After the takeover rumor gained momentum over the last few days it is now official: Microsoft is purchasing the searchengine-startup Powerset. Powerset has taken up the cause of revolutionizing the internet-search with the help of semantics, which also led me to write a post about them last year. While a few observers believed in Powerset’s future there were quickly those who voiced their concern that Powerset was only in it for a quick exit. They based this on their assessment of Powerset’s technology which did not yet work as intended. Initially it seemed that Yahoo wished to purchase them but after Microsoft’s failed bid to buy Yahoo the Redmond giant struck a deal with Powerset. In my opinion there are underlying and profound problems within Microsoft’s search which they should approach before implementing enhancements such as semantics. We will see how this plays out.
