Microsoft's mashup aim: outdo Google

by Stephen Withers

Thursday, 15 March 2007

Microsoft's ecosystem of independent developers has long been a key part of its success, and the company is looking to exploit that to boost the use of its online offerings in mashups - web applications that draw data from multiple sources.

Participants at this week's Most Valuable Professional Global Summit in Seattle have been challenged to create mashups using Microsoft's online services such as Windows Live Search and Virtual Earth.

So far, Google has been far more successful in encouraging developers to use its APIs to create mashups displaying various types of data on Google Maps. Examples vary in seriousness: you can combine your salesforce.com data with Google Maps, find liquor stores in Toronto or petrol stations in Ireland, or follow the locations of international cricket matches.

We'll wait and see what comes out of the MVP summit.

Late last year, Jonathan Pincus, general manager of strategy development in Microsoft's online services group, challenged the company to start moving on "web time not on traditional Microsoft time" in exploiting its search resources and technologies.{moscomment}

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