Ballmer Says Microsoft is Hot on Google's Trail

It looks like the actual obsession developed by Microsoft's officials in general (and Steve Ballmer in particular) with respect to Google's success is raising its ugly head once again.

In a shocking statement made during his visit to Australia, Ballmer said that Microsoft will catch up to Google in 6 months in terms of the search results' relevancy. Well, if anyone thinks innovation is done in search, you're wrong. Does anyone here really believe search is going to look like it does now in 10 years?" he asked.

It looks like Microsoft it trying to accomplish its vision of the future today, by means of the new beta concept designed for its MSN portal, called Newsbot. However, Microsoft's "innovation" seems to be only a copy of the Google News page, both sites using a computer algorithm in order to identify and rank news picked up from various sources.

Ballmer has reiterated Microsoft's classical point of view on searches, saying that they have more relevance than just the desktop and then adding that. "It's important for people who search a corporate network. We'll use search to peer into a range of business applications which would allow multiple applications to be searched simultaneously."

When speaking about Steve Ballmer's aggressive statements towards Google, it's very hard to distinguish the borderline between fantasy and reality. It remains to be seen, though, just how many of these statements would have proven right in 10 years from now, the time limit mentioned by Microsoft's CEO.