p2pnet news view | Advertising:- Google became the enormous advertising company it is today on the back of its online search technology.

But, says Steve Ballmer, the guy now running Microsoft, the even larger corporate conglomerate founded by Bill Gates, We Can’t Have Google Getting It All.

Microsoft tried to swallow Yahoo, and for all we know may still be eyeing it, but in the meanwhile it’s come up with Bing, its very own search engine.

Will the heirs of long-dead crooner Bing Crosbie be after Microsoft?

Anyhow, Ballmer will, “unveil a revamped internet search engine next week, according to people familiar with the matter,” says Business Mirror.

It’ll, “divide search results into different categories, according to a person given a test version of the program by the company,” says the story. “The software uses a panel on the left side to list the categories, along with past searches and related queries, said the person, who declined to be named because the details are confidential.”

With that in mind, Microsoft is on the verge of launching an $80 million to $100 million campaign for Bing, says Advertising Age.

That’s “very big” considering Google spent about $25 million on all its advertising last year, says the story, noting, “Microsoft, by comparison, spent $361 million. Certainly Google has never faced an ad assault of anything like this magnitude.”

Apparently, “the ads won’t go after Google, or Yahoo for that matter, by name”. Rather, “they’ll focus on planting the idea that today’s search engines don’t work as well as consumers previously thought by asking them whether search (aka Google) really solves their problems. That, Microsoft is hoping, will give consumers a reason to consider switching search engines, which, of course, is one of Bing’s biggest challenges.”

However, “I don’t think they can win this game with a better mousetrap,” the story has Allen Adamson, managing director of Landor Associates, saying.  “They have to compete with Google on a brand front — there’s no other way to skin this but go head on against the Google brand.”

Microsoft’s attack on Apple, “that it’s too expensive and not worth the high price,” is signs of working, says the story, adding:

“Apple’s value perception among 18- to 34-year-olds has dropped significantly since the campaign launched in late March, which might be a testament to the right message at the right time.”

But, “all the advertising in the world only works if the product backs it up,” it states, adding:

“People who’ve seen the Microsoft product suggest it’s useful and has some nifty filtering tools, even though it’s not a markedly different-looking interface, at least for text search (some of the multimedia search results, however, do look quite different from how Google currently displays them).

And, “It doesn’t take a lot to switch people from one type to another and usually it’s a unique feature that gets people excited,” AdAge quotes ex-Yahoo head of sales, David Karnstedt, saying.

p2pnet, meanwhile, believes the Net hasn’t only launched the most serious communications revolution since people started talking to each other, it  also means advertisers are going to have to start addressing the people they’re trying to influence as intelligent human beings with free choice and the will to use it, instead of gullible marks to be scammed and exploited.

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Business Mirror – Microsoft said to be unveiling new search engine, May 25, 2009
Advertising Age – Microsoft Aims Big Guns at Google, Asks Consumers to Rethink Search, May 25, 2009