Microsoft Live Search a dying dog while Google soars

Stan Beer
Monday, 06 October 2008 06:43

Your IT - Home IT

One can look at the perceived success of the Cashback program in two ways.

As Ms Dougherty points out, on the bright side of things, Microsoft has managed to hold its Live Search market share steady.

However, taking a more stark view of Microsoft's position in the search space, if the best the company can achieve by bribing users with real currency is to stem further bleeding, then the prognosis for the future of search at Microsoft looks bleak. This is especially the case given the trying economic times in the US.

And what of Yahoo!?

The second placed search player is haemorrhaging market share badly and may well be rueing its decision to turn down Microsoft's US$40 billion take-over bid.

As it stands, Yahoo! seems destined before too long to join Microsoft as a bit player in the search space with a single digit market share.

Interestingly, a search company that appears to bubbling along unperturbed by the ructions in this space is Ask. According to Hitwise figures, the California-based company has managed to increase its market share from 3.5% to 3.6% in the past quarter, incredibly making it a serious rival to Microsoft to become the number three market player.