Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft, spoke today about trying to beat Google during a Goldman Sachs investors conference. Various reports cover his comments relating to the Big G, Google, as well as search in general. Among them:

• Vertical search may be a place to pull ahead of Google selectively, pointing to yesterday’s move in getting into health search [I agree]
• Google’s success was a "wake-up call" for Microsoft
• Search as a "command line" for the internet [as John Battelle has been putting it] but not the only place where people search
• A reprise of the "it’s early days" and search is just past its "first generation" comments we’ve heard from Microsoft execs many time before

Places to read more:

• Excerpts: Microsoft’s Ozzie talks strategy, competition, Seattle PI (great extended coverage of his talk by Todd Bishop)
   
• Microsoft says Google success was "wake-up call", Reuters
   
• Microsoft’s Ozzie says company will refine, surpass Google’s approach, MarketWatch
   
• Reading the Ray Ozzie tea leaves, All About Microsoft
   
• Looking At Microsoft’s Continued Long Game In Search, Search Engine Land (from me last month, it covers much of what Microsoft has said in the past about taking on Google since 2003, with some comments on why vertical search may be the company’s best shot.

The webcast of his talk can be heard from here.

Related Topics: Microsoft: Business Issues | Microsoft: General

About The Author: Danny Sullivan is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land. He’s a widely cited authority on search engines and search marketing issues who has covered the space since 1996. Danny also oversees Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo conference series. He maintains a personal blog called Daggle (and maintains his disclosures page there). He can be found on Facebook, Google + and microblogs on Twitter as @dannysullivan. See more articles by Danny Sullivan