Good Post on Microsoft Search on SEL

Danny Sullivan has a good, passionate and somewhat long winded post today over on SEL titled “Tough Love For Microsoft Search” – worth a read if you have time. I also really enjoyed the old search ads from 1998 – wow that’s 10 years ago now. Here they are:
 



Microsoft buying Powerset – adding to the search arsenal

Microsoft has announced plans to buy natural language search player Powerset for a reposted $100M (FT.com). This deal will help MSFT in the search war with Google. No surprise on this deal as Powerset has some very cool technology. This SFGate piece on the company is worth a quick read.

Monday Misc – random stuff

The first Monday in March – this makes me very happy that it is finally March. This means we have finally turned the corner on winter here in northern Europe and start to really look-forward to spring! And then summer…

Some random links to check out today – Monday, March 3:

• Tim Harford has an interesting piece on why email is a good way to communicate but also helps drive the need for more face time. I would agree with his analysis.
• Over on AdViking you can read a nice recap of Fast Forward and hear how Simon B is getting religious about SEARCH!
• I might have to rethink quiting Twitter and give it another serious go…
• The coming Search Duopoly on GS – worth a quick read.

Btw – I am flying out to Seattle today for work and a visit to the HQ of my current employer. Might be a sparse week for posts… I am also using TripIt for the 1st time, this site totally rocks (thanks Simon B)! More on that later – for sure.
And here is today’s Google logo… Nice one.

Some Noises from AOL – cool stuff, CEO talks tough

 

AOL CEO Andy Falco was talking tough this week at the IAB meeting in Arizona:

“I hope they [Google & Microsoft] beat each other’s brains out over search and leave the display market to us,” he said to the Interactive Advertising Bureau annual conference. “I think it’s a mistake. But I think Napoleon said never interrupt your enemy when they’re in the middle of making a mistake.”

…

“Microsoft and Google can ignore us and leave us of charts if they want, but they do that at their peril,” this from AdAge.

Good stuff. Let the games begin. I would love to see more innovation and more dynamism from AOL. For that matter lets see more from all of the big 4 – GYMA.

I also like this video posted up by Mr Scoble about some cool tools from AOL – GO HERE  to view it.

Follow-up notes/comments: I would comment that actually Microsoft definitely gets display, just check out MSN’s ad offerings and the Aquantive acquisition last year as proof. Plus Yahoo is a BIG display player. Google too has made moves in the area with expansion of ad types for AdWords/AdSense and their attempt to buy DoubleClick. I agree that while GYM are distracted with each other that creates new opportunities for AOL – they just have to execute. Here’s a wild predication: Microsoft does buy Yahoo in the end and then Google buys AOL.

Microhoo Deal – some links

Of course there is tons and tons of comment and analysis on the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo deal. I am not going to be able to add anything of value to this debate, instead I will point to a few of the pieces on the subject that I’ve found most enlightening.

• Internal MSFT email on WSJ – nothing surprising but sounds pretty confident on a deal
• Avenue A SVP: Microsoft + Yahoo = Irrelevant – worth a read if you have time
• Microhoo vs. Google: The Battle for Audience and Keystrokes – least we don’t forget about display ads (~30% of on-line ad spend and 2nd to search)
• First Evening at Microsoft’s SAS: Aha! – should MSFT be more like GE, maybe it makes sense

Evil Empire Video – short, but watch it

This video is funny if not a little twisted. I also enjoyed this insightful post on TC.





Microsoft Bids to Buy YHOOoooooooo – wow

Ok, I was planning to chuck my comments into the Yahoo! debate based on their recent revenue numbers and the unfair (in my opinion) general bashing they have been getting in the press and blogosphere. Well, it looks like MSFT gets to eat YHOO in the end. This is a great deal for both companies and for the Internet industry. We need a strong rival to Google for sure…

MSFT is bidding $45 billion for Yahoo – more details here[CNN] and here [TC] and here (this one on SEL has the full letter from Ballmer to YHOO). I’ll be back with some more thoughts this later today.

TC have come up with a new logo – copied below … I kinda like it .

Weekly Wrap-up for 18 Jan 2008

This is a brief wrap-up of various news and stories for the past week. I’ve included a few comments.

• Sun is buying MySQL – interesting news indeed. MySQL is a big piece of the backend of many Web 2.0 applications and is here to stay as a mainstream database. Maybe Google buy Sun one of these days?
• Google acts fast with a MSFT smackdown move in the enterprise search space and there is more commnet on this here at CMS. This relates to the MSFT FAST deal from last week. Google is definitely being a bit cheeky on this sales effort. Apparently they are even offering a free spa day to customers?! See below, I think the person who sent this to me toke some poetic license on the last line…

Offer details To make it easy for you to switch, we’re offering existing enterprise search customers some exciting benefits when they replace their existing solution with a Google Search Appliance by March 31st, 2008. You can choose from one of the following options:

· FREE website search.

· FREE training.

· FREE jumpstart package.

· Spa Day at Googleplex – Alleviate all your worries and come enjoy a paid trip to sunny California, including round trip airfare, hotel, a gourmet lunch from our 5 star chefs, and, of course, one full hour of massage therapy. OK, we’re just kidding about this whole Spa Day at Google, but we know the recent events will only represent more work and stress for you. We’re here to help!

• Semantic Wave 2008 Report – free interesting report available to RWW readers. Worth getting this if you have time.
• More rumor mongering on MSFT YHOO – a good analysis of why this deal is not going to happen is here.
• Xobni launched its beta last week – thanks to my buddy at Razorshine for pointing me to this new app. I’ve got to get it next week when I move back to Outlook for my work emails.
• Newsgator is now apparently free – cool.
• Survey finds people are loosing trust in search results.

Last night I attended the mashup event here in London and the theme was ‘local.’ First off I applaud the organisers of the mashup events for continuing to put together these generally very good events. The mashup events are filling a useful niche in the London online business community. So, please keep organising the mashups… However, last night’s event was very much ‘local search 101′ and I didn’t find it particularly valuable (that’s my view anyway). What I did notice was the significant number of investor types lurking around. I’ve got to think there isn’t much room for any more local Web2.0 start-ups – at least not in the UK. There are too many. There is too much local UGC that’s just not user friendly (more on this in thread in a future post). So a note to Investors: before you invest anything in the local space, contact me first I’ve got some valuable insight to share (I mean sell you).

Microsoft is Buying FAST

No surprise here, that Microsoft is making a bid to buy Fast Search & Transfer (FAST). For the standard overview check out SEL or Marketwatch for more info.

An unnamed source unofficially said:

Organizationally, the plan is that we [FAST] become part of the SharePoint organization within the Microsoft Business Division (Microsoft’s largest division). This means that we will drive Microsoft’s enterprise search initiatives globally, with FAST technology becoming a key part of the Microsoft enterprise search offerings.

FAST is a B2B company and generally seen as the leading enterprise search player, competing with the likes of Autonomy, Endeca and the open source Lucene. I think it is also interesting to note:

• That much of FAST’s customer base are actually B2C players (=audience reach and traffic)
• FAST has made forays into the media space in the past, for example with the launch of FASTMedia last spring – see this piece on ZDNet

I would advise the integration team at MSFT to consider the following:

1. FAST has a large installed base of media and telecoms/mobile customers (many are top tier players, especially in Europe) using FAST’s search technology to power site search, local/IYP search, ecommerce and other search applications (like video, intranet/behind the firewall and various subscription services). TAKE AWAY: integration points for other MSFT products, potential ad network synergy.
2. FAST has a performance/pay-per-click/search advertising (sort of an “ad words in a box”) platform named AdMomentum. TAKE AWAY: another ad product and valuable publisher partnerships to embrace.
3. There is significant general web search expertise in the company (Note: FAST sold All The Web, which was a great search engine, to Overture [now part of Yahoo] back in 2003). TAKE AWAY: R&D talent pool for web search.

I would imagine that some of the FAST media and advertising assets might end up in other parts of the MSFT empire in their on-going battle with GOOG.

Here’s the full official PR blurb from the FAST website:

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: “MSFT”) today announced that it will make an offer to acquire Fast Search & Transfer ASA (OSE: “FAST”), a leading provider of enterprise search solutions, through a cash tender offer for 19.00 Norwegian kroner (NOK) per share.

This offer represents a 42 percent premium to the closing share price on Jan. 4, 2008 (the last trading day prior to this announcement), and values the fully diluted equity of FAST at 6.6 billion NOK (or approximately $1.2 billion U.S.). FAST’s board of directors has unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept the offer. In addition, shareholders representing in aggregate 37 percent of the outstanding shares, including FAST’s two largest institutional shareholders, Orkla ASA and Hermes Focus Asset Management Europe, have irrevocably undertaken to accept the offer.The offer will be subject to customary terms and conditions, including receipt of acceptances representing more than 90 percent of FAST shares and voting power on a fully diluted basis, and receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals on terms acceptable to Microsoft. The complete details of the offer, including all terms and conditions, will be contained in the offer document, which is expected to be sent to FAST shareholders during the week of Jan. 14, 2008. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of calendar year 2008.

Goldman Sachs International acts as financial advisor to Microsoft; Merrill Lynch International acts as financial advisor to Fast Search & Transfer.

Please Note: I worked for FAST from June ‘05 to Sept ‘07 and mainly on the AdMomentum product – see TC piece over here for more on that adventure.

Follow-up Notes/Links: worth checking the post on Evan’s Ink – “fast and soft” re: this deal. This story is great for titles – Mr Battelle’s is Microsoft Acts Fast… And more coverage if you want to get all the angles: R/W Web, ZDNet Mary Jo Foley and more at ZDNet. A good analysis on the NYT bits blog. Here’s a good timeline on FAST deals and product annoucements 2003-07.

Positive comments from Sue Feldman at IDC – full piece here (login access only) and some highlights below:

IDC believes that there are deeper reasons for believing that Microsoft’s acquisition makes sense for both companies….

[Including] Ad Momentum, a monetization platform for search queries. Ad Momentum uses matching technology to match ads to queries and documents, handle ad word auctions and payments. It was launched in 2007, and could become an important product with the right (Microsoft) marketing muscle behind it as companies try to grab a portion of the multibillion dollar online advertising market.

…

FAST brings Microsoft a collection of technologies that should prove valuable across many of its products. It also brings them the expertise that they will need in deploying this complex technology. In turn, FAST acquires the resources that support their strong vision. Their understanding of the broader role of search in the future will help to shape the market’s understanding, now that they have Microsoft’s resources behind them. They are shortly to bring to market a new generation of their information access platform. With Microsoft’s help, it could be made a gold standard for information access in the enterprise…

FSJ Posts a Sweet Analysis on NYT Piece re: G v M

Ok, maybe my short post was a little mis-guided or optimistic? … I have now been totally enlightened by this razor sharp (or should I say “roasted on spitoon”) analysis from Fake Steve Jobs over at Forbes or is it Sim City. The best part are the book titles:

Radical Velocity: How Google Succeeds Without Planning.
Totally Random: How to Accelerate Your Business Using Pure, Dumb Luck.

I know its not Friday, but this is funny… btw – I am winding down for the Christmas break all this week, but I am still hoping to get my 100th post out before the end of the year and deliver a couple usefull pieces along the way. In meantime I gotta laugh.