Web rumors have Microsoft rebranding its Live Search service using the Kumo.com domain. Group Marketing Manager David Beaupariant is among Microsoft officials suggesting that Live services need to be better organized. Kumo.com is rumored to be owned by Microsoft and currently pointing to Microsoft test servers.

The Web's rumor mill kicked into overdrive during the weekend, with speculation that Microsoft is preparing to rebrand its Live Search service. Several sites noted that the software giant has taken control of a domain that could be the new Live Search -- Kumo.com.

The question of whether Live Search will become Kumo is being debated among those who follow the attempts by Microsoft to better position its search engine. According to LiveSide.net, "Kumo means 'cloud' or 'spider' in Japanese."

Possible New Interface

LiveSide, noting that there has been speculation for months among industry observers about a new branding and positioning for Live Search, said ownership of the Kumo.com domain was hidden behind the registrar, but it's pointing to an internal Microsoft test site.

In October, newlivesearch.blogspot.com posted "Windows Live Search Secrets," with screenshots of a possible new interface for the search service. The images had the brand of Windows Live Search. The site also quoted a comment on a Microsoft company blog by Group Marketing Manager David Beaupariant that the company recognizes "there is a brand issue across Windows Live."

LiveSide also reported that it had received a tip from a reader in the United Kingdom who said he had been shown new computers at a store and, in the process, was also shown a video touting Windows Live services, "coming in 2009." He sent the site some shots from his camera phone.

Like Beaupariant, Microsoft officials have, from time to time, expressed interest in organizing the various Live services into a more easily understood and differentiated set of services, especially since the company is continually adding new ones.

A new Microsoft manta, "software plus services," has been expressed frequently by the company, but even some industry observers have noted confusion at sorting out the different services and their names. Live.com has a variety of server, client and social-networking services and software under its umbrella brand.

Thinking of Shakespeare

Michael Gartenberg, vice president for consumer strategy at Jupitermedia, said the discussion made him think of Shakespeare. "Live Search by any other name," he paraphrased The Bard, "is still not Google."

Gartenberg noted that Live Search and the other "Live" services have also been known as Windows Live. Since the current Microsoft operating system is Vista, he said, perhaps this could be an indication that Windows as a brand signifier is losing favor.

If Microsoft does move to Kumo, he said, it would start with "zero brand equity," which, he noted, may be what Microsoft wants -- a blank slate on which it can imprint a new identity. But, he added, the main issue for the consumer is the product itself, and whether a newly branded search service will offer new features.