Live Search adds Alert Option
Jinfo Blog

19th January 2009

By Udo Hohlfeld

Item

Live Search offered by Microsoft enhanced its feature set with an Alert function - nothing new as Google and other providers already have provided this functionality for some time. Microsoft offers the alert function on its news page and users have to log in to their account to use it. One setback is that the service seems to be available only in the US - at least, on the German page of Live Search I did not find this option. On Microsoft's "Live Search Blog" (http://digbig.com/4ydft) bloggers expressed their discontentment with this limitation: "Yea, it's so annoying when people develop applications and restrict them to those living in the US alone. Live does not exists in the US alone. A lot of streaming videos for instance are just restricted to America alone, and now even MSDN resources." Nevertheless, the alert service allows users to have news delivered to their email address associated with their Live ID. The frequency can be adjusted as well as the number of alerts. This functionality is just another sign that Microsoft is catching up with its competitors, though it also indicates Microsoft's weaknesses in Search. The delivery options of "Windows Live Alerts" Live Search Alerts are limited to e-mail only, though there is also a service named "Windows Live Alerts" which already offers more delivery options such as SMS and Instant Messaging. Windows Live Alerts (http://alerts.live.com), formerly MSN Alerts, is a product in the Windows Live portfolio from Microsoft that allows users to get information from various alert content providers. Users are able to define how and when to receive alerts. As "Windows Live Alerts" is a free service and can only be used with a Windows Live ID a valid question is why Microsoft did not simply extend this service to its News Live Search? Particularly in regard to the service's availability in many countries.

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