Fresh from its failed attempt to buy Yahoo Search, Microsoft on Tuesday bought Powerset, a provider of so-called "semantic" search technology. Semantic search draws results based on an understanding
of a word or phrase's meaning and the context of its use. When you consider that the likes of Google and Yahoo generate search results by merely matching words in queries to those on Web pages,
Powerset's technology certainly sounds like a step up. Problem is, instructing a computer to understand context and meaning is incredibly difficult to execute, technologically speaking. Even so, the
acquisition has Microsoft trumpeting that it can now "take search to the next level."
It could certainly help, says
BusinessWeek's Catherine Holahan. She claims that, "Powerset and
other semantic search engines outperform Google in some cases," particularly when users want detailed answers to several questions within a specific category. Holahan also claims that the promising
technology will be difficult for the likes of Google and Yahoo to replicate, as it would essentially require that they start indexing the Web all over again due to the technology's different method of
analyzing and classifying Web pages. That said, the addition of Powerset will require Microsoft to start from scratch, too.
Even so, Andrei Hagiu, assistant professor of strategy at
Harvard Business School, says: "Microsoft's acquisition of Powerset makes perfect sense and is probably the best shot at a disruptive technology that might allow it to leapfrog Google." Of course, if
semantic search proves to be hugely successful for Microsoft, Google can simply go out and buy one of its competitors, like Hakia.
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