MICROSOFT has manufactured a fair deal of 'studies' recently [1, 2], mostly in order to deceive the public when it comes to its progress on the Web (compared to rivals). The truth about the fact is that, despite billions of dollars in investment, i.e. losses, Microsoft carries on losing market share.
Search Anonymization: More Hot Air from Microsoft
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As it stands today, Microsoft keeps sensitive search data for 18 months, twice as long as Google currently does (although Google's new 9-month rule is also a bit slippery in terms of the actual anonymity it provides). Why didn't Microsoft just agree to meet Google at 9 months, or even to meet Yahoo's 13-month limit, and then have everyone work together to get to the European's stated goal of 6 months? Because it can't. It's still a distant third in the search engine wars, even in Europe, and it can't afford to concede anything that may further erode its position.
Online real estate site Redfin, once a high-profile showcase for Microsoft's Virtual Earth technology, said this morning that it's switching exclusively to Google Maps in an effort to improve map-rendering speed on its site.
With the economy in the shape it's in, even Microsoft and Google are thinking twice before dropping $100 million on a new datacenter. But the two tech giants are easing off the funding pedal for different reasons.
Live Cashback Users Feel Cheated By Microsoft
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This has completely outraged hundreds of those who tried using the program and were unsuccessful due to the outage. There are about 90 comments on Microsoft post, calling Microsoft everything from being a fraudster to a crock, to liars.
It may be that overseeing Office's online expansion isn't one of Lu's responsibilities, and that he's been told to focus on search. If that's the case, though, it means that Microsoft's online strategy is divided among several different people, which doesn't bode well, either.
--Steve Ballmer (September 2008)
Free software owns the datacentre