European research and development center of excellence designed to help
Microsoft disrupt the search and advertising marketplace.
CANNES, France and REDMOND, Wash., June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At
the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, Microsoft Corp. today
announced plans to open a Search Technology Center (STC) in Europe in its
fiscal year 2009. The new center will be designed to help accelerate
Microsoft's investments in Live Search and disrupt the search and
advertising marketplace to the benefit of both the consumer and the
advertiser, in line with Microsoft's recent announcement in the U.S. of
Live Search cashback.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
"As I stated in my May 18 memo about our Online Services strategy,
today Microsoft has 68 percent reach to Internet users throughout Europe
through our online assets and strengths in display advertising; however,
we're not yet where we'd like to be in search in this critical geography,"
said Kevin Johnson, president of the Platforms and Services Division at
Microsoft. "Success in search in Europe is paramount, and we see the
investment in this new Search Technology Center as an important step in
doubling down on our long-term investments."
The center will actively work with the global Live Search organization
and be dedicated to advancing the state of the art in search technology by
delivering a locally relevant, more intelligent and powerful search
experience to online customers around the world. Modeled after the Search
Technology Center in Beijing, China, which opened in October 2005, plans
for the new European hub are indicative of Microsoft's commitment to give
Live Search customers a highly relevant, localized and interactive search
experience.
The location of the European STC has yet to be announced; however,
several cities are currently being considered as the hub, with the
expectation that a smaller numbers of engineers contributing to the STC
could be placed in multiple countries, possibly including, for example, the
United Kingdom, France and Germany. The goal is to create a highly
versatile and challenging European center of excellence for Microsoft's
research and development leaders.
"Searchers have different expectations and experiences in every
geography in the world, so we believe it is critical to make deep
investments in physical locations in multiple markets to ensure that we're
applying the best local expertise to our research and development efforts,"
said Satya Nadella, senior vice president of the Search, Portal and
Advertising Group at Microsoft. "We're already doing some great work in
Europe in the enterprise search space through our January 2008 acquisition
of Fast Search & Transfer SA, and we're looking forward to opening the
European Search Technology Center to further our investments."
This move is in line with other investments Microsoft is making in
Europe in the advertising business, including the planned expansion of the
DRIVEpm media network in fiscal 2009 into European markets including The
Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. DRIVEpm does
business today in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Microsoft's fiscal 2009 year is July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
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http://www.microsoft.com/
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