New MSN Search Preview

[bhartzer]

MSN has just released another preview (http://techpreview.search.msn.com/) of its new search engine. The first preview was online for about six weeks this past summer and then disappeared. According to MSN, this latest database includes over 5 million non-spammy, non-duplicated pages.

[pne]

bhartzer,

Love it. Clean, simple easy to use. Results make me look like the SEO king. Guess huge attention to on-page factors. What's your best guess re algo?

Regards,

pne

[bhartzer]

I would say that they're using on-page factors. Links are being used, as well.

It's also interesting to note that they aren't using a very good spam filter in the results--or none at all. I know of some domains that are banned in the normal MSN results (for doing some pretty spammy stuff) that aren't banned in this search preview.

[yowow]

just want to say i love the new search engine my website with the keyword i want to be listed on top is within TOP 5 with the new search engine since my domain name closely matches the KEY WORD.
I am not even with top 1000s on yahoo or google with this keyword not even on MSN current version. whatever they are doin i said its good for me ;)

[solohelp]

#1 there and at the normal msn. Difference is that my index is #1 at the preview and my blog is #1 at the main MSN my index is #3 there.

[beanstalk]

We all seem to love an engine when it's ranking us well ...

Who could have guessed? :)

Something tells me that when the other billions of pages are added into the index the rankings might change just a little. But I hope not.

Good luck to all ... (unless you're targetting my keywords of course ;)

[MathsIsFun]

Why are we so lucky?

On some really good keywords I get #300 on Google, but #3 in MS !

I am guessing that it may change a LOT before being released - but it certainly gives hope.

[andy206uk]

Wow! It seems to have stuck my site up at number 1 (I get about 8/9 on google!). I never realised before, but I'm number 1 on regular MSN as well!

Hmmm... despite the crappy browser I might be able to learn to love Microsoft! ;)

[jacobwissler]

I love this

[janeth]

#3 for website design and #18 for search engine optimization, I love it too. lol

[iamrussell]

It's the first time my website has apeared on the first page of the SERP since I launched in march. For my #1 search term, no less.

Man that felt great!

[ronniethedodger]

I pooled a few thoughts from various sources here (http://www.webstractions.com/news/2004/10/msn-search-tech-preview-around-horn.html). It is pretty lengthy. I will try to update it with the comments here, were applicable.

As are the comments here, the reviews are pretty favorable for people's pet phrases.

The interface, this is just a temporary "shell" they are working out of. More than probably, they will keep the new search interface they adopted a couple of months ago -- or a derivative of it.

Even the server it is on (I read somewhere) is not the one they will be using, thus the sluggishness.

[lavalife]

Hi,
The new improved MSN search is providing more relevant and vast results compared to the 1st version. More-n-More pages of each website are now indexed here. Thanks for improving.

Our 2 websites which were not showing in 1s version are now avaliable in the 2nd version with ALL webpages indexed (note: yahoo and gooogle has not indexed our all webpages yet). This is surely an unique point of new MSN Search.

Well lets wait and watch the improving msn....

[Deep13]

loved it :D

i can see our company site on #1 for few good keywords..

and yes...i am still not able to find spam sites...haha

good one..
Deep

[cyanide]

Yeah, I'm lovin' it too... when are they releasing it ? LOL

[ronniethedodger]

Yeah, I'm lovin' it too... when are they releasing it ? LOL

Rumor has it, that it will be released before the end of the year. That was the target date that Bill Gates mentioned back in April.

Gates is supposed to be a guest speaker at the upcoming SES Conference in Chicago mid-December. Maybe then?

[sudhani]

More pages and faster. Lets see how the results change when it actually goes live.

I am obsolutely fascinated. Looks more relavent and less spammy.

Three Cheers to MSN Team!!!

[Vitaly]

I love it too! :)

[AGS]

I like the new version

As far as some earlier comments about waiting until all the billions of other web pages are indexed, I think or assume they have been for example. I target a city. Comparisons from old to new

old
Results 1-15 of about 524865 containing "My secret term"

New
Results 1 - 10 of about 9,446,723 containing" My secret term"

so by all indications alot more sites are included and this is the same result for many different search phrases. And Yes I finally rank well on this new one...Its about darn time

So for all intense and purposes I believe that these new rankings will stand but I would suggest minor tinkering as I have also found that

links play a role
domain name plays a roll
content plays a roll

What I havnt figured out is keywords and description as I have a page with the exact same content as my index but i have NOT included any keywords or description in the tags, this was a test for google search and it did nothing but on this new MSN I rank #1 with this page and with keywords and description for the same page I rank 7th I dont know what to make of it, Oh and the No keyword page never did show up in google and I almost forgot about it until i read this thread and checked my rankings. I guess i will not be touching that page

My newest test is domain related I will post results in domain forum once they start to come in.
www.hoteldiscounthotel.com

[AGS]

just a quick tip i have tried, and it appears to have worked, sent the search bot immediately.

go to the help us improve and add URL to the box and click submit, its like a free submission into the search engine without hassles. I tried it and then looked in logs and there he was the little bot....LOL

[cyanide]

Thanks ronnie ! Looking forward to it

[braknews]

Does anyone else find that the links to the cached pages does not work?

[yowow]

hehhehe webpro effect. btw impress they are using bunch of different languages to show error message

The MSN Search Technology Preview is currently unavailable. The site may be down for a short while due to scheduled maintenance. Please try again later.

You can send your comments to MSN Search Feedback, or perform a search at the MSN Search home page.


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Den foreløbige teknologiversion af MSN Søg er ikke tilgængelig i øjeblikket. Webstedet kan være nede i en kort periode på grund af planlagt vedligeholdelse. Prøv igen senere.

Du kan sende dine kommentarer til MSN Søg-feedback, eller udføre en søgning på MSN Søg-startsiden.


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Die Technologievorschau für MSN Suche ist zurzeit nicht verfügbar. Die Site ist möglicherweise aufgrund von geplanten Wartungsarbeiten einige Zeit nicht verfügbar. Versuchen Sie es später erneut.

Sie können Ihre Kommentare an MSN Suche Feedback senden, oder eine Suche bei MSN Suche Homepage.


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En estos momentos, MSN Search Technology Preview no está disponible. Es posible que el sitio no esté disponible durante un breve período de tiempo debido a tareas de mantenimiento programadas. Vuelve a intentarlo más adelante.

Puedes enviar tus comentarios a Comentarios sobre MSN Search, o realizar una búsqueda en Página principal de MSN Search.


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MSN Haun tekniikan esikatselu ei juuri nyt ole käytettävissä. Sivusto voi olla poissa käytöstä ylläpidon vuoksi. Yritä myöhemmin uudelleen.

Voit lähettää kommenttisi osoitteeseen MSN Haku -palaute, tai tehdä haun osoitteessa MSN Haku -kotisivu.


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La version alpha de MSN Search est actuellement indisponible. Le site est peut-être arrêté pour une courte période de maintenance planifiée. Réessayez plus tard.

Vous pouvez envoyer vos commentaires à Commentaire sur MSN Search ou effectuer une recherche sur la page d'accueil de MSN Search.


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La versione dimostrativa di MSN Search non è al momento disponibile. Il sito potrebbe essere temporaneamente inattivo a causa di interventi di manutenzione programmata. Riprova più tardi.

È possibile inviare commenti a Commenti e suggerimenti su MSN Search o eseguire una ricerca mediante la Home page MSN Search.


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De proefversie van MSN Zoeken is momenteel niet beschikbaar. De site is tijdelijk niet toegankelijk als gevolg van gepland onderhoud. Probeer het later nog een keer.

Je kunt je opmerkingen sturen naar Feedback over MSN Zoeken of een zoekopdracht uitvoeren op de Introductiepagina MSN Zoeken.


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Testversjonen av MSN Søk er for øyeblikket utilgjengelig. Området kan være nede en liten stund på grunn av planlagt vedlikehold. Prøv på nytt senere.

Du kan sende kommentarene dine til Tilbakemelding om MSN Søk, eller utføre et søk på Startsiden for MSN Søk.


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A Exibição Prévia da Tecnologia de Busca do MSN não está disponível no momento. O site pode estar fora do ar por pouco tempo devido à manutenção agendada. Tente novamente mais tarde.

Você pode enviar seus comentários para Comentários do MSN Busca ou fazer uma pesquisa na Home page do MSN Busca.


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Det går inte att komma åt Technology Preview-versionen av MSN Sök för tillfället. Webbplatsen kan vara tillfälligt ur funktion på grund av underhåll. Försök igen senare.

Skicka dina kommentarer till MSN Sök Feedback eller gör en sökning på startsidan för MSN Sök.

[coder]

It looks nice, but can't actually try it out

The MSN Search Technology Preview is currently unavailable. The site may be down for a short while due to scheduled maintenance. Please try again later.

[ronniethedodger]

What I havnt figured out is keywords and description as I have a page with the exact same content as my index but i have NOT included any keywords or description in the tags, this was a test for google search and it did nothing but on this new MSN I rank #1 with this page and with keywords and description for the same page I rank 7th I dont know what to make of it, Oh and the No keyword page never did show up in google and I almost forgot about it until i read this thread and checked my rankings. I guess i will not be touching that page


Just to clarify, what you are saying is that MSN is showing duplicate pages in the results from the same domain. The page with the meta information is ranking higher. True?

In Google however, the duplicate page is in the results somewhere, but it is off the chart?


just a quick tip i have tried, and it appears to have worked, sent the search bot immediately.

go to the help us improve and add URL to the box and click submit, its like a free submission into the search engine without hassles. I tried it and then looked in logs and there he was the little bot....LOL


Interesting. Let us know how quickly the site gets crawled, okay?

I did not have any sites to test this with (any that I could monitor anyway). But I did submit a friends site who is on vacation for the next couple of days. He did not have any pages in the MSN index until yesterday, now he has one. Not quite an absent domain, but the page that was in there was not from his root domain -- it was an interal page picked up from a link somewhere.

[ronniethedodger]

Here is another little quirk. I was doing link: checks and MSNbot will follow scripted "jump links" and treat them as if it were the actual page that the backlink shows up on.

For instance, this page was referenced ( http://www.kungfoo.com/go.php?id=602026 ) in a link: check for my site. The actual page my link shows up on is one of Jeremy Zawodny's blog pages.

[ronniethedodger]

Does anyone else find that the links to the cached pages does not work?

Yes. I am getting that too. They evidently were working at one time though, according to Nacho over in the SEW Forums. He commented that "they are as fresh as the neighborhood bakery". ;-)

[ronniethedodger]

Okay, I figured out how to access the cached pages for the tech preview.

The cache links point to an IP address. By substituting the IP address with techpreview.search.msn.com, you will be able to access those cached pages.

I tested this on a page from InsideGoogle (http://insidegoogle.blogspot.com/2004/10/new-gmail-features.html) which is the only page that MSN has in its index for this site.

The original cache link was:

http://65.54.188.252/cache.aspx?q=172642753993

Of which I changed to:

http://techpreview.search.msn.com/cache.aspx?q=172642753993

While the tech preview is still running, you should be able to see this cached page without any problem. Just in case, I have saved a copy of the cached page (http://gonzo.ipupdater.com/misc/webstractions/insidegoogle-msn-cache.html) on my local server.

Interesting to note that the cached page is showing the css within the style elements. Curious that.

[richmar]

I tried looking up various search terms in the automotive industry and we don't show up anywhere despite having great showing in both Yahoo and Google and being one of the largest sites in this arena. I've seen totally irrelevant listings within this category, so I say NIXE to the new MSN search engine. It needs a lot of work to even compare to Yahoo or Google.

Richmar

[Blackicicle]

Google, has better sleep with one eye open! It seems that Microsoft's got somthing here.

[jbgilbert]

Better.... better than MSN's alpha attempt.

Still has a good ways to go to catch up to the competition, but it's nice to see it is improving.

Hope (like Microsoft can do sometimes) they don't let a few good comments go to their head and stop here!

[Blackicicle]

My new site (2 weeks old) ramks number #1 on techpreview.search.msn.com and #8 on msn.com :)

[AGS]

What I havnt figured out is keywords and description as I have a page with the exact same content as my index but i have NOT included any keywords or description in the tags, this was a test for google search and it did nothing but on this new MSN I rank #1 with this page and with keywords and description for the same page I rank 7th I dont know what to make of it, Oh and the No keyword page never did show up in google and I almost forgot about it until i read this thread and checked my rankings. I guess i will not be touching that page


Just to clarify, what you are saying is that MSN is showing duplicate pages in the results from the same domain. The page with the meta information is ranking higher. True?

In Google however, the duplicate page is in the results somewhere, but it is off the chart?


just a quick tip i have tried, and it appears to have worked, sent the search bot immediately.

go to the help us improve and add URL to the box and click submit, its like a free submission into the search engine without hassles. I tried it and then looked in logs and there he was the little bot....LOL


Interesting. Let us know how quickly the site gets crawled, okay?

I did not have any sites to test this with (any that I could monitor anyway). But I did submit a friends site who is on vacation for the next couple of days. He did not have any pages in the MSN index until yesterday, now he has one. Not quite an absent domain, but the page that was in there was not from his root domain -- it was an interal page picked up from a link somewhere.

The Page with nothing in the tags is ranking higher ( dont know why)

The msnBOT came almost instantly for 2.3mbs of chow

I notice someone actually dropped, all i can say is we used to know how your about too feel. Its nice to see sites that are not built around how google feels a site should be built ranking #1.

Apparently this new search when its launched will provide results to the new MSN toolbar and the new toolbar in the upcoming version of windows, if this is true i think I will forget about trying so hard at ranking in google.

Not to say that i wouldnt mind being number one in google but a man has to pick his friends wisely and I think the wisest thing for me right now is to stick with MSN. Thinking mathematically i mean

My main phrase receives on average about 750,000 searches per search engine per month, If I am able to capitalize on these searches via MSN I'll take it and be happy.

Another thing I have recently noticed is that both MSN and GOOGLE are placing much more emphasis on keyword enriched domain names. Why do I say This you ask? do a search at either and see for yourself usually within the top 10 of any search phrase you will see a keyword enriched domain only if it has some relevant content of course. I have also noticed that all my 2 letter and 2 character 3 letter domains are making huge jumps as well, I think its about time to set aside some room for alot more of my domains on my hosting.

[ronniethedodger]

Apparently this new search when its launched will provide results to the new MSN toolbar and the new toolbar in the upcoming version of windows, if this is true i think I will forget about trying so hard at ranking in google.

Not to say that i wouldnt mind being number one in google but a man has to pick his friends wisely and I think the wisest thing for me right now is to stick with MSN. Thinking mathematically i mean

Longhorn is a long way off (appropriately named, eh?). So don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Actually it does not matter what we think of MSN or Yahoo Search -- it matters what the searchers think of it. Since MSN has been using Yahoo results for quite some time now, it clearly shows that Yahoo is preferred over MSN.

With that said -- we need to wait and see what the masters of marketing over at MSN pull out of their hat to kickstart the new search of theirs. I remember a while ago when Yahoo had all of those TV ads going -- I would expect that MS will be doing the same. Maybe with a return cameo appearance by the Rolling Stones too! (I just made that last part up ... but you get my drift).

I have always liked getting good results at MSN anyway, regardless of how many referrals they were sending. These are the "green" internet users, once you get them sold -- they hang around for a long, long time (if you have the customer service to keep them, that is).

[Vitaly]

They have removed "next" link??? I can't see it...

[ronniethedodger]

They have removed "next" link??? I can't see it...

When that happens, you probably will not be seeing a full page of ten results either. Some queries seem to be throttled back (http://www.webstractions.com/news/2004/10/msn-search-tech-preview-around-horn.html). Try some other terms and you come across the next link on them.

[sonnie]

Hmmm. Just did an MSN search for "wooden display easels" and our site came up #1 AND #2. That's the first time. Very much COOL! Checked the site stats and more traffic is coming from MSN than any others. Yahoo being second and traded links third.

[ronniethedodger]

Hmmm. Just did an MSN search for "wooden display easels" and our site came up #1 AND #2. That's the first time. Very much COOL! Checked the site stats and more traffic is coming from MSN than any others. Yahoo being second and traded links third.

That is MSN Search though Sonnie, not the Tech Preview, right?

Nice to see that your traded links are giving you some traffic though. That is always a good thing.

[sonnie]

That is MSN Search though Sonnie, not the Tech Preview, right?

Correct Ronnie, just got a little excited there. Had not checked my standings for awhile.

[salomon741]

I tried looking up various search terms in the automotive industry and we don't show up anywhere despite having great showing in both Yahoo and Google and being one of the largest sites in this arena. I've seen totally irrelevant listings within this category, so I say NIXE to the new MSN search engine. It needs a lot of work to even compare to Yahoo or Google. Richmar


Even MSN said itself that it doesn't have a complete cache, even for its new search. They only have about 5 million pages compared to Google's 4 BILLION.