Author Archive

Welcome back, dear viewers. This week we get down and dirty with one of the guys who helps understand what all you crazy searchers are really doing on the tubes. Turns out there are differences between what we say we want in search and what we actually do when searching. Martin “Dang, He Has a Cool Voice” Stoddart is here to explain the fundamentals of how we do user research and how that work affects the products you actually see. I kind of see Martin’s work like ESP, in that he divines people’s hidden needs so we can build products that they don’t know they want right now, but can’t live without when shipped. Except he doesn’t use tarot cards and incense.

Stefan Weitz, Director, Live Search

Looking for a reason to visit Silicon Valley and enjoy the sunshine? The Powerset division of Live Search is helping to coordinate the following event:

PAWS Meetup: The Semantic Demo Session

Sponsored by Microsoft

April 14^th

6:30 p.m.- 9 p.m. in Microsoft’s Mountain View offices

RSVP today and bring a friend.

Visit the Powerset blog for more details.

Melissa Powell, Senior Product Manager, Live Search

The Live Search team, in partnership with the awesome Gnomedex conference, is sponsoring a developer contest called Code for Green that we hope will make a difference to the economy (Green = Money) and the Earth’s ecology (Green = Environment) long after the contest is over.

To reinforce the green theme, the five winning developers will be rewarded with cash:

· $10,000 and a $100 Bizspark membership for each winner in the two categories

· $3,000 and a $100 Bizspark membership for three finalists

 

How it generally works*:

Beginning June 1, developers will be able to submit URLS for their contest entries at http://willcodeforgreen.gnomedex.com. These Web-based applications must use the Live Search APIs (which are free) but can also use any other technology platform or programming language in order to accomplish their ultimate purpose:

1) To help people deal with the worsening global economy (Economy category)

2) To help people improve the ecology of the planet Earth (Ecology category)

You can vote for your favorite Web applications at http://willcodeforgreen.gnomedex.com until Aug 12^th. Customer appeal is one of the key factors that will determine which five finalists go on to have their entries judged at Gnomedex itself.

In the final round at Gnomedex, conference participants will play with the applications and determine the winners in both categories.

It’s not required, but we hope winners will use their cash prizes to take their ideas further, hopefully into business and non-profit applications that will help make the world a better place.

So put on your thinking caps, study up on the Live Search APIs, and code for green!

Cheers,

Betsy Aoki, Program Manager, Live Search

*No purchase necessary.  Open only to residents of the 50 US States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older. Contest ends August 12, 2009.  See Official Rules for full details.

To bring you the best of Live Search and cashback, we’ve launched an improved cashback Shopping site. The new site unifies Live Search Products (the shopping vertical within Live Search) and cashback to make it easier for you to research, compare products, and save money. Check out the new experience at Live Search Products and click on cashback and let us know what you think.

 

There are quite a few enhancements you’ll see now that we’ve combined these two interfaces. We have improved relevance and site performance now that we’ve migrated from the legacy Jellyfish technology (a company Microsoft purchased in October 2007) to our own Live Search platform. You’ll now see reviews and Opinion Ranking on the product pages . Opinion Ranking crawls the Web for reviews, categorizes them into features, then provides ratings for those product features. You can also browse by feature and sort by ratings.

 

 

We’re continuing to invest in and improve cashback over the coming months. Stay tuned — and happy shopping.

Kelly Scott, Product Manager, cashback Shopping

Stefan here, sitting in the Sheraton in Munich for a few days Europe-side to talk about Live Search. First up tomorrow I’ll be meeting with our Search Technology Center team here in Munich (they focus on relevance), and then we’re hosting a meet-up for some Search-minded folks in the German office.

Wednesday I’ll be keynoting SMX Munich and talking to the crowd about the differences between what we have traditionally thought about how people search and some new data about what people are actually doing when they search. Then I’m off to Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and Prof. Günthner’s Computational Linguistics class, both to listen and to talk about what they’re doing with search. On Thursday I’ll be giving another lecture at FH Macromedia München, and then it’s time to head back to London. (BTW, look for a tweetup announcement coming soon.)

We know we have a lot of work to do in Europe to deliver incredible relevance and local experiences.  I’m pumped to meet with the teams from the Search Technology Centers in Germany and the UK who are working hard on this, as well as the great institutions here in Germany to hear about the opportunities they’re exploring.

‘Til next time!

Stefan

Today, countries all around the globe unite to observe Earth Day, a day designated nearly 40 years ago to inspire awareness of and appreciation for our environment. Despite this long tradition, according to a study from MSN, being green still isn't all that easy. In fact, the MSN survey found that almost 70% of Americans said that they would never start composting kitchen scraps nor limit their toilet flushes to conserve water. One thing we know for sure is that Earth Day raises the collective awareness of all-things-environmental. Last year, searches for terms like "recycle," "global warming," "composting," and "conserving energy" increased substantially, and searches for "hybrid cars" increased by 1,500% on Earth Day 2008 alone.  

So as you embark on your quest for green knowledge today, Live Search is here for you. For those of you in the Los Angeles area, check out the Virtual Earth blog for info on how we're working with LA County to help folks determine if their property is a good candidate for solar power. For you folks in the rest of the world, here are some "green-themed" searches to help you make better decisions to live a greener (and in one case, a more stylish) lifestyle.

• What is my carbon footprint?
• What hybrid car is best?
• Where can I find stylish reusable shopping bags?
• How do I kitchen compost?

For more tips and tricks for going green — visit MSN Green. Happy Earth Day!

Melissa Powell, Senior Product Manager, Live Search

P.S. From the corporate side of the house, if you're interested in learning more about what Microsoft is doing to go green in our data centers, check out this post from our Global Foundation Services team.

The cherry blossoms are blooming, the birds are chirping, the sun is out, and searches for Derek Jeter have tripled since last week.

That’s right, sports fans. Baseball season is in full swing and fans are taking to the Internet to get their fantasy baseball fix and to find their favorite players’ stats and team standings. Mid-April for our team means it’s time to fine-tune our instant answers for baseball to ensure that fans have all the stats at their fingertips that they want.

Simply type a team’s or specific player's name in the search box, and you get the latest scores, schedule, and stats, along with recent news to stay on top of late-breaking updates in baseball, like Melky Cabrera’s walk-off homerun in the 14^th inning against Oakland this week.

Looks like our local Seattle Mariners are off to a great start this year. First in the American League West!

You can also type “baseball” + date and get the latest scores for the league on that date.

We first wrote about our instant answers back in October. We developed them to help simplify key search tasks, like feeding your hunger for baseball between visits to the ballpark.

As always, we welcome feedback on this or any instant answer.

Theo Vachovsky, Instant Answers Product Manager, Live Search

We launched Live Search 411 (1-800-CALL-411 or 1-800-225-5411) in October 2007, and since then have been rolling out new features that have helped our users in all kinds of ways. There’s Business Search to find that restaurant where your friends are waiting for you. There’s Driving Directions for turn-by-turn directions to guide you there. There are Sports and Stock Quotes so you’re always prepared with a quip about the latest game and the Dow. Add Weather reports, Movie showtimes, Cheap Gas prices, and Travel resources, and you’ll never be without an umbrella, late for the matinee, stuck without fuel, or lost.

Now we’re happy to announce the latest addition to our 411 family: Traffic powered by INRIX, a leading provider of traffic information. If you’re a mobile phone user, you can dial 1-800-CALL-411 and ask for Traffic to get real-time traffic reports in your vicinity or along a route. You can even personalize your experience by saving your start and end points, and then next time saying, “Home to work.” In addition to hearing about traffic incidents and slowdowns, you’ll get an estimated drive time so you can plan accordingly.

The best part about Live Search 411 is that you can call and search from any phone and ask for what you want just by saying it (no typing required). Who knew that the time you spend in the car could be so valuable?

Yvonne Chou, Senior Program Manager Lead, Live Search 411

April showers bring May flowers, and May 2^nd brings the Run for the Roses, also known as the annual Kentucky Derby. For those not heading to Churchill Downs for “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” we’re bringing the results to you in the form of our Kentucky Derby Instant Answer. Simply type in “Kentucky Derby” and you’ll see preliminary information about the event such as the date, TV coverage, the 2008 winner, and, of course, a link to a recipe for the Derby’s traditional beverage–the Mint Julep. (What is a race without an official drink?) Be sure to check back after the race for the final results.

We’ve blogged about our Instant Answers a few times, most recently for the Oscars, March Madness, and Major League Baseball. Instant Answers are designed to simplify key search tasks. With Instant Answers, we save our users from having to browse different sites to find different, specific pieces of information. As always, we welcome ideas and feedback about our Instant Answers.

Theo Vachovsky, Instant Answers Product Manager, Live Search

Thinking about your summer travel plans? Debating between the beach, the city, or a combination of both? Live Search and Virtual Earth are here to help make the decision a bit easier. Yesterday, Virtual Earth released new imagery for more than 1 million square kilometers around the globe. Here’s a look at a few of our favorite places to visit from a whole different angle. We even have some deals on airfare through our travel site, Farecast.

You can’t go wrong with a beach trip to the Bahamas or anywhere in the Caribbean, especially with these great prices.

For the metropolitan traveler, London is always a great option, and for less than $500 from NYC, Seattle, Chicago, Portland, Newark, or Philadelphia, it’s an affordable one too.

Dreaming of Dubai? Us, too. Airfare deals to Dubai are harder to come by, so this image might have to do.

How about a trip to the happiest place on earth? Depending where you’re coming from, you might be able to get close to Mickey Mouse and friends for less than $100.

 

Happy travels,

Melissa Powell, Senior Product Manager, Live Search