MSN Search is boring...

Scoble linked to a post about the search engine of choice for teenagers, being well, duh, Google – surely this is not a surprise to anyone. For teenagers it is all about what is cool, what has the best branding – image is everything. I have just asked my two young boys (5 and 8) and they both know Google and have never heard of MSN Search.

Look at the iPod! A lot of this has to do with the branding/naming of the product; the iPod Nano would not be so successful if it was named by Microsoft, as it would probably be something along the lines of “Apple Music Player 2005 Really Diminutive Edition”. Same with search, MSN Search, it just sounds boring, it sounds so corporate!

Why doesn’t Microsoft (or any search provider) provide additional entry points, branding, etc., over the same search engine? So you have MSN Search for the corporate stiffs, and some other “cool” site targeted at the various demographics – sometimes one size does not fit all.

So why not have a kiddies site, a teenagers, adults, oldies site, where the look and feel are targeted to the age group and the search is contextual. If my 8 year old is looking for “Disneyland” then he should get results more fun oriented, links to games or the characters, age appropriate movies; for an adult this might contain links to the site for opening hours, cost, hotels, flights, etc; for a teenager it would be perhaps to the roller coaster rides, music, movies, etc.

Just a thought?!?