9 posts and columns on Harry Shum

"Beyond the Search Box": The White Pleather Honeypot Smackdown

in News on February 1, 2011 at 11:53 am PT

Perusing AOL’s leaked damn-the-journalism-full-speed-ahead business plan, BoomTown was a little late to the Microsoft Bing event this morning called “Farsight: Beyond the Search Box.” But things had certainly been cooking with gas when I walked into the meeting room at the University of San Francisco, including allegations of cheating, honeypot stings and a whole lot of insulting of the hosts. Schweeet!

Liveblogging Microsoft Bing's Search Summit 2010: There Will Be Donuts (and Also Cream Puffs!)

in News on July 13, 2010 at 10:41 am PT

After BoomTown complained at December’s search summit held by Bing about the lack of the finest pastry known to man–namely, donuts!–minions were dispatched by top Microsoft geek general Satya Nadella to fix the dire situation. And, happily, at Search Summit 2010, there on the lovely snack table were a small pile of them–which looked like Krispy Kreme to me. There were lacking the key sprinkles feature, but carb crisis averted and back to search news!

Two Microsoft Search Dudes Talk About Bing! (BoomTown's Flip Is Waiting by the Phone for the Google Search Gurus' Call!)

in News on December 3, 2009 at 5:05 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown liveblogged a demo session Microsoft held for reporters about some new features on its Bing search service, a glimpse at what Twitter and Facebook integration will look like and the debut of a nifty new beta of its online map service. It is still the bazillion-dollar question–and I do mean a bazillion dollars, since that’s about what Microsoft has lost online after many years of trying–whether Bing can gain some truly significant share in the search market and challenge the sector’s behemoth, Google. So, at the event, I talked to two Microsoft search execs–Harry Shum, a corporate VP who is leading core search development, and Brian MacDonald, corporate VP for Core Search Program Management–about their thoughts on Bing so far.
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Liveblogging Bing Demo: No Donuts, Unlikely to Pay for De-Indexing Google, but Cool New Maps

in News on December 2, 2009 at 10:10 am PT

BoomTown is awaiting a passel of Microsoft execs, who will be talking about a range of new features for Bing. I will be liveblogging, but I must say, I wish there were donuts.
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Bing Keeps Up the New Features Rollouts–BoomTown Will Liveblog a Microsoft Showcase at 10 am PT!

in News on December 2, 2009 at 3:12 am PT

This morning, a passel of top Microsoft search execs is rolling into downtown San Francisco to show off even more new features for Bing. The rolling-stone-gathers-no-moss team at the software giant–which has been seeing some promising progress in its quest to raise its search market share with its snappy new service–has announced an ongoing series of updates since Bing was launched earlier this year. So what’s next? BoomTown has no idea, but I will be letting you know as soon as I do, via liveblogging the event, which starts at 10 am!
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Microsoft Pleased With Response to Yahoo HotJobs Ads

in News on June 23, 2009 at 4:00 pm PT

Microsoft may have failed in its bid to acquire Yahoo last year, but it hasn’t failed in its bid to acquire some of the company’s talent. Between November 2008 and March 2009, Redmond hired away five Yahoo veterans. Now comes word that it’s picked up three more.
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Former Yahoo Tech Star Qi Lu Likely to Be Named Microsoft's Digital Head by Next Week

in News on December 4, 2008 at 5:01 am PT

Former Yahoo tech star Qi Lu is poised to take on the big job of being Microsoft’s top digital executive, according to several sources inside and outside the company. The appointment could be announced as early as next Monday. A variety of details is still being ironed out, including whether the well-regarded techie Lu will be “paired” with another executive at Microsoft with more general business experience.

It's Official: Yahoo Search Exec Suchter to Microsoft

in News on November 20, 2008 at 12:45 pm PT

Yesterday, BoomTown reported, based on sources, that Yahoo search exec Sean Suchter was headed to Microsoft. Now it’s official. Here’s a Microsoft statement on the hiring of Suchter, an important tech leader at Yahoo, from Satya Nadella, SVP for Search, Portal and Advertising.