Windows Live Adds Classifieds, Local Search

Two new Windows Live services entered beta testing toward the end of 2005: a classified advertising service and a search and local mapping service. While potentially valuable to end users, the services add to confusion over Microsoft’s consumer online strategy, which is currently split between the Windows Live and MSN brands, with no clear difference between the two. In particular, Windows Live Local overlaps with several other MSN services, and it’s not clear how these services will evolve or merge.

Rapid-Fire Development

Introduced in Nov. 2005, Windows Live is the brand name for a set of consumer online services that are currently in beta testing. Most of these services are rebranded MSN services—for example, Windows Live Mail is the next version of Hotmail—but a handful of them are new. One goal of Windows Live is to prove that Microsoft can match the rapid pace of development exhibited by Web companies such as Google, and mere weeks after the initial Windows Live launch, Microsoft announced plans for two additional services.