January 26, 2004

Microsoft today will introduce a new Web search feature as the software maker plays catch-up with Google, in a critical area of Internet commerce, Monday's Wall Street Journal reported.

Microsoft will begin offering customers of its MSN online service a software " toolbar" for Internet browsers that has a window for searching the Web using keywords and phrases. The toolbar, which sits below the control panel on a browser, includes shortcut buttons to other Microsoft services such as Hotmail e-mail and its MSN Messenger product.

The software mimics similar offerings from rival Yahoo, as well as from Google, and is a critical part of Microsoft's plan to launch its own Internet search service later this year. With the toolbar, Microsoft hopes to pull millions of Internet users to its search technology, and in turn to other Microsoft services and online advertisers.

Such toolbars, which plug into Microsoft's popular Internet Explorer browser, are more than simple shortcuts to Web services. They also help companies collect detailed information about users' movements on the Web. Such Information can be used to build more sophisticated services, such as shopping sites that automatically recommend products based on people's usage profiles.

The new software comes as Microsoft races to gain a foothold in the area that has catapulted Google, of Mountain View, Calif., into a key position in Internet commerce.

Closely held Google has been a leader in generating advertising revenue from search results, and is developing new combinations of search, shopping and advertising. Yahoo, of Sunnyvale, Calif., is moving in similar directions; last year, it bought search engine Inktomi Corp. and search- advertising provider Overture Services Inc.

Source: Yahoo News

        

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