Skip to content

Microsoft reportedly to introduce blog indexing service

October 3, 2004

APC Magazine, part of Australia’s number-one website destination, ninemsn, reports Microsoft plans to launch BlogBot, an indexing service for blogs. Apparently, BlogBot has begun limited trials.

It’s reported this is part of Microsoft’s efforts to improve its search capabilities to better compete with Google. Cross-resource searches (Internet, desktop, network) won’t become possible until Longhorn, the next version of Windows, becomes a commercial reality sometime past 2006. However, Microsoft is providing glimpses of its search plans as it revamps its online search technologies. Those systems, including BlogBot, appear to be on an accelerated timetable.

Google, ninemsn reports, has a well-regarded newsgroups search function, while BlogBot gives Microsoft a specialized route into blogs.

What does this mean for law firms? One, Microsoft bought us “Windows everywhere.” With blogs on the drawing boards at Microsoft, they could no doubt bring us “blogs everywhere.”

Second, RSS newsfeeds to news aggregators are going to become more main stream. Microsoft has a heck of a marketing department. Should they tell the world about BlogBot via MSN or the desktop, people are going to learn how to search blog content and how to subscribe to RSS feeds from blogs so they can have their own custom newsfeeds.

Posted in: