Bing it on: Microsoft overhauls search, again

By Jessica Mintz

updated 12:00 p.m. ET May 28, 2009

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. is rolling out a redesigned search site in the coming days and hopes it will lure more Web surfers than the two most recent incarnations, Live Search and MSN Search.

The new site, Bing, adds touches intended to make everyday Web searching a little less haphazard. Bing also tries to make it easier for people to buy things, book travel and find credible health information.

History has not been kind to even the best search innovators. Many companies, including Amazon.com Inc. and IAC/InterActiveCorp., and startups such as Hakia, ChaCha and Cuil have tried to improve on the basic "10 blue links" format of search results, but Google Inc. has so far been unstoppable.

(Msnbc.com is a Microsoft-NBC Universal joint venture.)

Microsoft's last effort, Live Search, failed to catch on partly because the software maker didn't do much to promote it. Marketing is no guarantee of success — IAC heavily advertised makeovers of Ask.com — but this time, Microsoft appears to be taking no chances. Ad Age reported Microsoft plans to spend as much as $100 million on advertising Bing.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft has been stuck in third place behind Google and Yahoo Inc. for years. Its share of U.S. search queries was 8.2 percent in April, according to the research group comScore Inc. Google was used for 64.2 percent of queries, and Yahoo's share totaled 20.4 percent.

The numbers are important. Google's sales — $4.7 billion in the first quarter — are tied to its search dominance, because companies will pay more to reach a wider audience. Microsoft, by contrast, posted a quarterly loss in its online advertising business.

"We want to do better," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday at The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif.

"There are times in our history where we've felt a little bit like Rocky," he continued, referring to the fictional underdog boxer. "It takes persistence in this stuff. You don't always get things right."

When asked why Microsoft chose "Bing," he said, "The name is short, it's easy to say, it works globally."

To mount a credible challenge to Google, Microsoft tried taking over Yahoo last year. But after Yahoo rebuffed its $47.5 billion offer, Microsoft turned its attention to improving its own Live Search.

Ballmer reiterated Thursday that Microsoft is still interested in a search partnership with Yahoo, and not an outright acquisition, but he didn't disclose any new details.

Yahoo has been tweaking its search results to include different types of information depending on the query. For instance, it would show photos in response to searches for landmarks or dossier-style listings for people.

MORE FROM TECH AND GADGETS

Tech and gadgets Section Front

16 Apple products we can only dream about 5 Apple marketing tactics that lock you in Facebook’s fantasy games cost more than time Cars are approaching ‘auto’ pilot mode Judge stops sites from selling Beatles songs What happens when good robots go ‘bad’? Google providing better view of personal data Report: Tech use doesn’t add to social isolation 5 new technologies that will change everything Growing PayPal may one day overshadow eBay Tech and gadgets Section Front   Add Tech and gadgets headlines to your news reader: