By ALLISON LINN, AP Business Writer
Microsoft Corp. is diving into the business of offering online
searches of books and other writings, and says its approach aims to
avoid the legal tussles met by rival Google Inc.
The Redmond-based software giant said Tuesday that it will sidestep
hot-button copyright issues for now by initially focusing mainly on
books, academic materials and other publications that are in the
public domain.
Microsoft plans to initially work with an industry organization called
the Open Content Alliance to let users search about 150,000 pieces of
published material. A test version of the product is promised for next
year.
The alliance, whose participants also include top Internet portal
Yahoo Inc. , is working to make books and other offline content
available online without raising the ire of publishers and authors.
Danielle Tiedt, a general manager of search content acquisition with
Microsoft's MSN online unit, said the company also is working with
publishers and libraries on ways to eventually make more copyright
material available for online searches.
She said Microsoft is looking at several options, including models
where users would be charged to access the content.
Microsoft said it has no plans right now to have targeted ads located
in the search results, but the company cautioned that it was still
working out the details of its business model.
"I think about the 150,000 books as a test," Tiedt said.
Rival Google has taken a markedly different approach, with plans to
index millions of copyright books from three major university
libraries -- Harvard, Stanford and Michigan -- unless the copyright
holder notifies the company which volumes should be excluded.
The Association of American Publishers, representing five publishers,
and The Authors Guild, which includes about 8,000 writers, have both
sued the search engine giant over the plans.
Google has defended the effort as necessary to its goal of helping
people find information -- and insists that its scanning effort is
protected under fair use law because of restrictions placed on how
much of any single book could be read.
Responding to Microsoft's plans to offer its own book search, Google
said in a statement that it "welcomes efforts to make information
accessible to the world."
Tiedt said Microsoft is coming at book search from a different angle
in part because the software maker itself is so often the target of
copyright infringement. Pirated versions of Microsoft's Windows
operating system are widely available in developing countries for only
a few dollars.
Microsoft's approach has the potential to backfire, however, if Google
ends up having more content available or begins offering ways to
search content for free while Microsoft pursues a model that requires
people to pay for it.
Microsoft acknowledges it is far behind Google.
Tiedt said she expects it will take years -- and require a substantial
investment -- to solidify the MSN product, working out all the complex
issues around searching through books and other materials online.
"This is not a money-maker for the company," Tiedt said. "This is very
much a strategic bet for search overall."
The effort marks Microsoft's latest effort to play catch-up with
Google on various search technologies ranging from basic Internet
search to localized queries
But Google remains by the search leader by far, accounting for 45.1
percent of all U.S. Internet searches in September, according to
Nielsen/Net Ratings. Microsoft's MSN Search ranked third, accounting
for 11.7 percent of U.S. searches during the same period.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.
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Allison Linn (ap@telecom-digest.org)