Microsoft continues with search – still not solved

In the last 6 to 12 months, Microsoft has learned that only about a quarter of users are satisfied with the results of their first query, about half end up having to refine their query or start with a completely different one, and another quarter abandon their search altogether.

Microsoft said that everyone should be able to find what they are looking for on their first attempt, every time. That’s a goal Live Search is nowhere near reaching. In July 2008, Microsoft purchased natural language search startup Powerset, indicating that it thought the future of search wouldn’t be centered around the “10 blue links” that has become the user’s expectation for web search.

While the software giant obviously thinks Powerset has potential, the problem with rolling out something completely different overnight is that users would not be able to adjust, and since switching search engines is free and effortless, radical innovation is a very tough proposition.

According to Weitz, a member of Microsoft’s Web search team, Live Search’s biggest challenge is teaching users how to get people to use search for more than just finding URLs. Microsoft wants to teach them “what they can do with search.”