Microsoft's MSN search is a new piece of software, not a rewritten version of Lookout.
As with Lookout, the MSN search box sits neatly inside Outlook, replacing the nearly useless "find message" function that comes with the mail client.
And as with Lookout, the results of an MSN search are displayed in a window that looks a lot more like a mail client than a Web browser.
"Searches for World Trade Center at places such as MSN Search, Ask Jeeves and Yahoo, for example, brought back no listings relevant to the current catastrophe, " said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch.
In December, aiming to lure more consumers to its MSN Mobile service--a portal that connects cellphone users to MSN Search, news, Hotmail and instant messaging--Microsoft struck partnerships with MovieTickets.com and Thumbplay The deals enabled MSN Mobile users to access movie listings and reviews, and purchase movie tickets, ringtones and games straight from their cellphones.
That said, for users running Microsoft Windows and using Outlook as their mail client, Microsoft's MSN desktop search beats its competitors hands down, primarily because of a superior user interface that integrates better with other Windows programs.
Google currently handles 66% of searches on the internet in America, compared with 21% for Yahoo and a mere 7% for Microsoft (through MSN and its new search engine, live.com).
In carrying out the study, presented at an economics conference held at Stanford University, eBay removed its paid-search keywords from MSN and Yahoo platforms in the US, while retaining them on Google.
The MSN toolbar also comes with a desktop search application which indexes the contents of your local computer so you can find files and messages quickly.
Its new best friend is Overture, which already provides search services for Microsoft's MSN online service.
The first task the website will perform is to search through your contacts in Yahoo, MSN Hotmail and Gmail etc for people who are already registered with Twitter.
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