Microsoft Says Kumo Will Make Search More Efficient

In Microsoft's view, Web users are too often flummoxed by the ineffectiveness of today's search engines. But Kumo.com, the code name for Microsoft's revamped, rebranded Live Search property, is going to change all that, Microsoft reckons.

Microsoft is asking employees to kick the tires and offer feedback on Kumo.com, which provides a faster and more efficient way of finding information online, according to an internal Microsoft e-mail reprinted Monday in the All Things Digital blog.

In the e-mail, Satya Nadella, senior vice president and head of engineering for Microsoft's Online Services Division, asserts that 40 percent of search queries go unanswered and 46 percent of search sessions consume more than 20 minutes, which speaks to a need for a more efficient means of finding information online.

"We believe we can provide a better and more useful search experience that helps you not just search but accomplish tasks," Nadella said in the e-mail.

Microsoft last July acquired San Francisco-based Powerset, a developer of semantic search technology that goes beyond keyword search by determining the intent behind search terms. The deal, estimated at $100 million, was seen as an effort by Microsoft to differentiate its search technology from that of Google and compensate for the software giant's failure to acquire Yahoo.

At the time, Nadella estimated that roughly one-third of search queries were unsuccessful on the first try, and said users were often unable to find what they were looking for after multiple searches.

But in a Monday post to the Silicon Valley Insider blog, industry watcher Henry Blodget called shenanigans on Nadella's characterization of the search market and said Google "does a pretty darn good job" in search.

"The main reason we think Microsoft has almost no chance of clawing back any meaningful share in the search game is that, unlike Satya, we don't think today's search is crappy. On the contrary, we think it is extraordinarily good," Blodget wrote.

Microsoft registered the Kumo.com domain name in November, giving rise to speculation that it was preparing to update or rebrand Live Search, which has lagged far behind Google and Yahoo.

According to research firm Net Applications, Live Search had a 1.74 percent share of the search market in February, compared to 81.5 percent for Google and 10 percent for Yahoo.

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