MSN Planning to Take on Google?

asyn42 writes "CNet is reporting what should be no surprise, Microsoft appears to be readying itself to take on Google for a position as the top search engine. The long range impact on the relationship between MSN and Yahoo/Inktomi is likely at risk."

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All I can say is

[FunkSoulBrother]

Good Luck.

In related news...

[Geccoman]

Google has modified all Microsoft.com links to point to SCO's website.

tsk tsk tsk...

[Piranhaa]

What next? Taking over the internet? Oh i forgot, they already did :/

No worries

[Kagato]

As long as they use Windows to power the thing google doesn't have to worry about MSN being king of the hill for search engines.

How about..

[Gortbusters.org]

Trying to take on google's API..

Called MSNBot, the software scours Web sites and collects hyperlinks and documents. The software is part of MSN's effort to challenge Google by revitalizing MSN Search with its own algorithmic search technology.

You'll never beat the mind-share that Google has. No-one is gonna use MSNbot as a verb, like "I just googled for planetside tips" or create sites like googlism [googlism.com]. Msnbotism? Hah!

Wonderful

[Cais]

Let me guess... it tells YOU what your looking for?

Great...

[musiholic]

that should make searching for why my computer just BSODed that much easier.

What did you expect?

[macemoneta]

Once Microsoft bought the government, buying Google was the next logical step.

Interesting

[PhysicsGenius]

Love 'em or hate 'em, Microsoft produces quality products. What can we hope to see from an MS-created search engine?

• Good internationalization support. Contrast this with the Linux-run Google.
• High speed returns. Contrast to the slow, BSD-run Yahoo.
• Seamless OS integration. Contrast to almost any search engine, none of which tie directly to the browser, let alone let you search from inside a Word document or email message.
• Standarization. Contrast this to the situation now, where almost everyone uses a different search engine, requiring website designers to submit their pages to hundreds of different databases.

Re:How about..

[Dachannien]

Exactly - it's like Xerox, Kleenex, or Lysol, only worse:

You're talking with a friend about some obscure topic, and to find out the answer, your friend says, "I'll google it." He fires up IE and heads to the MSNbot web page, at which point you say, "Dude, I thought you said you were going to google it."

Your friend thinks for a second, goes up to the address bar, and fixes the problem.

In Other News...

[Swolt Up]

Microsoft, the software giant, announced today that it was poised to take on God, Creator of the Heavenâ(TM)s and Earth.

âoeI think we are ready for this,â said Bill Gates, who plans on renaming himself âoeThe Gatesâ. âoeGod has had his time running the universe, now itâ(TM)s my, err, our turn.â

Microsoft would not comment on future plans if they do indeed beat God out as ruler of the heavens, but did say they plan on charging a license fee for living.

God was unavailable for comment, but was heard laughing very loudly.

Film at eleven.

So, I'm thinking . . .

[droleary]

User-agent: MSNBot
Disallow: /

Re:No worries

[tomhudson]

... except for Windows users, who will find that their pages are also indexed (now you KNOW where your files went today)

... for the humor-impared - it's a joke.

... for everyone else - it's not a joke!

Re:How about..

[rbolkey]

How about MSNbotulism?

Re:Microsoft vs. Google

[notque]

My guess would be the very thing that seperates what geeks want, and what the general populace wants.

Pretty Pictures.

Just make a huge paperclip run and get you your search result, and bam. Instant hit.

Re:All I can say is

[Hypocritical Guy]

what? if i use IE i am not uber? i'd rather use IE than a majority of the browsers out there.

you suck, you will never be uber.

Re:You haven't been reading enough about XBox 2 th

[jandrese]

Oh no! Is the XBox2 going to include Microsoft Bob as well?

Mindless MS Bashing

[Bob9113]

Pardon my flagrant opnionation here, but I envision the following:

MS Coder: Boss, we've got a problem.
MS Boss: What is it?
MS Coder: It turns out you can't trust the "keywords" meta-tag.
MS Boss: What?!?
MS Coder: Seriously. Some unscrupulous people abuse it.
MS Boss: Crap. Now what?
MS Coder: Well, it seems we're going to have to come up with a smarter algorithm than "index by keyword metatag".
MS Boss: But Google didn't have to write any fancy software.
MS Coder: Actually, we're now operating on the theory that Google does in fact have some fairly advanced software.
MS Boss: Advanced?!? You mean like technically advanced?
MS Coder: Yeah, it looks that way.
MS Boss: But we don't write our own technically advanced software - we wrap mediocre implementations of Unix technology in Macintosh user friendliness.
MS Coder: I know - it's a bit of a problem.
MS Boss: Pity we can't "partner" with them.
MS Coder: Yeah, like Stac, Java, and that smartphone company.

Re:In related news...

[pebs]

Take the letters from MICROSOFT, rearrange them, you get "SCO FROM IT"

Coincidence? I think not...

Microsoft's proposed take-over plan...

[LordDartan]

1. Acquire a large EMP device.
2. Park large EMP device outside of Google headquarters.
3. Detonate large EMP device.
4. Profit!

or something along those lines...I can't think of any other way they'll get ahead of google...

(also notice, that the usual missing step 3 is included in this exercise for your viewing pleasure)

A quick google

[MisterFancypants]

A quick google on this topic (search term: microsoft google slashdot) would have shown that this story is a repeat [slashdot.org].

Re:Google is my god

[drinkypoo]

Can we please see the algorithm?

Yeah, right after Google releases their code.

Re:Haha!

[3rd_Floo]

They could just be mean and set $WINDIR\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file to contain:

207.68.172.234 www.google.com
etc:

or something evil like that...

How easy would that be to include in their next IE security patch? =P

Re:In related news...

[Anonymous Coward]

A fair legal system.

The MS "PageRank" technology in action...

[VValdo]

Search: [browser ]

"Browser" returns the following link:

Internet Explorer [microsoft.com] Website.

Search:: [mozilla ]

"Mozilla" returns the following link:

Internet Explorer [microsoft.com] Website.

Search:: [OpenOffice.Org ]

"OpenOffice.org" returns the following link:

Microsoft Office [microsoft.com] Website.

Search:: [quicktime]

"quicktime" returns the following link:

Microsoft Windows [microsoft.com] Website.

Search:: [Apple computer]

"Apple computer" returns the following link:

Microsoft Windows [microsoft.com] Website.

Etc. You get the idea...

W

Do Ya Think...

[Anonymous Coward]

...the M$Nbot will index pages that have "100% Microsoft-Free Site" badges on every page? :-)

Re:Google is my god

[The_K4]

I'm sure any surch for "linux" on MS's search engine is going to be totally unbiased. :)

Re:Microsoft vs. Google

[jdh-22]

Microsoft won't be able to compete, but what they can do is possibly buy them out.

Obligitory Simpson's quote:

Bill Gates: Your Internet ad was brought to my attention, but I can't figure out what, if anything, Compuglobalhypermeganet does, so rather than risk competing with you, I've decided simply to buy you out.
Homer: I reluctantly accept your proposal!
Bill Gates: Well everyone always does. Buy 'em out, boys!
[Gates' lackeys trash the room.]
Homer: Hey, what the hell's going on!
Bill Gates: Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks! [insane laughter]

Re:Google is my god

[killmenow]

You don't need google's code, they've already released a detailed document explaining how their system works. [google.com]

Re:Don't visit msnbot.com, however

[zulux]

. . . I checked, and it forwards to a soft-porn cam site, and then takes you into pop-up hell.

After switching to Mozilla, the only pop-ups I get when visiting a porn site are in my pants.

http://www.mozilla.org -> Download version1.4b -> Install -> Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Poppup Windows -> Block Unrequested Popup Windows

Re:A quick google

[kurosawdust]

a quick MSN search on this topic (search term: microsoft google slashdot) would have shown that you can click here to claim your FREE DVD player!!

It also would've shown that you can make a pretty decently-sized sandwich in the time it takes to generate results.

Re:Wonderful

[Lord_Dweomer]

"Let me guess... it tells YOU what your looking for?"

You my good sir, should NOT have been modded +5, Funny. You failed to submit your joke in the proper Soviet Russian format. In order for you to gain a proper +5, Funny, you need to use the correct syntax of "In Soviet Russia, x, y, you." Someone please mod parent down immediately or he will disrupt the concentration of the slashbots as they attempt to translate the post into its proper format.

Re:You haven't been reading enough about XBox 2 th

[Greedo]

... or the Office Assistant? Imagine Halo 2 ...

Clippy: You seem to be getting your ass fragged. What would you like to do?

• Load up the rail gun
  
• Take some health boosters
  
• Turn and run away
  
• Stop helping ... I like getting fragged!
  

Re:Google is my god

[pyrote]

OVER MY DEAD BROWSER

you must use netscape

Re:All I can say is

[critter_hunter]

Yes, IE6 is far superior to the majority of browsers out there - IE3,IE4,IE5 and IE5.5!

Re:Google is my god

[_xeno_]

Speaking as someone who has had Mod points before, I can asure you that just like the articles, no self-respecting moderator would ever follow a link in a comment to determine its worth. We rely on anonymous posts warning about the http://www.cnn.com/ link really being a "goatse.cx" link and other complaining about the links being funny or incorrect.

Basically, moderators follow the same "fact checking" standards as the editors do, which is of course none at all. As I personally have had all my mods meta-moderated "fair" (mostly by using "Overrated" and "Underrated"), I can guarentee that this behavior is normal and expected.

Based on your User-ID number, you have yet to experience the joy that is having access to the "moderator" pulldown menus. In time, you will have access to learn the ways of doing a half-assed moderation job, and learn to stop complaining about moderators being foolish, as you will have joined their ranks. (Plus, pissing off the moderators is a good way to say "hello" to -1 land. Ah, "Overrated"...)

For those who aren't sure, yes, this is tongue-in-cheek. Moderators provide a valuable service to Slashdot, and although there are issues with the system, overall, I think moderation is a Good Thing compared to having no such moderation. I'm sure there are still flaws that could be addressed, but generally, I'm pleased with the way the system appears to be working.

So, when it comes time for you to choose the moderation, vote for me, the waffle-canidate. I'll make up my mind someday, probably in my own best interest.

search.msn.com:Linux ... Error... not found ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear MSN,

I tried to search for word Linux with your new and
improved search machine at MSN and it says
that this word does not exist.

However my friend claims it does. Could you please
tell him how wrong he is ? His e-mail is:
[e-mail]

Blue Search of Death???

[The Lynxpro]

And in other news, the MSN search system finds web pages reporting the factual truth that the Xbox is more successful than the Playstation2, OpenOffice prints documents in pig latin, and Linux originates from North Korea...

Re:Good Luck!

[LePrince]

Eh eh eh... I worked at a large ISP here in Quebec, and a lady called to unsubscribe. When we asked the reason, she said "Your competitor Internet is much better, your Internet sucks". She was referring to our main site, which is configured by default when installing the installkit for the service. She didn't know she could go anywhere else, so for 2 months, she was on http://www.infinit.com/ [infinit.com]... And she found our competitor's website quite better, so she left, there was no way we could make her understand that THAT is not the Internet...

Quite funny :-)

Windows longhorn final HOSTS-file leaked

[Anonymous Coward]

207.68.171.244 www.google.com

Re:Why MSN will fail:

[jolyonr]

What is most amusing is that Microsoft page on "Alternatives to Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP" appears to have been slashdotted already.

Now, of course, if they hadn't been hosting it on IIS/ASP.NET...

Re:Mod Points - You may already be a winner!!!

[phong3d]

kinda like this [198.4.229.93]

Re:All I can say is

[Phishpin]

"or telnet localhost 80"

I often browse my home website in this manner. ;-)