A picture of an ice cave is currently displayed on the Live Search homepage, but Microsoft’s users aren’t being left in the cold when it comes to Olympic-related information. Several special features have already launched, and even more are on the way.
The most immediately noticeable thing may be the disappearance of said ice cave. In an email to Murdok, a Microsoft spokesman wrote, “The Live.com Homepage will rotate Olympics images in the background for the duration of the games.”
Olympian xRank
Next up is the already-present “Olympics 2008” tab within Live Search News. Medal counts are available, too – just search for that exact term or something like “medal count tennis” – although you can’t expect to see more than a bunch of zeros at the moment, of course.
Perhaps the most unique feature is Microsoft’s Olympian xRank, which “gives fans a way to track the popularity of their favorite athletes.” Michael Phelps is number one right now, with Dara Torres and LeBron James following him on a list that includes 520 names. For more detailed info, users can just click around, or “Athlete Instant Answer will feature profiles of Olympians as searchers type in the first and last names of the athlete in search queries.”
Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo are all hoping to gain – or at least not lose – market share during this major world event. Microsoft’s impressive set of new features should help it achieve that goal.
