Microsoft is looking at implementing worldwide native localised content and features for its new search engine, Bing, and SA may not have to wait too long for its service.
According to Colin Erasmus, Microsoft SA's Windows client business group executive, the software giant is working on localising content across the world. “Because SA is an English-speaking country, we are likely to get it quicker than some others.”
Localisations have already been made in its latest operating system Windows 7; for example, South African users can use a local background incorporated in the system's install. Bing already has a “search SA only” option and features like these will be expanded.
Microsoft's Bing has essentially replaced the company's last attempt at Web search, Live Search, and is the first solution that could provide some competition to online rival Google.
“Live was our first go at search and we learned quite a lot from it. Our research shows that people are generally unhappy with their search results and Bing has set out to change that,” explains Erasmus.
According to Erasmus, the company needed to rebrand with a shorter catchier title, to be more accessible to the online public. “Already people are walking around the office saying things like 'big badda bing',” he says.
The company has made no secret of its foray into Web search. Last year, the company put in a bid to buy Internet business Yahoo. However, Microsoft's offer was rejected by the then ailing company.
With higher global Internet penetration and more services and applications going online, Microsoft looked to be losing out with little to offer in the online space. The company made a dramatic turnaround last year, with the introduction of its software + services concept, which utilises both its operating system and applications, as well as hosting.
The Windows Live portal was its next access space, and Live Search formed part of that. While some have labelled the company's new search offering as a flash-in-the-pan, Erasmus says there has been more interest than expected and, inside the company, the usage patterns are growing.
Microsoft has noted more people are using Internet search results to make serious and complicated decisions, he says. Erasmus explains the development of the solution was aimed at addressing how to gain the best result from a search term. “It's why we are calling it the decision engine.”
Erasmus does not yet have a time frame for when SA will gain certain localised features that are currently being offered in the US.
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