MSN Revamped

PROVO—In early November, the “most uninspired addresses on the internet,” according to Peter Burrows, happily underwent cosmetic surgery and emerged with a more streamlined look for some viewers. MSN.com has been reborn. The “home page will see a less cluttered site that for the first time lets users access Twitter and Facebook feeds without having to leave the page. A section called MSN Local Edition provides news of local doings such as concerts, restaurant reviews, and weather and traffic reports which vary based on the user's location,” reported Burrows. (See Overdue Face-lift.)

The change was prompted by Microsoft's desire to enhance its new search engine, Bing. According to the Burrows article, MSN's executive producer, Scott Moore, said, “Our No. 1 priority is to drive search market share." Google beware. “The search engine has drawn praise for the relevance of its responses and for the inviting National Geographic-style photographs on its home page. Bing also led the way in serving up access to a feed of Twitter status updates known as tweets,” said Burrows.

Many of the 600 million MSN users are still unaware of Bing and what it does. The new direction of MSN is intended to change that. “To give Bing greater prominence, Microsoft will generate lists of popular topics based on what individual users have been searching for. Even the graphic design of the site takes its cues from the cleaner look and feel of the Bing site,” wrote Burrows. The new MSN will also capitalize on the social networking craze.