Ok, the Beta Search is finally working. It’d be great if we could got an explaination on the msnsearch weblog about all the error messages this morning. That might be asking for a little too much transparency.
Here’s a quick rundown:
Ego Test:
Moderately unsuccessful. Just typing in my name puts one result on the first page that actually relates to me. On Google, all but one first page result is about me. Putting my name in quotes brings the results more inline with Google.
Shopping Test:
Moderately Successful. Produced a couple of relevent sponsored links, some good reviews, and a few totally irrelevent pages.
Code Help:
Successful: Symbols like the “+” in C++ and the “#” in C# didn’t seem to throw it off, and most pages looked relevent.
The Monty Python Test:
Successful: Yes, the MSN search can help you find the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow
I also threw a couple of natural–language queries at it. I was hoping that maybe this would be where MSN Search would shine, but alas, I wasn’t impressed.
Overall, I’m not impressed. I would think that if you were going to generate buzz on something like a beta release of your search technology, it would be more impressive.
Ok, I tried to figure it out on my own, I even asked the MSN Search Beta, but I can’t quite figure out why the new MSN Search is better than Google.
Update:
The msnsearch blog has fessed up to some “technical difficulties”. No real explainations, but the admission is well received. Most of us realize that it’s only a beta, so it will probably only get better from here.
One Man Shouting 