So it's Bing, now, Microsoft? Not Kumo? Details on Microsoft's
new Kumo search engine are expected to be officially disclosed this week, but according to a
Tuesday report from AdAge, the
search engine will be called Bing, not Kumo.
Microsoft also is readying a massive advertising campaign to position Bing as a bona fide Google killer in the minds of consumers, according to the report.
AdAge reported that the search engine, to date known as Kumo, will launch under the name Bing at this week's D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif., where Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to speak.
The magazine also reported that Microsoft is spending in the neighborhood of $80 million to $100 million on a massive ad blitz that will encompass print media, online platforms, TV commercials and outdoor media like billboards -- more than triple the $25 million or so Google spent on advertising in 2008, according to the report.
New York-based JWT, one of the world's largest ad firms and the crown jewel of British businessman Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP Group, will be handling the Microsoft campaign, according to the magazine.
Microsoft has been testing the search engine since early March, and plans to attack Google on the premise that 40 percent of search queries lead nowhere and 46 percent of all search sessions take longer than 20 minutes.
"We believe we can provide a better and more useful search experience that helps you not just search but accomplish tasks," wrote Satya Nadella, senior vice president and head of engineering for Microsoft's Online Services Division, in an e-mail to employees.
Google's dominance as the search engine of choice -- it holds a 64.2 percent search in the United States, according to April figures from ComScore -- will face new challenges thanks to not only Microsoft but the efforts of target="_blank">much-publicized upstarts like WolframAlpha.
