Google, Microsoft Sneak in New Search Gems Both Firms Seek to Maximize Search Market Share Nicholas Carlson
Microsoft wants to regain lost market share, but Google won't relent as each tests new search interfaces.
Google is testing a new search interface featuring green bar graphs on the left side of the screen that represent the number of search results in various categories, including Images, Groups, News and Froogle.
Microsoft's Live.com is in beta testing and is available to anyone.
Features include RSS feeds for each search, image results that load live as you scroll, and a sliding scale to manage the amount of information displayed
for every result.
Microsoft and Google have long been mired in a features war to help improve their respective search offerings.
Microsoft, meanwhile, introduced MSN adCenter in September, and in November it delivered an enterprise version of its desktop search.
But still, Google dominates the pure search field while Microsoft struggles.
According to comScore, Google has gained year-over-year market share, moving from 36.3 percent to 42.3 percent, while Microsoft slid from 16.3 percent to 13.5 percent.
