• Ad Age, Thursday, April 2, 2009 11 AM

JWT is working with Microsoft on an $80-100 million campaign for its new search engine -- dubbed Kumo or Project Kiev or Live Search, depending on who's talking about it -- that reportedly positions it as a re-imagined product that yields fewer but more-focused results than Yahoo or Google. The proposed strategy of not competing directly against the big boys of search "is probably a good -- if not the only -- way to go," write Abbey Klaassen and Rupal Parekh.

Microsoft's search engine has languished in third place and its share of the category dropped almost 15% from February 2008 to February 2009, when it captured 8.2% of all consumer searches. During the same period, Google grew its share 7% to 63.3%, and Yahoo was up 5% to 20.6% share, according to comScore.

Several screenshots of the interface have been circulating in the blogosphere, and an internal memo about the changes from Microsoft search chief Satya Nadella was posted by AllThingsD. The service is being tested and is expected to make its debut in the summer.

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