October
09, 2006
Copyright Mediaware Infotech Pvt. Ltd. |
Microsoft's
new Live Search Engine is sure to generate positive responses from its
larger competitors, Google & Yahoo. Simply because it has raised the boundaries
of existing search engines. Along with the expectations of users - the ultimate
beneficiaries of this global war!
Microsoft's officially launched Live
Search Engine has a number of features which when fully functional, will surpass
the current leaders Google & Yahoo. And there is no doubt that it is a quantum
leap from Microsoft's current, rather pedestrian MSN Search!
Obsessed about
climbing up from 3rd position, Live Search is a clearly an aggressive attempt
to dominate the search engine world. With its overall strategy of integrating
search with Office & Live Mail (the successor of Hotmail), Microsoft promises
(threatens?) to do just that.
In this age of consumer-generated media,
Live Search naturally gives users more control. Example: Users can alter search
rankings like "Updated Recently," "Very Popular", "Exact Match." Also, in keeping
with today's trends, personalization is a key focus.
And finally, there
is a host of new, user-friendly features. Examples: "Image" Search scroller displays
thumbnail images efficiently & seamlessly. (Goodbye to "Next Page" !) And a scratch
pad lets users drag & drop images into permanent note pad.
Microsoft has
even gone a step further, opting for populism : by displaying "related queries"
in the place which is conventionally reserved for "paid search results". Yes,
Microsoft seems ready to overtake Google, at least in features. All we have to
do is wait for Google's response.
In a way, Google has already responded
by targetting Microsoft in its core area - desktop office automation : Google
has just made Google Docs (its answer to Microsoft Office) free
to download.
Un-censored
Consumer Generated News
The
Iraq Gulf War II is credited with many firsts. It was the first major war to be
declared based on imaginary "WMD"
threats. It was the largest live implementation of the controversial "embedded
war journalism". And an eye-opener to concepts like pan-globe editorial bias by
global media corporations.
Now, it appears that "extreme" citizen
reporting is the latest by-product of this war. Refer to the latest war clips
on YouTube.com & Google Video which
show bleeding & wounded American troops. No doubt, the clips must
be sourced from Jihadi web sites & the like - but it is American citizens
who are uploading the images.
Here's a thought: on the one hand, video
sites like YouTube.com host raw footage that no conventional media would dare
to. This "free-to-air" exposure generates millions of downloads - which is an
advertisers' delight.
On the other hand, which advertiser would dare to
risk being associated with such footage? So commercially, where does that leave
video YouTube/Google Video, et al ?
User-Generated
Ads
BK recently did a marketing exercise with broadband entertainment site
Heavy.com. As part of this exercise, Heavy.com sent Burger King masks to its regular
contributors, asking them to create their own videos. The video clips created
were for the most part bold, innovative & striking. Some of them were so bold
that neither would an average ad agency dare to propose the concept and
nor
would the client accept it.
The result: 3.5 million surfers downloaded
the ads within a fortnight.
Now, consumer-generated media & citizen reporting
give users a say in content (video clips, blogs, forums, citizen news). But it
looks like they now want a say in the ads too !
Wal-Mart's
Faux Blog
The
last week of September ' 06 saw the launch of a web-site called "Wal-Marting
Across America". This blog site was presented as a diary maintained by an
American couple who were purportedly travelling across U.S.A., parking in Wal-Mart
parking lots. But why Wal-Mart parking lots?
As it turned out, this
site (which regularly
"sang peans of praise" about Wal-Mart) was
funded by a dummy organization - which was in turn promoted by P.R. firm Edelman
- who handles Wal-Mart's P.R. account. Complicated ownership
for a blog-site !
Looks like Wal-Mart wants to increase its equity among
the common folk by misleading people. And what's really surprising is that this
idea seems to have been engineered by an experienced & "reputed" P.R. firm
like Edelman.
Another sign of our "over-smart" times?
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Mediaware Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
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Mathuradas Mills Estate, Opp Kamala City, Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel
(West), Mumbai 400 013.
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P.O.Box No. 182620, Dubai Media City, U.A.E.
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