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Bing
As Bill Gates has acknowledged, search was not a priority at Microsoft until after Google had already become a juggernaut. Microsoft's MSN was equipped with search functionality when it officially entered the Web portal race in 1998, but the results were generated by Inktomi, and later LookSmart. While Yahoo was in a similar position, it used acquisitions to build the technology necessary to compete. Microsoft, on the other hand, decided to develop its engine in-house, and it wasn't until late 2004 that Redmond began producing its own results for MSN Search, which was later rebranded as Live Search.
But Microsoft has also gone the acquisition route. Its new search engine, Bing, which launched earlier this month along with a massive ad campaign, leverages semantic search technology Microsoft acquired in its purchase of PowerSet last year. PowerSet's natural language processing platform relies on Hadoop, an open-source system that Yahoo also uses for indexing.
Bing's new functionality, including categorized searches and improved image and video searches-with preview capabilities that have landed Microsoft in some hot water. But equally important for Microsoft, whose previous search efforts have not won many converts, is the new name. It's hard to argue that Bing doesn't beat Live Search.
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