This morning I did a search for a restaurant in a nearby town. I wanted to find the street address and get driving directions. First, you can do a search right from your current browser window and see the results in a new browser window. This isn’t new, Google does this with Firefox too, but it is very convenient. Over time this convenience factor might lead to more people using Live Search inside the Explorer browser.
The search results were perfect. There was a map showing the location, the street address and phone number, and a box to get directions. The restaurant web site was the first result, followed by a restaurant review from Tripadvisor, and several other relevant results. Excellent, but it gets better.
Then I clicked on the box to get driving directions and I was amazed at the results. Along with the normal map and turn by turn directions there were landmarks for each turn.
For example, it said “Turn right onto Elwyn Road. EXXON on the corner.” How did the map directions know about the Exxon station on the corner? Pretty cool. There were several other landmarks along the way, but here is where it gets really interesting.
At the end point it said “The last intersection is Sagamore Grove. If you reach Shaw Rd. you have gone too far.” And just for good measure the directions also included the phone number for the restaurant. Wow! That is better than expected for maps and directions.
Just for kicks I did the exact same search on Google. The first three search results were identical, and the first page of results was equal in quality. Google also included a map, street address, phone number, and a “get directions” box. However, the directions didn’t include the useful landmarks or alert about going too far.
This experience matches what I have been seeing for the past 6 to 12 months when comparing search results. Live Search is as good as Google, and in some cases better. Other improvements are revealed in a very intuitive way, and in the flow of your search. For example, when entering a search query, Live Search opens a box just below the search box with “Live Search Suggestions” for possible related queries. It surfaces your past search queries that match the first few letters of your current search, and makes suggestions about alternative related search queries. The suggestions refine as you continue to type in your search query. This is really impressive. It helps users form better search queries, and points them to relevant related topics.
The search market share numbers don’t yet show gains for Microsoft Live Search, but as more people use Live Search and all its services that could change. Count me as impressed.
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