Google's Strategy; Microsoft's Stratagem

INFO SCIENCE: Yesterday I was reading an article over lunch that was fawning over MSN Search's new entry point in the new MSN Instant Messenger interface. In short, the article seemed to suggest that Microsoft would eventually win the search wars because they are able to put "Search The Web" boxes in all of their different software products. (Google is doomed, doomed!)



But this morning I hear on NPR that Google Print is going to add the works of nearly a half-dozen major libraries to their search results, an amazing feat to say the least.



This really strikes at the difference between the two companies' current strategies for gaining market share. One company seems to rely predominantly on its weight as a monopolist in other fields, while one company really attempts to add value. I'll let you guess which one is which.



Speaking of Google, have you played with Keyhole yet? If not, please do so right away.



UPDATE: The Shifted Librarian points us to a few interesting stats about Google's new project:

"A quick calculation using the figures above suggests an average scan rate of 3200 volumes per day (assuming 365 days/year for 6 years) at the University of Michigan site alone." [Tito Sierra on the WEB4LIB mailing list]

"An even quicker calculation shows that they will need to digitize 2.25 books a minute, 24 hours/day, 365 days/year to digitize 7 million volumes in six years." [Roy Tennant on the WEB4LIB mailing list]