Ms. Dewey
{{short description|Discontinued web search engine by Microsoft}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Ms. Dewey
| favicon =
| logo =
| screenshot = Image:Ms. Dewey.png
| caption = The Ms. Dewey interface
| url = www.msdewey.com
| commercial = No
| type = Search engine
| registration = No
| owner = Microsoft
| author = McCann-Erickson San Francisco, Sausage Films and EVB
| launch_date =
| current_status = Inactive
| revenue =
}}Ms. Dewey was a web search engine by Microsoft, first unveiled in October 2006. Ms. Dewey was an Adobe Flash–based experimental interface for Live Search, where the eponymous Ms. Dewey, played by actress Janina Gavankar, acted as an interactive search assistant for the user's inquiries. Ms. Dewey notably would audibly comment on searched keywords, and she would also perform a variety of random actions when idle, including taking props out from behind her desk. Furthermore, a cityscape featured behind Ms. Dewey would appear to change depending on the time of day.
Ms. Dewey was developed by advertising agency McCann-Erickson and digital content marketing firm EVB San Francisco. Gavankar's responses, consisting of 600 different video clips, were recorded over the course of three days.{{cite news
| last = Cole
| first = Sean
| title = Spending time with Ms. Dewey
| work = Marketplace
| pages =
| language =
| publisher = American Public Media
| date = 2006-12-13
| url = http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/12/13/PM200612138.html
| accessdate = 2006-12-14
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070102213635/http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/12/13/PM200612138.html
| archive-date = 2007-01-02
| url-status = dead
}}Kirkpatrick, David (December 11, 2006). "Rich Geeks in Paradise", pp 26–28. FORTUNE.Personal website http://www.janinagavankar.com
Ms. Dewey became inactive in January 2009.
See also
References
{{reflist|refs=
|url = https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/46617/Miriam_Sweeney.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
|title = Not just a pretty (inter)face: A critical analysis of Microsoft's 'Ms. Dewey'
|work = University of Illinois
|author = Miriam E. Sweeney
|year = 2013
|accessdate = 2017-11-27
|url-status = dead
|quote = As one of my co-workers typed in different words and phrases, the “Ms. Dewey” character (pre-recorded film footage of actress, Janina Gavankar) engages in flirtatious banter, sometimes becoming irritated or condescending if too much time passes before entering a search term: “Hellloooo... type something here!”
|archive-date = 2020-08-02
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200802013542/https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/46617/Miriam_Sweeney.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
}}
}}
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