Microsoft bets on deep search integration to beat Google

[techbeck]

"A massive transformation of search as a product is playing out in very profound ways," says Microsoft's Bing chief, Qi Lu. Speaking at TechForum last week, the unassuming president of Microsoft's search efforts revealed a new approach Redmond is betting on to compete against Google. "As we build our product, we're converting the Bing technology stack into an information platform," says Lu. This new platform can then be embedded into any devices and services, pushing Bing directly into Microsoft's products.

Search is heading beyond browser-based queries

This integration is a core part of the way Microsoft sees Bing's future at the company. "Bing as a platform presents the universal platform," says Lu. But how does Microsoft make inroads in a world that's dominated by Google search? Lu says access to physical objects, something you wear on your wrist or glasses, and other traditional devices will help Bing use computational intelligence to provide context and data outside of basic search. "Now the way for human beings to express their interest or needs goes way beyond a browser search typing in keywords," he believes. "You can use voice to have a conversation, you can use gestures to express yourself."

http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/14/4084622/bing-as-a-plaform-new-microsoft-approach-to-search

More in source...

[.Neo]

One of the biggest annoyances I had with my Nokia Lumia 900 is the fact I couldn't change the default search engine from Bing to Google. :/

[BajiRav]

I think they've been slowly going in that direction ever since their anti-trust shackles came off in 2011. This is a good thing (Y). More integrated experiences is the way to go.

[guru]

while bing searches for most terms now match google's .. It still oesnt offer anything compelling to switch from Google to Bing imo

only exception to this is the image search which is way better than google's

[ichi]

Isn't Google going down that road too? They obviously don't have as many different platforms as MS to integrate with (which would be Microsoft's strength) but they have also been evolving beyond the basic search with products like Google Now.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

One of the biggest annoyances I had with my Nokia Lumia 900 is the fact I couldn't change the default search engine from Bing to Google. :/

Ironic isn't it? Microsoft won't allow you to pick Google in any fashion on Windows Phone as the default search, but Google has no problem allowing Bing as the default search on my Nexus 4.

Even more disgusting about the WP debacle was back in the early days of WP7 there were some phones with the option to set Google or Bing as default (my Dell Venue Pro was one such device) if the carrier had a contractual obligation to Google. With WP7.5 MS killed that and forced search in IE to start the Bing App and that button can't be customized by the user.

Sad to see Microsoft killing off the idea of open computing that allowed them to become who they are today...

[jakem1]

Ironic isn't it? Microsoft won't allow you to pick Google in any fashion on Windows Phone as the default search, but Google has no problem allowing Bing as the default search on my Nexus 4.

Even more disgusting about the WP debacle was back in the early days of WP7 there were some phones with the option to set Google or Bing as default (my Dell Venue Pro was one such device) if the carrier had a contractual obligation to Google. With WP7.5 MS killed that and forced search in IE to start the Bing App and that button can't be customized by the user.

Sad to see Microsoft killing off the idea of open computing that allowed them to become who they are today...

Sorry to interrupt your anti-MS rant but my Lumia 920 includes the option to set Google as the default search provider.

[ctrl_alt_delete]

Ironic isn't it? Microsoft won't allow you to pick Google in any fashion on Windows Phone as the default search, but Google has no problem allowing Bing as the default search on my Nexus 4.

Even more disgusting about the WP debacle was back in the early days of WP7 there were some phones with the option to set Google or Bing as default (my Dell Venue Pro was one such device) if the carrier had a contractual obligation to Google. With WP7.5 MS killed that and forced search in IE to start the Bing App and that button can't be customized by the user.

Sad to see Microsoft killing off the idea of open computing that allowed them to become who they are today...

stop the FUD.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Sorry to interrupt your anti-MS rant but my Lumia 920 includes the option to set Google as the default search provider.

Glad to see that option be added back. It was removed from WP7 and I didn't notice it when I used the Lumia 920 that my bud has on AT&T.

stop the FUD.

What FUD?

[+virtorio MVC]

I can (and have) set Google as my default search engine on my Lumia 710 running WP 7.8 (and that option was there in 7.1 and 7.5).

Of course it only works when searching from with Internet Explorer, and not the actual Search button on the phone.

[Dot Matrix]

Glad to see that option be added back. It was removed from WP7 and I didn't notice it when I used the Lumia 920 that my bud has on AT&T.

Added back? It was never in WP7 to begin with.

[BajiRav]

Ironic isn't it? Microsoft won't allow you to pick Google in any fashion on Windows Phone as the default search, but Google has no problem allowing Bing as the default search on my Nexus 4.

Even more disgusting about the WP debacle was back in the early days of WP7 there were some phones with the option to set Google or Bing as default (my Dell Venue Pro was one such device) if the carrier had a contractual obligation to Google. With WP7.5 MS killed that and forced search in IE to start the Bing App and that button can't be customized by the user.

Sad to see Microsoft killing off the idea of open computing that allowed them to become who they are today...

where can I rant about not being able to use bing as default with Google NOW? bing is more than just a dumb search engine on WP.

[+virtorio MVC]

Added back? It was never in WP7 to begin with.

Yes it was, and it still is.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

I can (and have) set Google as my default search engine on my Lumia 710 running WP 7.8 (and that option was there in 7.1 and 7.5).

Of course it only works when searching from with Internet Explorer, and not the actual Search button on the phone.

Looks like it resurfaced in 7.8. I will check my devices when I get home.

http://forums.wpcent...gle-search.html

Added back? It was never in WP7 to begin with.

I got my Dell Venue Pro shortly after launch. I was there before any updates and during the half ram mess. As I said in my post, it was on WP 7 depending on carrier. On T-Mobile it existed. The search button in ie would also search Google (hardware search button). This all changed with Mango.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

where can I rant about not being able to use bing as default with Google NOW? bing is more than just a dumb search engine on WP.

What is wrong with the world today? I am not making any argument that Google loves you more than Microsoft. They all want to own you as if you are a sheep or a commodity.

My point was simply that it is sad to see Microsoft in this game. Open computing is what allowed them to come into existence.

Why does it all need to be some fan boy us vs them thing in here?

[BajiRav]

What is wrong with the world today? I am not making any argument that Google loves you more than Microsoft. They all want to own you as if you are a sheep or a commodity.

My point was simply that it is sad to see Microsoft in this game. Open computing is what allowed them to come into existence.

Why does it all need to be some fan boy us vs them thing in here?

HA! I love how you use different scales when it comes to Microsoft vs. Google. Cut the bull****. You made exactly the argument you are now denying.

[.Neo]

Sorry to interrupt your anti-MS rant but my Lumia 920 includes the option to set Google as the default search provider.

Not available on Windows Phone 7.8. Microsoft must have decided the Nokia Lumia 900's hardware isn't powerful enough for Google searching either.

[contextfree]

To be clear, the thing that changed between 7.0 and 7.5 was that the search button was no longer contextual (a feature that was always limited to a handful of built-in apps - third-party apps could never plug in to it). So in 7.0 if you hit search inside IE it would do a "browser" search, just as if you hit search inside Office it would do an "Office" search (IIRC). The "browser" search was what was and still is configurable. In 7.5 (and later releases) there's still a "browser" search and you can still set it to Google, but it no longer hooks into the search button which is hard-linked to the Bing app (everywhere), instead you have to enter a non-URL or "?" prefixed search string in the address box.

[Growled Member]

I wish them well but so far none of their search ideas have worked out that well, as far as market is concerned anyway.