Microsoft want a larger share of the £22bn Search Marketplace, but will there new search engine “Kumo” be the right contender to take on heavy weight Google?

Billed as a Google killer, Microsoft’s Live search never managed to live up to the hype surrounding its launch, although live was an improvement on its predecessor, the search engine did not entice search engine users to give up the ever popular Google. Google’s simple to use interface and relevant results have made it the first choice for the majority of search engine users.

Google is updated as part of an ongoing “rolling” development program, adapting with the changing search environment. This has resulted in a constant improvement of service, the addition of new functionality and an increase in user loyalty and trust. Can Microsoft break the bond between Google and its users?

Code named “Kumo”, Microsoft’s new search engine is set to be demonstrated for the first time at a technology conference in California next week. The new search engine has been designed to replace Live Search and has undergone months of secret testing.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s Chief Executive, has made the new search engine his key focus on developing the company’s growth during the economic downturn. Mr Ballmer will launch “Kumo “ during a speech at a Wall Street Journal sponsored conference according to the companies “All things Digital” blog. At this time Microsoft have refused to comment about the possible launch.

“Kumo” is the Japanese word for spider which appears to be a reference to the search engines new crawling software. It’s believed that the search engine will group and categorise search engine results to provide shorter more relevant groups of information to the search user. This does sound very similar to Google’s new refined search options which were launched last week, but it’s believed that Microsoft has taken this one stage further allowing information to be grouped and filtered by subject specific categories. This is of course pure speculation and until the launch of “Kumo” next week we will not be able to see the full extent of the technology.

One thing we can be certain of is Google’s ability to adapt, develop and improve its search engine results. If Microsoft launches something new, it won’t be long before Google has improved the technology and integrated it into its search. The SEO community is waiting to see just what happens.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has recently acknowledged that Twitter is planning to launch a new set of tools targeted at the business owner and internet marketing provider.

“We’re looking at who’s using Twitter and for what,” Stone told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York via videolink from San Francisco. “Are there any commercial usages that are making a lot of sense?”

Twitter is looking for new ways to generate revenue.  The new tools will more than likely come at a cost to the business user but the sheer size of the service cannot be ignored and any additional tools will offer great value to the business user.

Twitter is now two years old, the venture capital backed company has seen an 83% increase in visitor levels in April in comparison to previous months. ComScore is predicting a potential reach of 17 million users. The potential marketing benefit of any “paid for” business service on Twitter are huge and will offer the business user a valuable new channel of communication.

Stone has said that “Phase one” of the process was collecting intelligence and data on user habits. “Phase two” will see the introduction of new business tools and services which will be designed to allow business users to use Twitter to communicate directly to their customers.
Stone said, it will be “Simple Stuff”, including basic analytics. “If there is a way we can go above and beyond, and they (companies) can improve bottom line by offering services we can offer for a fee, (we) will do that.”

Google Street Views Trike

Google Street View has caused controversy in the UK by taking images of thousands of streets and adding them to the Google Maps service. The public in the UK have been upset and have attempted to legally challenge Google with claims against UK “Privacy” legislation. Now Google is expanding the service even further with the launch of the Google Street View Trike.

The Trike has been designed to allow the Google Street map service to be extended to include famous Landmarks. The new service has been supported by Visit Britain.
Justin Reid from VisitBritain said: ‘The new trike will enable us to showcase even more of Britain’s wonderful destinations and we look forward to some great ideas from the public.’
‘Depending on what the public vote for, users will be able to virtually tour castles or monuments before visiting – or check out which side of a football stadium they need to be on before leaving the house,’ a Google spokesman said.
The Google Street Views Trike is currently being tested in Genoa and will be in the UK this summer.

Wolfram Alpha, the future of Search? Well here’s a sneak peek into what is set to start a revolution in the search engine optimisation industry.

Google have confirmed plans to launch a new mobile phone application which will allow users to view the night sky, locating and navigating stars and planets.


The technology will utilise GPS to pinpoint the mobile phones location, it will use this data to display the correct star map based to the location of the mobile user; allowing the Mobile user to find out exactly which planets and stars are in the sky above them.


The new application will feature name tags for each planet and star and close up views using the mobile interface. Astronomers hope that this new product will ignite a new interest in the night sky, allowing any one to identify planets without the use of expensive equipment. All you will need is you mobile phone and a warm night, what could be simpler.