Earlier this week it was leaked that Microsoft was hard at work on a new search engine dubbed Kumo (internally), which means cloud and spider in Japanese. Kumo was initially thought as a simple rebranding of Microsoft’s current search strategy but after a leaked memo it was clear Microsoft is trying to change the way people search.
Some people may say that Microsoft’s latest attempt to put a dent in Google’s grasp is a waste of time but I tend to disagree with that notion. If you check the latest Alexa top site numbers Live.com and MSN.com are the number four and six websites in the world respectively.
Google reaches about thirty million people a day while Live reaches twenty million and MSN just under sixteen million. Add Live and MSN together and they easily pass the sheer daily numbers of Google. Sure MSN isn’t exactly a simple search site but who’s to say that Microsoft doesn’t leverage that traffic?
Add on top of that the fact that Microsoft still may make a deal with Yahoo who while going through some tough times is still the number two site in the world with twenty eight million visitors a day. The potential is there for Microsoft to make a big dent in Google, but they have to get it right.
Regardless of what happens Microsoft has an uphill battle on their hands, but with Windows 7 rolling out later this year with Internet Explorer 8 now’s the time to make a move. Will Microsoft succeed where they’ve failed before? History is not in their favor, but who knows?
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