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Microsoft Launches Kumo, a New Search Engine to Take on Google

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Microsoft is set to launch its new search engine, Kumo, which aims to challenge Google's dominance in the internet search market. The software giant will demonstrate Kumo at a technology conference in California, where Steve Ballmer, chief executive, will also launch the product. Kumo is designed to replace Microsoft's Live Search, which has been struggling to compete with Google. The new search engine is a crucial component of Microsoft's plan to grow out of the economic downturn.

Key Takeaways:

  • Kumo is designed to shorten searches by grouping results into categories, making it easier for users to find relevant information.
  • The new search engine is part of Microsoft's plan to regain its position in the search market, having only 8.2% of the US search market share in April, behind Yahoo! (20.4%) and Google (64.2%).
  • Steve Ballmer wants Microsoft to become the second-biggest search engine within five years, having announced his intentions last year.
  • Microsoft's Live Search had been in secret tests, and the company is optimistic about Kumo's chances, despite concerns that it may fail to engage with internet users.
  • Kumo's success will depend on it becoming a verb, like Google, with users saying "I Kumoed you."
  • Mike Davis, senior analyst at Ovum, said that Kumo is Microsoft's "last chance" to get search right, and the company cannot afford to launch another product that fails to engage with internet users.

Statistics:

  • Live Search had only 8.2% of the US search market share in April (ComScore).
  • Google dominated the US search market with 64.2% (ComScore).
  • The global internet search market is worth about $40 billion (Source: ComScore).
  • Yahoo! has 20.4% market share in the US search market (ComScore).

Sources:

  • "Microsoft to launch search engine to challenge Google", The Daily Telegraph (no date mentioned).
  • "Microsoft's Ballmer wants to take on Google", The Daily Telegraph (no date mentioned).
  • ComScore (no date mentioned).
  • Ovum (no date mentioned).
  • "We're trying to take as much of the world's knowledge as possible and make it computable", Stephen Wolfram, The Daily Telegraph (no date mentioned).
  • "Wolfram Alpha: Stephen Wolfram's search engine", The Daily Telegraph (no date mentioned).

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