SES San Jose: Microsoft dedicated to investment in search

Delivering the best results is the key to growing Microsoft's search marketing business, said Satya Nadella, SVP of Microsoft's search, portal and advertising group.

In his keynote speech this morning at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, CA, Nadella said that Microsoft has to “build a search experience that's great."

"We've made decent progress but have a long way to go," he said.

The company is focused on growing the size, quality and freshness of its index, he continued. Microsoft has been supporting that growth through a number of recent acquisitions — such as travel search site Farecast and natural language technology company Powerset. The company's Live Search cashback program has helped it grow volume as well, Nadella noted.

To deliver more relevant content, Microsoft is working toward a better understanding of searcher intent, Nadella said. He said that while some people are highly targeted in their search behavior, others purely explore — and by understanding that intent, targeting can be improved.

Nadella also stressed the importance of openness and transparency in search marketing. He said that opening up some search engines' ad systems is “critical” to become more efficient.