Archive for May, 2009

by Claudine Zap

It's hard to know what motivates Scarlett Johansson. Whatever her reasoning, the actress continues to dabble in song. She has already put out one album covering Tom Waits tunes (really).

Scar Jo's singing debut underwhelmed critics, to put it mildly: "Unremarkable," "fussy and forgettable," and "deeply in a druggy ambiance."

But this star won't be stopped. She teamed up with songster Pete Yorn for a new album, "Break Up." You can hear the results of the union here.

The album comes out in September. May we respectfully suggest she keep her day job.

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Of course, my spreadsheet of choice is the kind I can access from anywhere and share in real time – in Google Docs. So, some would say that even when it makes no sense, I try to do things in a spreadsheet (case in point – my poker simulator – why'd I do that?) But there are some things I never thought possible, like sending an email or reading my calendar.

That's why we're excited to announce a limited test of a new feature which lets people add customization and automation to Google Apps, starting with spreadsheets in Google Docs. We call this feature Google Apps Script.


If you're like me and like to stretch spreadsheets to their limit, and don't mind working with early release features, you can get involved in Google Apps Script now by applying to join this limited test phase.

Posted by Jonathan Rochelle, Product Manager, Google Docs

Get timely updates on new features in Google Apps by subscribing to our RSS feed or email alerts.

I came to Google because I wanted to work on hard problems and have a big impact on the world. Four years later, I'm still constantly awed by how challenging search is. We work on improving the entire search process, including formulating queries, evaluating results, reading and understanding information, and digging deeper with this new information. Every day we work on ways, both big and small, for search to be better, faster, and more effortless.

My fellow engineers and I wanted to give a peek into some of the challenges we face and how we're trying to make search even better. We created a series of short videos so you could hear straight from the engineers. Here's mine, where I talk about a change to spell suggestions.



Some of the videos may talk about things you are already familiar with and some may be new. Either way, we hope that you enjoy hearing these stories, and do stay tuned for more!

Posted by Patrick Riley, Software Engineer

As you may know, our fearless leader Qi Lu will be keynoting SMX Advanced on June 3 in Seattle. We’re looking forward to a good discussion between him and Danny Sullivan about the great stuff we have cooking on the search business. This will be Qi’s first public speaking engagement since he took the helm of the Online Services Division in January, and we know that you are all anxious to hear from him.

 

After the discussion with Danny, Qi will be taking questions from the audience. If you’re planning to go to the conference, or even if you’re not, what questions do you have for Qi? If we get some great suggestions here on the blog, we’ll see if we can work them into his discussion from the stage.

 

 

Looking forward to your thoughts,

 

Whitney Burk, Director, Live Search

Today CNET announced the winners of the 2009 Webware 100 awards (visit the blog post from March for a refresher on the Live Search offerings nominated). Live Search, Live Search Maps, and Live Search Farecast are all winners! The Web 2.0 user community cast more than 630,000 votes to determine the best Web 2.0 sites, services, and applications that are leading the next wave of innovation.

 

 

Other Microsoft winners include Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live SkyDrive, and Editor’s Choice Rafe’s Favorite: Windows Live Sync.

 

 

Congrats to all the winners and thanks for voting for us.

 

Melissa Powell, Senior Product Manager, Live Search

There have been a few requests for some international flair on the Live Search team blog, so we thought we’d give you an update on the European Search Technology Centre. Thanks for asking!

 

There have been several important milestones in the creation of STC Europe:

 

The first was in Paris, October 2008, when Steve Ballmer and Jordi Ribas (General Manager, STC Europe) announced the creation of the STC Europe. This announcement was well received in Europe and STC Europe became one of the top news stories for 2009 in France. This was a promising start although all the hard work was still ahead!

 

It was in November 2008 when the first members joined the team – Mike Miles (Group Program Manager, STC Europe/London), Oswaldo Ribas (Development Manager, STC Europe/London), Travis Barrett (Group Program Manager, STC Europe/Munich), and Andreas Bode (Development Manager, STC Europe/Munich).

 

Then in early January 2009, Mike, Oswaldo, and Jordi moved to London. You can tell we moved in January since Internet search volume increased significantly that month for grocery stores, garbage service, TV, internet, HOT WATER, etc. BTW: January was THE WORST WINTER IN LIVING MEMORY in London.

 

 

Europe is an important market for Search and one we’ve been focusing on a lot recently. Here are some of the more significant reasons why, counting down to number one:

 

7. Live Search in the U.S. has improved over the past few releases. We have some unique features (Live Search cashback, to name one). And we’re starting to develop the business through distribution partners. In short, while there is still a lot to do, the U.S. product is mature enough for us to start spending more energy elsewhere.

 

6. Europe is a big Search market. Currently around $8B, Europe represents 40% of the non-U.S. Search opportunity over the next few years...

 

5. STC Asia was established and is making good progress. Asia represents a significant growth opportunity for the Search market over the next few years (especially as China becomes increasingly connected). We established a Search Technology Centre in Beijing a few years ago that is focused on developing Live Search business in that region. Steve Macbeth, General Manager, STC Asia, is at the helm. Following STC Asia’s model in Europe was a logical next step.

 

4. We’ve recently made strong European acquisitions (e.g., Ciao and MultiMap) that will help expand our user base as well as increase the breadth of our technology stack.

 

3. We need to improve our understanding of the European Search user.

 

2. We have strong Internet reach through our network across MSN, Windows Live, MultiMap, and Ciao in most European Markets (upwards of 80%), representing a big opportunity to increase traffic to Live Search.

 

1. The ‘10 blue link’ Search paradigm hasn’t changed that much over the last 10 years, and we believe that European Search users are ready for a change.

 

 

So what are we doing about it? It’s hard to talk about all of the exciting things that we are working on without giving up too many details, but here are a few of the highlights:

 

· Core web relevance – this is the primary focus of our team in Munich. We’ve made some strong hires in Munich and are already starting to see some gains in core relevance. Much more to come from this team.

 

· Local – including integrating the MultiMap team and product into Live Search Maps.

 

· U.S. feature parity – there are a lot of features that work well in the U.S., but haven’t yet been extended to Europe, so we’re working on that.

 

· Making the most of our online assets – think MSN + Windows Live + MultiMap + Ciao = better Search experience for Europeans.

 

· Other exciting stuff that I can’t mention for fear of being made redundant.

 

 

We believe that Search will be much improved and radically better for consumers in another 10 years, and, even though we have much work and challenges ahead, we are excited about the opportunities to innovate in Europe with Live Search. We encourage you to visit this space and continue to use Live Search to see our progress.

À bientôt, Bis spatter, Cheers!

 

Mike Miles, Group Program Manager, Live Search

Want to know what’s been going on behind the walls of the Powerset division of Live Search lately? Check out the Powerset blog for the first in a series of Powerset video podcasts.

 

 

This week Mark Johnson sat down with Dave Fayram, a software engineer working on Powerset’s semantic search infrastructure, to discuss the semantic web.
Stay tuned for more podcasts, and if there are hot topics you’d like to hear about, let us know in the comments.

 

 

Katie Conry, Powerset division of Live Search

The Live Search mobile team has just launched two great new features to help make the mobile web your own: MSN video search and an MLB dashboard.

 

Looking to fill some time while you’re on the go and feel like grabbing a video news clip from Obama’s First 100-Days event? Now you can! Type “obama” in the search box on your mobile phone, and scroll down to the “MSN video” section of the results page to tune in.

 

 

 

Trying to keep track of the latest statistics for your favorite baseball team when you’re away from home and missing the big game? Just search for “mlb,” and we’ll give you a dashboard where you'll quickly find the latest scores, news, and standings for your favorite team.

 

 

You can get all these features plus local business listings, maps, directions, and optimized web search by visiting m.live.com on your web-enabled mobile phone.

 

Happy roaming,

 

 

Jeremy Beasley, Product Manager, Live Search Mobile

Are you going to be in the Bay area tomorrow? Do you have a vested interest in search marketing? Know any web developers? Well then, make sure drop in to the Microsoft technology center in Mountain View, CA for a hearty discussion of search marketing hosted Microsoft, with guest speakers: Vanessa Fox, famed creator of Google’s Webmaster Tools, and Sean Suchter, previous VP of Yahoo.

 

 

Bring all your search questions, and of course there will be plenty of food, drinks and opportunities for networking. Follow @janeandrobot on Twitter for event updates and last real time logistical information. See you there!

 

-- Nathan Buggia, Live Search Webmaster Center