In May, we reported that Bill Gates is interested in focusing and bettering their search engine. A WebmasterWorld thread highlights an article in BusinessWeek that emphasizes Microsoft's resolve to focus its energy on acquiring companies that specialize in vertical search.
The article mentions Microsoft's recent acquisitions:
- February 2007: MotionBridge - search for mobile phones
- February 2007: Medostry - health care information database
- March 2007: TellMe Networks - voice recognition for mobile search
The acquisitions—along with Microsoft's efforts to build its own niche search engines to find images, classified ads, and other content—are aimed at finding a chink in Google's seemingly impenetrable armor. "There's a lot of opportunity in domain-specific areas," said Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie at a February investment conference highlighting the Medstory purchase. "That search technology is first being woven into MSN Health & Fitness, and ultimately it will be woven into the mainline search."
It is true that Google is the web search giant, but there's potential to break that into verticals, just as there is potential to create social sites that appeal to a different type of audience.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
