Should Google worry about the new MSN?

• Nov. 18, 2003

When we brought you news that Microsoft had developed a search engine crawler, we knew that the web would be drastically changing within the next two to three years. Microsoft later announced that they were targeting Google. While we agree that Google may be the short term target, we felt that they had other, bigger fish to fry.
But let us look at Google and MSN for now, and see what will happen. What does MSN have to do to become competitive with Google? When you go to Google's homepage, you see a search box, and across the top are tabs to specific areas of Google - images, (news) groups, directory and news. They also have Froogle - which is still in beta testing - which is a searchable shopping service.

MSN has always had a searchable shopping service, so there isn't much for MSN to build there.

The Google directory is the Open Directory. Anyone can display their results if they so choose. Therefore MSN could use the Open Directory results if they wanted as well. Image search can, and probably will be derived from the regular search index, much like Google does now. So that leaves news and groups.

Can Microsoft compete with Google news? The answer is yes and in fact they have begun beta testing a news crawler product of their own. If you were to go to MSN Newsbot you will see that they have a working prototype of a news crawler. Because it is in beta testing only, it is still limited, but it will develop over time.

That leaves Google groups. Now, in case you didn't know, Google acquired Usenet groups from Deja.com in February, 2001 (view the press release here). The acquisition means they own the rights to display Usenet group postings. And Google has indexed them, so they are searchable. So what can Microsoft do to get access to Google owned Usenet groups?

Well, Microsoft has developed, and is beta testing an answer called Netscan. Netscan allows users to search Usenet groups. And it's very fast. The only drawback is that it only updates its results monthly. Therefore, if you're searching for the latest in newsgroups, you currently won't find it at Netscan. But I'm sure they will improve that as time goes on.

So, when comparing Apples to Apples (not the computers, Microsoft sadly has already beaten them), can Microsoft compete with Google? My answer would have to be yes. Although it isn't there yet, I'm sure once the crawler is out actively working, and these other new products come out, they will start to gain a dedicated following of users. So I guess the question is, given that these products will not be released to the general public for a year or two, what can Google do to stay on top?

If you are interested in my opinion of what Google may have to do to retain its dominance, read this article.

Rob Sullivan
Production Manager
Searchengineposition.com
Search Engine Positioning
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