Microsoft Live Search Tweaks Its Offerings, Search Logic for the Beijing OIympics

Posted 08/08/2008 at 2:02pm | by Mark Edward Soper

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Just in time for the start of the Olympics, Neowin.net reports that Microsoft's Live Search has added many new features to help you keep track of what's happening in Beijing:

• Live Search News now includes a direct link to Beijing 2008 Olympics news.
• The new xRank Live Search page features an Olympics category where you can track  the popularity and news coverage of individual athletes.
• Select Video from the Live Search home page and enter Olympics (or follow this link) to search for Olympics-related videos.
• Enter an Olympic athlete's name in Live Search, and Live Search will display Olympics-related information first, a feature Microsoft calls Athlete Instant Answer.
• Microsoft has also tweaked how searches for Olympics-related keywords work. Search for events such as "swimming" or "USA basketball" and you'll see the latest medal count for the event or the country once the events begin, a feature know as Medal Instant Answer.
• And, to round off the Olympic-friendly repackaging of Live Search for Beijing 2008, Microsoft plans to display various Olympics-related images as backgrounds on the Live Search home page http://www.live.com/.

Note that some of these features might not take effect until Olympics competition begins.

The changes to Live Search are convenient if you're a fan of the Olympics, but how do you feel about a search engine's tweaking its results according to current events? Do you like the idea, or does it smack of a bit of "Big Brother?" Let us know what you think.