REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Microsoft is reported working on a new Internet search engine to rival Google's amid reports Google is exploring going public.
"It is a large investment we are making," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, a general manager in Microsoft's MSN division associated with the search effort, told the Wall Street Journal. "People know we are serious about it."
Search engines are a starting point for not only Internet navigation but for ads and while MSN ranks fourth in Internet search, the market is led by Google.
"For us to innovate long term, and build what we believe is the next generation of search, it is something that we need to control ourselves and build out the platform ourselves," Koenigsbauer said, following reports last week Microsoft was interested in buying Google.
Internet search could enhance Microsoft's MSN unit and it software. Its operating system due out in 2005, nicknamed Longhorn, is expected to help users simultaneously search the Web, their own hard drives and data on corporate networks, the Journal said.
