Microsofts path to expand the Windows empire is leading
directly to search king Google.
The software company this month quietly launched a new search
program called MSNBot, which scours the Web to build an index of
HTML links and documents. The homegrown systemwhich performs robot
functions previously left to Inktomi and other partnersmay pose a
significant threat to Google if Microsoft fulfills its promise to
make the program a cornerstone of its overall PC and services
strategies.
MSNBot is believed to be the first step in a multiyear plan to
build new search technology that bridges Microsofts home and
business customers. Company executives hope the program will
eventually prove to be the elusive technology that binds its
various Web sites, applications and, of course, the dominant
Windows operating system.
Microsoft could then connect the search engine of its MSN portal to
new file technology planned for the next version of Windows,
code-named Longhorn, which will make it easier to search e-mail,
spreadsheets and documents on PCs, corporate networks and the Web.
The result would be a powerful technology reaching from the desktop
to the greater Internet that could displace Google as the Webs
leading search engine.
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