On september 11th Microsoft announced that Live Search and Live.com were released from beta in 47 markets worldwide, along with availability of Live Local Search in the UK and the US. Microsoft also announced that Live Search would power the Web search capability on MSN, i.e. what was formerly known as MSN Search.
Web 2.0 technologies drive the user experience on the new portal. By using Live.com as their personal search home page, customers can find, customise and track news, images, video, RSS feeds and blogs across the Web.
www.live.com
Live Local Search also promises to offer improved mobile integration and functionality and increased availability of bird’s-eye imagery.
How Does This Affect Website Optimisation For MSN?
This specific change itself does not affect anything with regards to website optimisation.However, it does signal future amendments in the way search queries and user information requests will be handled by MSN / Microsoft Live.
For starters, search results will be personalised further, and localised. This means that as with Google, certain users on MSN will see different results than others, and search queries with location specifications will yield local results first. For optimisers this implies a greater need to highlight location of their services or create localised pages for global services.
Next, syndicated content will be even more easily assimilated into search activity. The Live.com pages allow personalisation and make it a lot easier for visitors to search RSS feeds and syndicate content they value onto their Live Search and Live.com personalised home pages. This implies a greater need for webmasters to create quality RSS feeds of the content they want their loyal customers to view.
Finally, the integration of Live Search and Live services including Live Favourites and Live Gallery with other Microsoft services, such as perhaps Live Office, in the foreseeable future can imply a wider variety of content that can be indexed and a wider range of interlinking and inter connectivity options, along with added security woes for webmasters.
