Desktop Search War Has Begun

Interesting article on the status of desktop search engines:
http://news.com.com/Search+companies+vye+for+the+desktop/2100-1032_3-5487792.html

Which would you choose? If any...

I like seamless integrated packages. Seeing as how I am always either on IE or in MS Office... guess.

I'm with SEO_AM, I want something I don't have to think about.

I think G is putting forth a valiant effort, but they're up against a giant. A giant that historically has no problem hitting below the belt to win.
MS has every advantage, IMO it's going to take every collective brain cell at G's disposal to even have a chance long term.

ahh, echoing my thoughts...i wrote a post in my scoop this morning that sounds very familiar to what you are saying...good to know i'm not alone in my thinking.

Great minds and all that rot

I think, like you, that it may definitely be about branding. But I think the main reason is simply that DS is the next step in ubiquitous searching. I think it's mainly a panic response because the SE's know that people will use what they know AND more importantly, what is convenient. So when MS bundles DS with their OS, game over man. It's MSN all the way. Probably with little chance of anyone ever entering the SE game again.

That's not to say that there will be no room at all. How many people use AOL as their ISP but still use (pure) G and Yahoo (or even MSN) as their primary search portal. There will still be plenty of people that will use Y and G for a while, but I think MS will definitely become a major contender almost overnight with the release of their integrated DS. Absorptions will most likely ensue.

Next will come the lawsuits, and like before, MS will somehow come out on top. There are plenty of competitor carcasses behind MS, and I see more in the future.

Now of course, this all assumes that the canvas regarding the other SE's remain mostly unchanged (what's the chance of that). G has surprised many of us before, and they may again.

----------Off Topic--------------
Hey DD, is your blog a roll your own CF solution? How long have you been a CF developer? I was one of the original 100,000 back in the 2.0 days. CF was soooo cool, that is until MM got they're leperous little hands on it and mangled it.

I kinda liked Windows 95 file manager. Where did it go Bill Gates?