Tag Archives: MSN

Jul16

Gord Hotchkiss

1

The Ebbs and Flows of Market Share

It’s been just over 6 weeks since the birth of Bing. While I didn’t actually say Microsoft’s new search baby was ugly, I was less than optimistic about it’s chances of unseating Google in a popularity contest. So, with every measurement panel carefully following Bing’s debut, I think it’s time to see just how little engine is doing in the search (oops, make that “decision”) sandbox.
Let the Record Show
First of all, much acrimonious commentary has been attributed to me about Bing. I just want to say I never said Bing was a failure, a bad search engine or a step [...]

Apr09

Gord Hotchkiss

0

Microsoft’s Talk vs. Microsoft’s Walk

Not so many columns ago, I urged Microsoft to do something amazing in search. Last week, they did. But it wasn’t in a good way. I was on the road last week, and I saw three different things land in my in box about Microsoft and their search efforts. With each email, my frustration mounted. Finally, Friday as I was sitting in Seattle airport I couldn’t contain myself any more. I sent an email to the most senior person I knew at Microsoft Search. The gist of the email was “don’t do it”. Yesterday, I got an email back thanking [...]

Jan08

Gord Hotchkiss

1

To Google’s Competitors: Please, this Year, Do Something Amazing!

A month ago yesterday, I was on stage in Park City, Utah at the Search Insider Summit with Danny Sullivan, Jeff Pruitt (SEMPO President/iCrossing) and John Tawadros (iProspect) talking about Google’s domination of the search space. Both Danny and I took Microsoft and Yahoo! to task for not mounting a more significant challenge to Google’s dominance. It could be my imagination, but it seemed that for the rest of the Summit, I felt a bit of a chill in the air between myself and the Yahoo! and Microsoft reps that ventured to Park City. I suspect the feeling was that [...]

Feb07

Gord Hotchkiss

1

Wedding Night Advice for Microsoft and Yahoo

Now that there seems to be some sort of union in Yahoo’s future, blessed or otherwise, I felt the urge to pass along some advice to whoever the happy couple might be. For, in all this talk about the impending nuptials , the clear objective is to survive and compete in the business of attracting the attention of prospects online.
I offer this advice on behalf of users, because frankly, I think that’s the only perspective you should be interested in. I’ll explain why.
 
Why Search is Essential
 
First of all, there’s a lot of talk about how a Microsoft – Yahoo [...]

Oct05

Gord Hotchkiss

1

On Your Search Menu Tonight

This week Yahoo unveiled a new feature.  It doesn’t really change the search game that much in terms of competitive functionality.  If anything, it’s another case of Yahoo catching up with the competition.  But it may have dramatic implications from a user’s point of view. To illustrate that point further I’d like to share a couple of stories with you. 
May We Suggest… 
The feature is called Search Assist.  You type your query in and Yahoo provides a list under the query box with a number of possible ways you could complete the query. This follows in the footsteps of Google’s search [...]

Jun07

Gord Hotchkiss

2

Planning for Personalization

I should have known as soon as I saw the speaker roster. Matt Cutts, Tim Mayer, Danny Sullivan, Michael Gray and myself on the same panel. Guess who got the lion's share of attention in the Q&A and after session scrum? Michael and I might as well have checked out early and hit the Google Dance before the crowds.The title of the panel at the inaugural SMX in Seattle was Search Personalization: Fear or Fear Not. As Danny often does, he set the panel up to generate a little debate: Michael Gray vs Google, Yahoo vs Google. I was like [...]