Microsoft has officially unveiled its enhanced search
service, dubbed"Bing", but concedes
it is unlikely to make any significant gains on rivals Google and
Yahoo in the short term.
Chief executive Steve Ballmer told an industry conference that
he did not expect Live Search's successor to grow Microsoft's share
of the search market quickly, according to the
Financial Times.
"My time frame is lots of years. There's no way to change the
game in one step," he said.
According to Ballmer, Bing is Microsoft's first step in a
long-term effort to enable users to find information they can use
to accomplish tasks and make decisions.
When Bing is launched worldwide next week it will finally give
Microsoft the ability to return search results that are as relevant
as those of its nearest rivals, according to analysts.
Unlike Live Search, Bing will sort search results into
categories, said Microsoft, and includes partnerships with
shopping, travel, health and business sites.
But Bing is still under development, according to Microsoft,
with the full version scheduled to be completed only within the
next year.
There was no announcement of a search deal with Yahoo, despite
industry expectations.
Speculation of a deal was fuelled by Microsoft's recent
registration of a limited liability company in Delaware and Yahoo
chief Carol Bartz's indications earlier this week that
talks were still open.