Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is expected to unveil its new Internet search engine to the public this week, an attempt by the software heavyweight to grab back some of the Internet search market from behemoth Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG). The site of the coming-out party for the new Web search engine apparently will be a high-tech conference called “D: All Things Digital,” which is sponsored by The Wall Street Journal. The conference, slated for The Four Seasons Aviara in North San Diego, Calif., begins Tuesday and ends Thursday, and features as speakers some of the top executives in the media, entertainment and high-tech fields. Interestingly enough, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steven A. Ballmer is one of the scheduled speakers. According to a WSJ report, the new Microsoft search engine, code-named “Kumo, has been in private tests inside the company for months. This is the goal: 1) Decrease the amount of time they spend clicking their way across the Web in search of information. The technology is designed to cut down on the length of typical Web searches by grouping the results of a search for, say, a particular model of car into helpful categories like parts, used car listings, online discussion forums and videos showing the vehicle, and 2) Offer better ways of organizing search results. For instance, the search results for a special-interest car might be grouped into more-helpful categories such as sales listings of that type of car, parts distributors, car clubs and online discussion forums, and even videos of that model car.
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