MSN Latest News

There's a Rumor that Microsoft is developing a New Search Engine 
"Microsoft has gathered a team of twenty or more 'rock star' developers who’ve been tasked at building their next generation search engine. [...]

We have few details on their approach to the product, other than hearing that it is definitely a 'horizontal' engine (so, it’s not limited to a specific vertical like images), and is 'very cool.'" 
6/5/07 

Microsoft is Going to Launch Free Analytics 
It looks like MSN is aiming to join the ranks of Google in the "we'll give you free analytics in exchange for access to your data" team. Rumors started buzzing last week about a possible MSN analytics tool. The news was then confirmed by two of the project team members on their personal blogs. MediaPost Publications has the story today. 
1/16/07 

Microsoft launches new global ad site 
"The site, available in 15 local languages, will contain advertiser information for MSN, Windows Live, Live Search and Microsoft Office Online. It will also shows the new opportunities available to advertisers through its recently formed Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions network."
12/19/06

MSN Mobile Search Tool to List Clickable Ads 
"Microsoft plans to place advertising on MSN's Windows Live Search for Mobile service that will let users click on an advertisement to place a call for more information."
10/10/06 

MSN adds Behavioral Targeting to Search 
"With the new service, advertisers can arrange to have their pay-per-click ads shown to users who MSN has identified as likely purchasers based on their Web-surfing history."
9/12/06 

MSN Live Search is live 
"Now, we feel it’s time to unveil the new Live Search … no longer in beta, and powering searches on both Live.com and MSN. In related news, Live Local Search is coming out of beta, and Live.com is too!"
9/12/06 

Windows Live Q&A Launches 
It's a relay race that never ends. The baton passes from one player to the next as the search engines vie to put up the best of the best in all areas of search and search utilities. The latest runner into the game is Windows Live QnA, a combination search engine, answering service and social media site. The beta version of the site is Microsoft's attempt to combine "applied human knowledge" with a "dynamic, social community." (skip to "Windows Live QnA Launches" by Jennifer Laycock)
8/30/06

Microsoft: noise improves search results
"So-called 'noisy behavior' -- information on where users click, how long they stay on sites and whether and how they reformulate their queries -- can improve search results by 31 percent, according to a new study from Microsoft Research."
8/15/06 

MSN spiders have new names
The MSN Shopping bot is msnbot-products, the MSN News bot is msnbot-news, the MSN Image Search bot is msnbot-MM, the MSN Search bot is still just plain msnbot.
8/1/06 

Microsoft research develops spam killer for search engines
"'The Strider Search Defender' looks like a foolproof response to the onslaught of spam URLs on social networking sites, blogs and forums which spread rapidly and even start to appear on popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft’s MSN." [info] 
6/18/06 

Is MSN Going to Add Free Web Analytics Soon? 
Jennifer from Search Engine Guide has made an interesting observation over at Google Watch and MSN Latest News 
5/18/06

Microsoft Mapping The Real-Time World
This is an interesting article on MSN’s plan on providing the most updated local mapping search info by adding live feeds showing how much traffic is on the road and right down to finding out how many people are in line for the local Red Lobster. My opinion??? You would have to have A LARGE amount of people willing to participate to make this happen (Red Lobster example). However the live feed of traffic jams for mapping could be a real go and a push for popularity for MSN.
5/10/06

Amazon switches to Microsoft from Google 
. . . Microsoft Corp. scored an important win against rival Google Inc. over the weekend, as Amazon.com began using its technology to power the Internet retailer’s A9 search unit. . . 
5/2/06 

MSN to Create Pop Ups for TV 
MSN has recently applied for a patent that will allow them to add pop-ups to cable and satellite subscribers. 
4/14/06 

MSN AdCenter Plans Upgrade 
I had a note come through from MSN this morning that said they'll be conducting another update to their services on April the 18th. They note that the AdCenter will experience some down time on the 18th while the upgrades are made, but that existing campaigns will not be affected.
4/12/06 

MSN Search restored after hours-long outage 
"Microsoft Corp.'s MSN search engine stopped working for about four hours Thursday morning, and the company couldn't immediately say what caused the problem."
4/10/06 

US Backs Microsoft in Antitrust Fight 
Microsoft has long complained that antitrust regulators with the European Union have been holding back information related to the investigation, and US diplomats have raised the issue as well. 
4/3/06 

MSN Rolls out new search interface / algorithm 
Search Engine Watch Forums - "MSN's ever changing search algorithms are frustrating some search marketers, but is the instability just a necessary means to find the right formula?"
2/19/06

MSN's ContentAds To Launch in 2006 
Jennifer Slegg at JenSense reports today that Microsoft has disclosed the long awaited name of their new contextual ad program, ContentAds, as well as a much narrower timeline for the program to launch. She found this information on the upcoming Mix06 conference web site within the session information.
2/16/06

MSN launches 'Search and Win' contest 
"MSN has come up with a new plan to draw users away from Google: free stuff. The company launched a contest on Monday that will give users a chance to win prizes simply by using the service's search engine. Over $1 million in prizes will be available during the months of February, March and April."
2/14/06
Microsoft buys mobile search company 
"Microsoft came late to desktop search; it doesn’t intend to make the same mistake with mobile search. [...] Now with MotionBridge in the fold, Microsoft has a foothold in another aspect of search."
2/14/06

MSN Search provided DOJ with "absolutely no personal data"
"57 bloggers/online experts gathered in Redmond yesterday at the 'MSN Search Champs' event were invited to discuss with senior MSN management the recent news and concerns around the data MSN Search, Yahoo and AOL provided to the US government.

The precise nature of the information hadn't been disclosed ...until now. It turns out that it was nothing more than an innocuous two-column list of search terms and frequency.