Beta doesn&#39;t beat Google
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Granted, the new MSN (http://beta.search.msn.com) is still in the &quot;beta&quot; phase -- testing a work in progress. Microsoft is expected to make the technology part of its main MSN site early next year.
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I don't know what Bebo is, I guess it's a social network, they say it's #3 in the USA, #1 in the UK, but they just did something that's pretty likely to work, if it's technically possible. They're cloning Facebook so that their service will run Facebook apps. What this means, if they can pull it off, is that they won't have to fight to get support from developers. That's a big deal. Google could have done this with OpenSocial. Watching the panel assembled by Marc Canter at LeWeb3, I was reminded of every tech conference I've been to for almost 30 years. Some big company sitting in the center, and lots of smaller ones sucking up to them, not daring to say what's obvious, that the big company is only interested in limiting the growth of an upstart (not present on stage of course). That's where the Fear comes in Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. We don't say anything because we're too scared to. Even the outspoken Marc Canter, who's smart and has been around this block many times, doesn't dare say what's obvious.  Now Bebo decides to get in lockstep with Facebook, not Google. Of course! Facebook has the juice. But this is a dangerous place to be if Facebook doesn't want them there, and being a big company, they probably don't. The only value of having clones to FB is that it negates the threat from Google. Sometimes having clones is a good thing, but usually the clones take over the market. Witness MSIE and Netscape, and then Firefox. Compaq et al and IBM. dBASE and Fox. It's possible to depose an installed leader if it's possible to clone them. As a user and developer, I'd like to see FB be open to cloning. If I were a FB shareholder I'm not so sure. One constituency that's sure to like the existence of clones are Facebook developers. Without choice in platform vendors, they have nowhere to go when the sole vendor decides to take over their market. With a viable alternative, unless FB is incredibly aggressive and builds its competitive features so they can run on competitive platforms, at least developers will have a place to run their apps when FB encroaches. Platforms are a game, like Risk, with rules and strategies. Google did not play the game wisely with OpenSocial. I chalk this up to inexperience on the part of the strategists. So far Facebook has been doing what's needed to keep its dominant position. Bebo deciding to clone the Facebook API ratifies that position, it's a gutsy move, but the best one available to them, and to other would-be Facebook competitors. PS: The news is slow to reach Europe. Facebook said yesterday that they support what Bebo is doing. Very enthusiastically. That should be the end of OpenSocial.
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Yesterday I heard rumors that there might not be enough bids to fully subscribe the Google auction at $108. For Google and the market&#39;s sake, I hope that&#39;s not true. I would like to see an auction market develop for IPOs.
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Don't you dare say that Google is overvalued.
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Google Search Index Booms to 8 Billion  Google had something up their sleeve. It seems that whenever a competitor does something big, such as MSN announcing the beta launch of their new search engine, Google has to "one up" them somehow. Just as the news wires started flaming with MSN Beta ...
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Google, the world&#39;s most popular search engine announced the launch of a beta desktop search utility application that goes beyond basic web search.
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There&#39;s been a lot of gossip about the upcoming Google browser and its possible impact on Microsoft. It&#39;s hard to predict what will happen, but it won&#39;t surprise me if an all-out war between Google and Microsoft ensues.
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I&#8217;m playing the devil&#8217;s advocate here, so keep that in mind in case I end up trampling all over anything you hold dear :) Google has taken a lot of flak on a lot of issues in the past few years - it&#8217;s a price an industry leader invariably has to pay.  Apart from Blogger spam [...]
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Firefox 3 beta 3 fits in more naturally with Mac OS X, Vista and Linux, but the best reason to try the software is still its faster performance.
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Microsoft is having big problems in the Search Engine Market. Their online search engine stands nowhere on popularity charts and now Google and Yahoo!
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Google Desktop Search versus Microsoft Windows Search  Google Desktop Search Software can't find your lost keys or tell you where you left the Tivo remote control, or that your glasses are on top of your head, where you left them. But the beta software from Google Labs is nothing short of ...
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Microsoft is expected to launch a beta version of its Web search technology on Thursday, with ambitions to catch up to rivals Google and Yahoo.
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Last Thursday, MSN announced the official beta launch of their search engine. Although a preview had been available on their sandbox site, the launch marked the official unveiling of the company&#39;s proprietary search technology to the general public.
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InfoWorld - Google&#39;s dominance may seem unassailable in North America, but it&#39;s the search giant that is playing catch-up in Asia, according to new survey results released Sunday.
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Googleâs share of the search market keeps growing, and no one seems willing to bet that will change soon. Body:\
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The software maker is moving along -- but not enough to get investors excited.
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Reports that Google is planning a Mac version of its Desktop Search tool, recently released in beta for Windows, are not entirely accurate, according to publisher Tim O&#39;Reilly.