Microsoft breathes Live into Shopping

By Steve Malone

Posted on 20 Mar 2006 at 10:30

Microsoft is preparing to release yet another component of its Windows Live initiative. The company is set to add 'Shopping' to the list of services which already includes, Mail, Custom Domains (web hosting), Messenger, Safety Centre and Office.

Although Microsoft is not saying much about the new service named Windows Live Shopping just yet, it will sit between Windows Live Expo and MSN Shopping, presumably as some kind of rival to Froogle or Kelkoo.

Launched by Bill Gates at the end of last year Windows Live and Microsoft Office Live is Microsoft's vision of 'riding the web services wave' while at the same time preventing rivals Google and Yahoo! from colonising the space first. The concept is to provide a set of services that prove compelling to users to return to again and again while at the same time serving contextual advertising through the soon-to-be-launched AdCenter service.

The company is looking for staff in Seattle, Beijing and India - although it says there are telecommuting options. In its jobs pitch Microsoft says 'The social shopping space is exploding with innovation and new user scenarios. Online/offline integration in the shopping space is a rapidly evolving area with dramatic potential to make people's lives easier. The innovation opportunities are unbounded.'

To be sure, search based online shopping is an area in which Microsoft has yet to make a big entrance. Yet with the online commerce market worth an estimated $117 billion in the US alone, it is one that Redmond will want to take a share.