Kumo is coming
Kumo, the new search engine Microsoft plans to release, place a fresh focus on "the right ideas," like "organic results, layout and advertising," according to Director-Emerging Media/Client Strategy David Berkowitz of 360i, which demoed the pending product.
"If it's as good as it looks in the demo, this will be the most impressive search experience Microsoft has offered," he vowed.
The search engine places emphasis on image and videos; on a more practical level, it filters data and ecommerce to give users more specific product information, like inventory in stock and prices at retail stores.
A search for "iPhone," for example, would also generate invitations to download certain apps. "On the left side of the search query you'll find a navigation column that shows related searches, search history and filtering options," said co-founder Jay Bhatti of people search engine Spock. Bhatti saw Kumo during a test run in Live Search, MediaPost writes.
"It would keep the top of the page and right side clear for advertisements." According to Bhatti, the ads appear to blend more with the content, making them less noticeable and thus perhaps more clickable.
"Historically, one problem for Microsoft has been serving up relevant ads," Berkowitz observed, confirming Bhatti's surmise: "They haven't been as relevant as they could be. But I've see firsthand they are trying to fix that."
The Kumo layout is composed of three columns, with search results in the middle, and sponsored related search terms on the right-hand side. The left column contains related searches and a single-session search history, making it easier to return to previous queries, reports PC World, which hastened to add the most interesting tool on the left are the search categories — which are directly related to searches.
A search for "Bose Lifestyle 48" generates categories for images, review, manual, prices, and repair. But searching for something like a music artist will generate categories that enable users to locate song lyrics, albums, artist biographies, and tickets.
Microsoft tested Kumo internally from March, but has not provided a launch date, though word has it the engine will go live in the next handful of weeks — coinciding with the debut of a major ad campaign.
In April 2009, Microsoft/Windows Live Search dominated all of 9.9% of US-based searches, up 7.2% year over year. It fell behind Google, at 64% of market share; and Yahoo, at 16.3%.
Among shopping-specific search engines, however, Windows Live Search enjoyed a 615% increase in total visitors and was the fastest growing shopping search provider in April. This increase is due in part to the well-received Live Search Cashback program, in which Microsoft promises to pay consumers back for purchasing products its search engine helped find.
Searches on shopping-specific engines comprise between one and two percent of total search activity.
