1. Looking for the number for Microsoft’s Mountain View office
2. Searched “microsoft mountain view ca” in Google. They had the wrong number.
3. Searched “microsoft mountain view ca” in Yahoo. They had the wrong number.
4. Searched “microsoft mountain view ca” in maps.live.com (MSN). They had the wrong number!
5. Went to Microsoft.com, entered “mountain view, ca” in the search box and clicked on the first result which resulted in a redirect era (the page 302’s to itself – DOH!)
6. Actually picked up a phone, experienced the dial tone audio prompt and called Comcast 411. They had the number.
QED
16 Response Comments
It’s nice to have actual proof that MSN and Microsoft suck. Just saying it without any concrete evidence has been getting old for me.
In all fairness to MSN, G & Y are falling down on the job too. It’s just too ironic that the Microsoft data on MSN is out of whack.
True. I just happen to be a very big fan of irony.
Actually the ironic thing here is not once did I consider using an IYP to look for the number. Ouch!
Hahahaha. I mean, why would you? They’ll just send you to Redmond anyway.
With a chance to move into a new market you’d really think they’d be able to get it right.
best comment ever;
“Actually the ironic thing here is not once did I consider using an IYP to look for the number. Ouch!”
And you work(ed) for who?
MSN is horrible. A fellow blogger I know made it to #1 for Make Money Online in like 1 week from launch with a new domain. All it took was a few anchored links from his friends and MSN ranks him #1…
The big question Justin is did he get any traffic?
I love what you so said Justin. I totally agree with you.
Jeff and Justin,
As easy as it is to rank with MSN it’s not easy to maintain those rankings. MSN likes fresh new sites so when another new site comes on board it will likely push your site lower. And when your “freshness” wears out you’ll drop way back.
As Andrew asked, is that #1 ranking getting much traffic? Not likely. MSN’s market share is quite low compared to Google’s. So low It’s not worth the time to check on MSN rankings. A #10 ranking on Goog will still send FAR more traffic than a #1 in MSN. Heck, even a page 2 ranking in many cases can send more traffic that #1 in MSN.
The sad truth is that last week I had some clients get as much traffic from Cuil as they got from MSN.
What was the right number?
Was it even close to:
http://local.genieknows.com/business/united-states/california/mountain-view/microsoft/b-11356811/
Nope
650-693-4000
Andrew, that is because Microsoft does not have an office in Moutainview, they have a developer campus.
If you look thru all the Google results you will see that almost no listing uses the words office. They do use “microsoft campus” quite highly.