Microsoft said on Tuesday that it will be delivering several updates to its Bing search engine in an attempt to cut into Google's dominant position in the space

Microsoft said on Tuesday that it will be delivering several updates to its Bing search engine in an attempt to cut into Google’s dominant position in the space.According to Microsoft, its research has shown that 42% of all Bing queries require some refinements for users to find exactly what they’re looking for. Currently, Bing offers a “Quick Tabs” pane to the left of results to help users get to content that might in some way relate to their query. And although Microsoft claims the feature has been popular, it thinks it can do better.Microsoft plans to test new Bing designs “over the next few months” that will move the Quick Tabs pane to the top of the search page. The company thinks that the modification will help users “make faster, more informed decisions.”

One of Bing’s core focuses is on real-time data. Currently, the search engine lets users see the latest tweets and Facebook status updates on a particular subject. In order to make real-time data a more present part of its search, Microsoft said that it will begin testing better availability of real-time results. Bing will also start offering real-time content, such as the “most popular shared links,” from other sites around the Web.

To improve Bing Maps, Microsoft partnered with location-based service Foursquare to create an app for its mapping tool. Bing Maps users will be able to see Foursquare data, such as mayorships, badges and check-ins, around a particular area.

As exciting as the updates might be for some Bing users, the effect they will have on search market share will probably be minimal. According to market-research firm comScore, Google enjoys more than 65% search market share, while Bing has captured just over 11% of the market. A few updates to design or functionality probably won’t be enough for the company to gain significant ground. Historically, catching up to a dominant search provider takes a long time.In other words, Microsoft is facing an uphill battle in search that probably won’t be ending anytime soon.

Google launches translation service menu for easy ordering foreign tourists

BARCELONA Google launches translation service menu for easy ordering foreign tourists. In everyday life, often occurs a tourist who only speak English to order the wrong food when visiting a restaurant in Germany. For example, it could have forced tourists to face the heart of a bowl of hot soup that tastes sour beef. To overcome this, Google provides the solution. In the event Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2010, Google’s new exhibit translator technology. That translates menus foreign foods instantly through an application on smart phones. Reported by the Telegraph, Friday (19/2/2010) early prototype created by Google is currently only able to translate German into English. Google plans to expand this service in order to support 52 languages. “Imagine you are a traveler who enters a restaurant, where there is only menus that do not understand. You must be confused ordering food,” said Google Product Marketing Manager, Andrew Gomez.

This translation service menu is a further development of the feature ‘Goggles’ Google. This feature allows users to search the web without having to type in the word, but only to show the phone to an object. This software uses optical character recognition technology to scan the written word and turn it into computer text which is then translated into the Google Translate service. “This service is still early stages. We want to introduce the first demo. We want to show how great your phone when connected with this technology,” said Gomez.

antitrust regulators are taking a closer look at Google Inc.'s

Google

SAN FRANCISCO  U.S. antitrust regulators are taking a closer look at Google Inc.’s proposed $750 million purchase of mobile phone marketer AdMob, the latest sign of greater government vigilance as Google tries to expand its advertising empire.The Federal Trade Commission sought more information about the deal this week, according to a Wednesday post on Google’s blog.This so-called “second request” doesn’t mean regulators intend to block Google’s AdMob deal. Most other acquisitions that go through this stage end up getting approved.But the FTC’s action shows regulators are watching Google more carefully as the company tries to build upon its dominance of the Internet’s lucrative search advertising market. Google is expected to pull in more than $22 billion in revenue this year, mostly from ads shown alongside search results and other Web content.

“We know that closer scrutiny has been one consequence of Google’s success,” Paul Feng, a Google product manager, wrote in Wednesday’s blog posting. Echoing previous management comments, Feng said the company remains confident its AdMob purchase, announced last month, will be approved.Google’s huge lead in Internet search triggered a 2008 government investigation that scuttled its plans to enter into an advertising partnership with rival Yahoo Inc., which runs the second most-popular search engine. Yahoo plans to work with Microsoft Corp. instead, beginning next year if those two companies can gain regulatory approval.

Since its inception nearly four years ago, AdMob has built a thriving network that sells and delivers ads on applications and Web sites designed for the iPhone and other mobile devices. It’s still relatively small with estimated annual revenue of $45 million to $60 million, but regulators apparently want to understand whether its technology and advertising contacts would give Google an unfair advantage in its quest to sell more mobile phone ads.

Google management has indicated that it believes mobile marketing eventually may become bigger than advertising on Internet-connected computers. That tipping point still appears to be many years away, with U.S. mobile advertising expected to total $416 million this year, about 2 percent of overall Internet ad spending in the country.

The FTC’s decision to take more time digging into the AdMob deal means Google probably won’t be able to take over the company for several more months, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Rebecca Arbogast wrote in a Wednesday research note. It took a year for the FTC to approve Google’s $3.2 billion acquisition of Internet ad service DoubleClick Inc., which was completed in March 2008.

Google’s first big deal, a $1.76 billion acquisition of the video site YouTube, was cleared by regulators in a month in 2006.
Separately, Google ran into another potential roadblock Wednesday after another takeover target, On2 Technologies Inc., said that it still hadn’t collected enough shareholder support to close its deal. On2, based in Clifton, N.J., adjourned a shareholder meeting to approve its $106 million sale to Google until Feb. 17 in hopes of getting the necessary support.Google, which is based in Mountain View, agreed to buy On2 in August to help improve YouTube’s video technology.

Microsoft says willing to pay for the exclusive access to the news company.

Microsoft says willing to pay one of the largest media companies in the world of News Corporation to gain exclusive access to the news company.Some reports from the London and New York mentioned the return of Microsoft’s willingness to pay the media company owned by Rupert Murdoch is the news content of News Corporation taken from the Google search engine.Charge of this news will only be accessed through a new search engine Microsoft’s Bing.If this trend continues the search engines will compete with each other for the cost to get access to news.this step could end the era of free news on the internet.

During the Internet users can easily get the news free of charge for the media company’s eliminate such access.In the past few days there were efforts by media companies to collect fees from the news that put on the internet.This step is taken after a newspaper circulation worldwide has decreased.On the other hand search engines such as Google to provide the news media owned by various companies for free.