Microsoft begins internal test of Kumo search

Microsoft has begun internal testing of its new search release, currently known as "Kumo," according to a note sent by the head of Live Search engineering to Microsoft employees.

Ina Fried of News.com has posted a copy of the e-mail sent by Satya Nadella to Microsoft employees. From the March 2 e-mail:

"We are launching a new test program called kumo.com for employees to try and provide feedback. Kumo.com exists only inside the corporate network, and in order to get enough feedback we will be redirecting internal live.com traffic over to the test site in the coming days. Kumo is the codename we have chosen for the internal test."

Kumo -- at least as it was conceived by Microsoft initially -- was not simply a codename. It was one of a handful of new brand names (the other two I heard about being "Hook" and "Bing") which Microsoft was considering as new potential branding candidates for "Live Search."

In the latter half of 2008, Microsoft trademarked "Kumo" (which is Japanese for "cloud" or "spider") and redirected a number of its search servers to point to Kumo.

Last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reiterated that Microsoft is on track to do one or two Web search updates per year. Ballmer told Wall Street Investors during his Strategic Update:

"We've got to make fast releases quickly. This (Live Search) is a product where we're turning new releases every six to nine months. We have another significant release that will come out this spring. We're really pushing on getting relevance in our algorithmic results, and in our advertising."

I'm still thinking Kumo is likely to be the new name for Microsoft's Live Search when the company releases the update to the public in the coming months.

As I asked last year, would you rather "Kumo" it than "Live Search" it? Do you believe a rebranding of Live Search help Microsoft gain more recognition and market share?