Microsoft is now launching an improved search engine that upgrades the old Microsoft Live Search, while it streamlines consumer search into a buyer decision-making tool.

First public demonstration of the new search engine – code named Kumo in development – was at the D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, California the last week of May. Kumo SE now travels under the search engine name Bing.

“Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

The old Oscar Wilde quip, “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” — (Hellooooooo. I’m still here and kicking!) — could have come from the corporate mouth of Microsoft Corporation. You can’t pick up trade industry news these days that does not start with:

Microsoft ranks a distant third in Search Engine Wars.

Or: Almost 65% of all searches conducted in April 2009 were on #1 search engine Google (comScore). Yahoo! placed 2nd at 20.4%.

Followed by: Then there’s Microsoft, placing a distant third with only 8.2% of monthly search traffic.

And, it’s not just search engine popularity contests, either. A proposed ad-serving deal between the search prom king and queen – Google and Yahoo! – in Fall 2008 fell apart, after gossip about the deal being “anticompetitive” and “monopolistic” almost pushed #1 and #2 into antitrust hearings and couples therapy.

Yahoo! flirted for a while with a Microsoft buy-out offer. But that engagement ended badly. Yahoo! gave back the ring, though rumors say it’s still looking for a good merger. (No search engine prospects in sight as 2Qtr 2009 just ended.)

But who gets uncovered in the tabloids? Every Big Search Engine article leads with: “Persistantly 3rd-ranked search engine Microsoft today announced …”

Revenge of the Bing

Launching its new search engine, Microsoft explains what Bing does, why they did it and how it might help MS gain ground from its competitors.

· Customers often don’t find what they’re looking for in searches.

The head of research at Microsoft’s Online Services Division, Satya Nadella, cited general search failure statistics in an internal development memo.

> 40% of search queries go unanswered;
> 46% of search sessions last longer than 20 minutes;
> Almost half of search queries are about quitting search (“searchers return to previous tasks”).

The search development team concluded that search users often do not find what they seek from search engines, and that users need search features to help them navigate through search results to reach a faster decision. The new SE in-progress was code named Kumo.

· Kumo Goes Bing

Microsoft’s goal in developing a new search engine was to organize search results better so that users can find answers more quickly and waste less of their search time clicking through web pages.

It tested Kumo internally for months. Just last week, at D: All Things Digital, Kumo was introduced to the public and changed its name to Bing. As a replacement for Microsoft’s Live Search, Bing proposes to:

> Provide a better search experience that helps searchers accomplish tasks and organizes results in a way that saves search time;

> Displays an “explorer” pane on the left side of search results pages that accesses other tools related to the search;

> Offers search features like hover previews and single-session search histories;

> Approaches search as not just offering piles of information, but organizing the “best” results with tools that help users reach decisions … and make decisions based on search knowledge faster;

> With Bing, which Microsoft calls a “Decision Engine,” searchers can simplify their key tasks and find related resources and tools alongside search results. Bing incorporates other features from MS Live Search to help users make decisions, including Price Predictor (when to buy, for instance, an airline ticket to get the best price), and Microsoft’s Cash Back program, which co-ops with search advertisers to give buyers money back on their purchases.