months.
Microsoft has been ploughing cash into MSN Search over the last
12 months, and its European head claims more precise search results
for users will soon be available via the MSN portal and other
channels.
Microsoft European president Neil Holloway told a Reuters media
and telecoms summit this week that users in the US and the UK would
see better results than those found via Google within six
months.
Improved results in other countries would follow close behind,
said Holloway. Holloway said users wanted more than a long list of
URLs, when half the time the list could not be used to find what
the user wanted.
Microsoft is aiming to make its search content more relevant to
attract more users and increase advertising revenue through
sponsored results that sit alongside standard search results.
Google dominates the sponsored search market and is well ahead
of Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL.
Holloway promised that users would eventually be given the
chance to bore down deeper into the search content on offer, to
allow them to get what they want.
No technical details as to how users would do this were
forthcoming from Holloway.
Holloway also promised greater search integration with
Microsoft’s Hotmail e-mail system and its Windows Messenger instant
messaging platform.