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When Windows Live Spaces launched last night, I was curious to see what kind of marketing Microsoft put behind it, since I was commenting just a week ago (after the “stealth” launch of Windows Live Toolbar) that you couldn’t prove that Windows Live was particularly important to Microsoft based on the minimal marketing attention they seemed to be devoting to it. Well the good news is that Windows Live Spaces merited a press release that was picked up widely in the press and that Microsoft marketing took the opportunity to boost the whole brand:
Microsoft Continues to Deliver on Windows Live StrategyAs the launch season continues, additional Windows Live services continue to be rolled out, and by the end of the summer Microsoft expects to ship almost half of the 20 beta services the company has been testing. To help provide a safer and more secure online experience, Microsoft will launch a number of new safety services in the coming weeks, including Windows Live OneCare™ Safety Scanner, a beta version of which was released in November 2005 as Windows Live Safety Center. Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner is a free, on-demand PC scanner that checks for and removes viruses and gets rid of unused files on the hard disk for improved PC performance.
Microsoft will also integrate enhanced safety features into Windows Live Toolbar, which was launched in a total of 38 markets this week. Windows Live Toolbar is designed to help consumers easily find, save and act on information and services across the Internet. It also includes access to the newly launched Windows Live OneCare Advisor, which provides quick and easy access to the Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner and an updated version of Microsoft® Phishing Filter that includes additional functionality to help protect consumers from online data theft.
Also coming soon to customers in the United States is the Windows Live QnA beta, a new vertical search experience designed to help people find the information they are looking for by allowing them to ask and answer questions from an online community on a given topic. Consumers will be able to tap into the power of the online community to search for answers on a variety of subject areas and topics including business, health, arts, sports, technology and more. Those interested can learn more and sign up for the beta at http://qna.live.com.
OK, it’s just a name change, a retroactive announce, and another beta, but it’s better than a mere blog post. Of course, a press release does not a marketing campaign make. Presumably there is some real sizzle coming.
LiveSide (the independent Windows Live news blog) spotted that Windows Live Toolbar is now sporting a “Now released” tag. It’s a browser toolbar that rolls up a variety of convenient features including Windows Live Search and the Onfolio feed reader in one free package. Also related, Windows Live Gallery went into beta. The Gallery provides a library of Microsoft and third party “gadgets” that can be added-in to enhance other Windows Live services including the Toolbar.
But here’s a puzzle. Do you get the feeling that Windows Live marketing has gone AWOL since Martin Taylor’s disappearance? Windows Live OneCare and Windows Live Messenger got press releases when they shipped in May and June respectively (at which point Taylor left), but Windows Live Custom Domains and Windows Live Favorites just got posts in Microsoft blogs when they shipped in June, as did Windows Live Expo when it shipped in July. Now Windows Live Toolbar doesn’t even get a post in a Microsoft blog that I can find.
Admittedly, not all Windows Live offerings are of equal importance, but Windows Live Expo is going to do battle with craigslist for the lucrative classified ad market and Windows Live Toolbar is a control center for a number of important Windows Live features. You’d think Microsoft could pony up a few bucks for some real announcements and a little hoopla if Windows Live were really so important to the company’s future. Could the budget be a little tight, what with the competing demands for Vista, Office, Xbox 360, and Zune marketing, or is marketing just disorganized?
Update 7/26: Microsoft’s Dennis Cheung proved more adept than I at delving into Microsoft blogs. He notes that there was a post about the Toolbar release at Microsoft’s Virtual Earth blog and after my post above, Microsoft’s Live Search blog provided a nice introduction. It’s great that the teams are providing their own publicity since they seem to be the only ones doing it.
Via email, I also received a suggestion that perhaps Microsoft is saving their fireworks for a gala celebration when one of the bigger name Windows Live products ships, say Windows Live Search which has been promised shortly. That’s certainly a possibility, although hoarding all the good news leaves you open to complaints about “old news” when you finally get around to the combined launch. In any case, a combined launch is certainly the place to make up for earlier lost opportunities.
That’s the buzz at Bink.nu with the observation:
Windows Live Messenger is the first software package to be released out of Beta in the Windows Live range, Windows Live Search (Desktop), Windows Live Mail Desktop and Windows Live Toolbar are expected to follow this year.
Today at the O’Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference, Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of Windows Live™ Search beta, designed to help people simply find the information on the Web that matters most to them. The new search service offers a new innovative design with rich viewing and organizational tools, extensive search categories such as image and local search, and services that help people customize results. Other core technologies that complement Windows Live Search, including an updated version of Live.com and a Windows Live Toolbar beta, were also released today. These services are now available in the U.S. and in select international markets in which feature availability will vary.
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Windows Live Search delivers the results users are looking for via a unique design with advanced tools for helping people quickly find, view, organize and preview search results. Through new features such as search preview, scoping tools, a search slider bar that increases the level of result information on the results page, and smart scrolling that enables people to view search results without moving from page to page, Windows Live Search delivers enhanced control over the search experience. Through simple precision tools, people can search within the context of the task they are performing and ultimately get their answer fast.
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The new Windows Live Toolbar offers people the ability to search from any Web page using Windows Live Search while helping them easily save, organize and share the information that they find online. Advanced protection against phishing and pop-up blocking also help people browse more safely while they search. Additional features of the beta include RSS detection and automatic aggregation to a person’s personalized Live.com home page, capability for effortless customization so people can choose and arrange only the buttons they want, and tabbed browsing for quicker Web surfing. The Windows Live Toolbar includes technology from Onfolio Inc., which enables customers to save, collect and share any part or the full Web page of the information they discover while searching the Web.
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Live.com, the fast, customizable home page for Windows Live, also released a significant upgrade today, including a new design and features that help users quickly customize their home page, preview content, create multiple pages based on their interests, and add their favorite content from millions of information sources and RSS feeds.
There’s more by following the link. All of this, and particularly the spiffy new Live Search UI, will require some tire kicking to assess the value, but Microsoft is clearly putting some serious thought into these offerings. This is also the beginning of the end for MSN Search and the MSN Toolbar which these Live versions will eventually replace. The Onfolio acquisition is mentioned in the immediately previous post.
