Commentary

Microsoft's Cheng: Crime, Jobs Are Social Search's Killer Apps

As good as conventional search is, there are just some things Web-based search engines aren’t good at finding, especially information on “crime” and where to find jobs. That’s part of the reason why Microsoft is getting into the social game with a beta platform presented at the Search Insider Summit this morning by Lili Cheng, General Manager, Microsoft Research, Microsoft Research.

To get that kind of information, social media – you know, people telling other people where to find stuff – might be a better platform for finding information not normally indexed by search engines like Google, or say, Microsoft’s Bing.

Cheng said Microsoft isn’t entirely sure where it’s social endeavor will go, or how much it will impact online search down the road, but it’s the reason why Microsoft is incubating the platform, even after Facebook has established dominance, and as dominant search engine Google tries to muscle its way in.

By the way, Cheng noted, Microsoft’s social platform is the only one with an actual search engine built into it.

 

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