Microsoft Debuts Windows Live Ads

Microsoft has debuted Windows Live ads in an attempt to compensate for their late entry into the game of search. "Before we begin, let us state the obvious. We're late to the game. We admit it. But instead of shrugging our shoulders and becoming a footnote in search history, we've decided to write a few new chapters," stated a Microsoft ad that is an integer part of a print and ad campaign designed to boost Windows Live Search. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and San Jose Mercury News will be the stages for the Microsoft print ads.

Currently, Microsoft is third on the search market. In the United States alone, MSN/Windows Live Search is on a descendant slope with a negative year to year growth of -12%. This places Microsoft at a 9.2% of the market with 519,259,000 searches in September, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. This while Google accounts for 50% while Yahoo for 23,4% of the search market.

Although in third place, Microsoft is more than a footnote in the search history. But the Redmond Company is repeatedly stressing that search as a domain is in its infancy, while the Internet is growing at a pace of 7 million pages per day, promising to be in for the long haul.