After almost 30 years at Microsoft, Fabrice Canel announced he is retiring from the company. Fabrice Canel wrote, “I am retiring from Microsoft, effective today July 1st.” He added, “Today marks nearly 30 years with Microsoft. Thirty years…”

Who is Fabrice Canel. Fabrice Canel is a 30-year veteran at Microsoft. He was responsible for indexing at Microsoft Bing, including crawling, URL discovery, content selection, and content processing. He was the individual who came up with the IndexNow initiative and helped to create and power Bing Webmaster Tools.

Fabrice Canel has spoken at countless conferences over the years, including SMX. He has written countless articles on how search works, how to perform better in Bing and how search is adapting with generative AI. Fabrice not only helped run one of the most powerful and important search engines in the world, but also devoted significant time and effort to advancing the search industry through tooling and education.

Message from Fabrice Canel. Here is what Fabrice Canel wrote on social media about his retirement:

My dear fellow Microsoftees, engineers, attorneys, marketers, webmasters, publishers, SEO champions, product leaders, journalists, and all the brilliant minds across search, AI, and yes, even my friends at Google.

Today marks nearly 30 years with Microsoft. Thirty years… far too short a time to spend among such excellent and admirable people. As Bilbo once said, “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve”.

I stand before you for three purposes.

First, to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all. These three decades have been a wonderful adventure: from solving real business problems with IndexNow to helping webmasters and publishers thrive in the ever-changing world of SEO and AI. It has truly been an incredible journey.

Second, to celebrate this milestone and to thank every one of you: the colleagues I worked alongside daily, the partners and publishers I collaborated with, and especially the talented people I’ve trained and mentored over the past two years. You are ready, like young hobbits setting out with Sting and courage, to carry the team and our mission forward with excellence.

Third and finally, after many evenings by the fireside with my family and friends (who wisely reminded me that even the longest journey must eventually turn toward home), I have decided to take advantage of Microsoft’s Voluntary Retirement Program.

So, though thirty years is far too short a time to spend among such excellent and admirable people… this is the end.

I am going.

I am retiring from Microsoft, effective today July 1st.

GOODBYE!

As Bilbo said, the road goes ever on… but for me it now turns west, toward a place of rest, starlight, song, and new tales after many adventures. I leave with a heart full of gratitude, memories brighter than mithril, and complete confidence in the bright future of the team.

Thank you, Microsoft.

Thank you to every colleague, partner, and webmaster who made this journey so special. Stay curious. Keep innovating. And may your content always be found; swift as eagles and sure as the stars.

Fabrice Canel
Retiring after 30 wonderful years at Microsoft (Bing)

Why we care. Fabrice is a true friend to the industry; his contributions are endless, and the truth is, they will live on in the products he created for many years to come. His shared wisdom and knowledge over the years are beyond awesome and breathtaking.

While Fabrice has trained a team to continue his work, I would be lying if I said I am not sad that he is retiring. It has been an honor working with him over the years, but I know he has left Bing in good hands.