Microsoft Set to Storm Europe!

If you live in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Norway or Sweden and have always dreamed of working at Microsoft, then your dreams might just be about to come true.

Microsoft has announced plans to open a search technology center in Europe.

In an effort to bolster its Live Search efforts, Microsoft plan to open the new center sometime during Microsoft's next fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

Kevin Johnson, Microsoft President of Platforms & Services explains more:

As I stated in my May 18 memo about our Online Services strategy, today Microsoft has 68 percent reach to Internet users throughout Europe through our online assets and strengths in display advertising; however, we're not yet where we'd like to be in search in this critical geography. Success in search in Europe is paramount, and we see the investment in this new Search Technology Center as an important step in doubling down on our long-term investments.

We are yet to see an announcement on the location of the center, but it is being modeled on Microsoft's Search Technology Center in Beijing, China, which opened in 2005.

Through these centers, Microsoft is looking to dive deep into understanding the consumer search habits, methods, preferences of European searchers.

"Searchers have different expectations and experiences in every geography in the world, so we believe it is critical to make deep investments in physical locations in multiple markets to ensure that we're applying the best local expertise to our research and development efforts," states Satya Nadella, Microsoft Senior Vice President of Search, Portal and Advertising.

There is no doubt that Microsoft will be banking on a great return on such a large investment. If it succeeds I think this could be the shape of things to come for Microsoft Search in the future.

Posted by Courtney Mills at 4:46 AM GMT