November 3, 2003

Microsoft Corp. is determined to become a big player in Internet searches, betting that internally developed technology can close the gap with Google Inc., which operates the most-popular search engine.

The Redmond, Wash., software company has launched a major development effort, aimed at creating technology to help users find information on the Web. Microsoft has recruited a number of search specialists, including Paul Ryan, the former chief technology officer of Overture Services Inc. (NasdaqNM:OVER - news), a search concern bought by Yahoo Inc. (NasdaqNM:YHOO - news) (NasdaqNM:YHOO - News) this year.

"It is a large investment we are making," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, a general manager in Microsoft's MSN division associated with the search effort, who says it was approved by top executives Bill Gates (news - web sites) and Steve Ballmer. "People know we are serious about it." Search engines have become the primary starting point for Internet navigation and electronic commerce, and a big source of advertising revenue. MSN now ranks fourth in Web search, a market led by fast-growing Google.

The New York Times reported Friday that Microsoft executives in the past two months approached Google to discuss the possibility of a takeover, which Google rejected. The newspaper cited unidentified sources.

The two companies decline to comment on the matter. But other people familiar with the situation said the talks focused primarily on potential technical or business cooperation. Microsoft often meets with influential technology start-ups, sometimes mentioning the possibility of an investment or acquisition while sizing up a smaller company's capabilities. Google, similarly, routinely speaks with potential partners. In this case, the Mountain View, Calif., firm has an interest in whether Microsoft might choose Google's search services as an alternative to Inktomi, a unit of Yahoo that manages searches conducted on MSN.

Google would be an expensive purchase. The company is considering an initial stock offering that is expected to place a value on the business of $15 billion to $25 billion. Google's management and engineering staff also have an independent streak and a penchant for non-Microsoft software, particularly the Unix (news - web sites) and Linux (news - web sites) operating systems.

Source: Yahoo News com

        

Read Serge Thibodeau's daily blogs on search engines at Serge Thibodeau Live. We strongly suggest you bookmark our web site by clicking here.

Get your business or company listed in the Global Business Listing directory and increase your business. It takes less then 24 hours to get a premium listing in the most powerful business search engine there is. Click here to find out all about it.

Rank for $ales strongly recommends the use of WordTracker to effectively identify all your right industry keywords. Accurate identification of the right keywords and key phrases used in your industry is the first basic step in any serious search engine optimization program. Click here to start your keyword and key phrase research.

You can link to the Rank for Sales web site as much as you like. Read our section on how your company can participate in our reciprocal link exchange program and increase your rankings in all the major search engines such as Google, AltaVista, Yahoo and all the others.