Just read this post on Scoble’s blog and it got me thinking. I don’t really care what Microsoft’s intentions are to take Google head to head by offering similar services or what but I personally am very happy with the Windows Live family of services and Live Search specifically.
I think the problem is Google is just good enough for the search needs of most people and it also seems to fit very well when speaking about it– I mean when saying “I googled this and that”, it doesn’t sound as easy to say I Yahoo’d blah blah or I Live Searched so and so.
Microsoft need to convince people that Windows Live –(and I’m speaking of Live Search specifically in this post) it’s become my favourite area – is worth trying. AND IT IS! But on the surface there is no obvious reason that would let people use Live Search instead of Google. All of its good features have not been talked about enough, if ever, and I don’t know why. Like Scoble indicates most of the people in Redmond (read MSemployees, USE Google) well that’s the problem! If people at Microsoft are not convinced their search engine is the best then how is it ever going to take off.
I think all what Live Search needs is for those that tried it to speak about it – what happened to all of those bloggers out there, if a word can spread through blogs online then MS people are the best to do it! How many MS bloggers do you know of?
The different features that Live Search offers need to come to the surface so people can know about them and try them. It’s not just another search engine!
Here are a few things of the top of my head that I love about Live Search, go try them!
– Customizable Search algorithm
– Search Macros ( I was first introduced to this concept on Live Search and then Google came up with the very similar Personalized Search)
– Live Image Search (not having to click a NEXT button is just fantastic), the scratchpad is also a VERY interesting idea
So there goes a few. More on this topic in the future…
And what’s the deal with the tag game thing, everyone currentlysays that everyone they know has been tagged 30 times so they aren’t tagging anyone! It’s interesting I have not been tagged yet, maybe my readers are not that many after all! My blog must be boring!