Microsoft Live Search To Be Rebranded Kumo?

Microsoft has been seeking to get a better position for its search engine since their takeover efforts of Yahoo! Was thwarted. Industry observers have been wondering since then if Microsoft was still seeking to rebrand Live Search, seeing that the search engine had not lived up to Microsoft’s expectations. Kumo may just be the cure Microsoft is looking for.

Web conspiracy theorists say that the ownership of Kumo.com domain is hidden behind the registrar, but it points to an internal Microsoft test site. There have even been screenshots of a new Live Search interface circulating on the web recently. Reportedly, LiveSide.com received a tip from a reader in the UK who claimed that while shopping for a new computer, was shown a video trumpeting Windows Live services coming in 2009.

The confusion for consumers may come in the branding of a new search engine for Microsoft. Right now, users see Microsoft Live Search when they search online, but if Microsoft rebrands its search engine, then users may become uncomfortable with the different services and names. Microsoft will certainly lose any brand equity it currently enjoys if and when it switches to Kumo.

That is the difficulty Microsoft Live Search faces as it attempts to dethrone Google and Yahoo! Finding their search engine comfort zone has always challenged Microsoft; they can’t seem to find the happy medium that makes businesses and consumers happy at the same time. No one knows if Kumo.com is the panacea that Windows Live Search needs to make a serious run on Googles’ dominance in the search engine marketplace. Rebranding as Kumo.com could make Microsoft a serious competitor in the search engine wars.