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Olga Kharif at BusinessWeek online reports on Microsoft’s efforts to expand the relevance of their search engine results via so-called “social search.” Amid the discussion is:
The foray into social search may not end with the new tool, either. Microsoft is in talks to buy or forge a partnership with two-year-old startup Eurekster.com, specializing in social-network search, BusinessWeek Online has learned from people familiar with the matter. A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment.
Launched by two serial entrepreneurs who’d previously dabbled in search and social networking, Eurekster essentially combines generic search, though a partnership with Yahoo, with information culled from social-networking sites, such as Friendster.com. Thanks to Eurekster’s technology, a Friendster user searching for “skin care” would get results that reflect reviews and preferences of a predefined group, be it friends, neighbors, or another affinity group — say pregnant women.
The presentation is marred by a conflation of a “Q&A service” with “social search” which is rectified by Danny Sullivan and Don Dodge. The net is that while Microsoft plans a Q&A service called Windows Live Answers where users can ask questions and other users offer answers, this is pretty much a “me too” of previous offerings from a number of companies that have never been successful before.
On the other hand, what Eurekster offers (reviewed in detail here) is a horse of a different color. I’m still skeptical of many of the claims for adding social features to Web offerings (eg. here), but if you read “demographic” for “affinity group,” maybe there’s a pony in social search.
Two weeks ago, Steve Ballmer launched the “People-Ready” marketing campaign and we’re getting more this week:
Microsoft, customers and partners celebrate innovative applications that allow businesses to succeed in creating the people-ready business
Today at Convergence 2006, the Microsoft Business Solutions Group’s customer conference, Microsoft Business Division President Jeff Raikes outlined the future of the Microsoft Business Division and how it is delivering on a vision of roles-based productivity that combines people and processes to enable the people-ready business. A core component of this strategy is Microsoft Dynamics™, a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions. Microsoft Corp. demonstrated recently shipped solutions and upcoming 2006 releases that deliver on its Microsoft Dynamics product road map, first introduced at last year’s conference, reinforcing its strategy to deliver breakthrough innovation through a series of transformational releases in an iterative, nondisruptive manner.
Indeed. Renee Boucher Ferguson has a story on the keynote in eWeek, and while there may have been some customers celebrating “people-ready” business, most seemed to have rather more mundane concerns. All of which reminds me of Daniel Lyons’ report at Forbes on Ballmer’s original “people-ready” kickoff:
The new programs are phenomenally complex, with scores of buttons and pull-down menus and myriad connections among various applications. A Microsoft VP zipped through a demo, moving information from Outlook to Powerpoint to Groove to some kind of social networking program that lets you see how your colleagues and your colleagues’ colleagues rate various Web sites.
Meanwhile, 500 tech buyers sat there in the dark, their eyes glazing over from the sheer mind-numbing pointlessness of most of this stuff. The audience laughed out loud when the Microsoft guy showed off a kludgey system that lets you fetch Outlook e-mail messages using voice commands from a cell phone.
The system has all the charm of those automated phone systems you encounter when you call customer service: Your call is very important to us. And while it is cool and futuristic to have a computer “read” your e-mail to you, uh, dude–we all have BlackBerrys anyway. In fact, many in the audience weren’t even watching the voice-activated e-mail demo–they were checking mail on their BlackBerrys.
Even more ironic is that Microsoft has ginned up a new slogan, “People Ready,” which apparently is meant to describe its software, or maybe it describes companies that use its software, or whatever. Who knows? It’s one of those phrases that means anything, and so means nothing. Who makes this stuff up? Do they actually pay this person? And is Microsoft just figuring out now that its programs are used by–gasp–people?
Microsoft execs also talked about “Impacting People,” then they dragged out fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, who seemed very “impacted” as he sang praise for Microsoft programs. Actually, he was reading meaningless statements from a TelePrompTer. Here is one of his quotes, verbatim: “When you combine people and technology, you have a very powerful combination.” Think about that. Just let it sink in for a minute.
No thanks. Hit the link for more, but here’s a hint – it didn’t get any better.
One doesn’t expect marketing campaigns to have huge intellectual depth, but this one seems to have started on a particularly bad note. It doesn’t help that Ballmer was touting the soon to be delayed Windows Vista, but the real problem is the insistence on “people-ready” for offerings that seem to be anything but. Nicholas Carr hits the broader problem of tech companies offering “Neat!” features that only a tech geek could love and pointedly recalls Bill Gates’ cringe-inducing CES06 demo. The good news, of course, is that the problem is self-correcting. The bad news is for the companies that get corrected.
Update 3/27: Today, Bill Gates is doing the “people-ready” polka at the Convergence conference.
Moving quickly from an expanded limited beta earlier this month, Microsoft’s social classified ads service, Windows Live Expo, is now in open beta release for users throughout the United States. Press release:
Microsoft Corp. today will release a beta version of Windows Live™ Expo (http://expo.live.com) nationwide. Previously in closed beta, Windows Live Expo is now accessible to all U.S. customers and expands the traditional classified ad concept by providing social networking and community features through a trustworthy, convenient and free online service.
…
Most classified advertising services generalize product location by a pre-defined city location, regardless of where in the city the product is located. However, all products and services listed in Windows Live Expo are geographically identified, or geo-tagged, by ZIP code, not city, which specifically defines where the product is located. Windows Live Expo customers also have the option to search for items within a radius as small as 25 miles or as large as the entire United States, making it easier to define a search.
That’s not all that novel – metropolitan newspapers and aggregations of local papers have offered that online for some time.
Windows Live Expo listings are also integrated with MSN’s satellite-image-based Windows Live Local so customers can view maps and aerial imagery of neighborhoods they may want to live in or see exactly where this weekend’s garage sale is.
Now that is novel. Then there’s the “social” part:
Unlike other classified services, Windows Live Expo allows customers to choose to view only listings specific to their MSN® Messenger Contact List or personal e-mail groups, helping to add a level of trust in transactions.
I’m still dubious of the overall utility of that aspect. What worked well for an internal bulletin board service at a large company like Microsoft wouldn’t seem broadly applicable to the population at large. Finally, there’s some additional high tech bling:
With MSN Messenger integration, sales can now take mere minutes, as buyer and seller discuss, negotiate and clinch a deal via instant messaging. Also, new with today’s beta rollout, when someone sends a message about their listing, an alert can be sent to customers via e-mail, instant messaging or mobile phone* via the MSN Alerts service. With upcoming Windows Live Expo releases, listings will be accessible via MSN Spaces blogs.
Windows Live Expo values customer safety and provides its customers with a Windows Live Expo-only inbox. All messages and inquiries regarding a customer’s listings are sent directly to and from the customer’s anonymous Windows Live Expo message inbox. This Windows Live Expo feature helps prevent others from seeing a customer’s personal e-mail address, which in turn reduces the opportunity for spam or phishing attacks to reach a user’s personal e-mail inbox.
There’s more by following the link. It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out.
Update: See the “Hello World” post from the Expo Team on their weblog.
Mary Jo Foley at Microsoft Watch spots the name change for Microsoft’s planned marketplace and social networking service and points to the beta site where you can sign up to participate. Expo seems to be slightly late since a beta had been promised in December with it going live in 1H2006.
