'Michael Jackson' Is No. 1 Search Term

$25M search deals with Microsoft, Google push it barely into black

(NEWSER) - Twitter will be marginally profitable this year thanks to deals with Google and Microsoft that open up the social networking site’s streams to those companies’ search engines. The agreement with Google is worth about $15 million, while the Microsoft partnership should net Twitter around $10 million. The short message site is thought to have operating expenses between $20 million and $25 million. More»

It hopes to gain edge over Google in social networking

(AP) - Microsoft has picked up a new weapon in its Internet search duel with Google—full access to Twitter's communications hotbed. The partnership announced today represents a coup for Microsoft as it tries to spice up its Internet search engine, Bing, in its long-running attempts to lure traffic from Google. A test version of Bing's Twitter feature debuted today. More»

(NEWSER) - So much of our search engine experience is based on branding, but who would come out on top without all the window dressing? Blind Search may help you figure it out. Designed by a Microsoft employee, it spits out unadorned results from Google, Bing, and Yahoo, only telling you which is which after you’ve voted on a favorite. Ryan Sager of True/Slant, an avowed Google-phile, took it for a spin. More»

(NEWSER) - Microsoft and Yahoo finally officially tied the knot today, with a 10-year deal to integrate their search and advertising businesses, MSNBC reports. It appears Microsoft won't pay Yahoo up front, which is probably a blow to Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, who promised she'd only join Microsoft for a "boatload of money." Instead they'll share ad revenue, and Microsoft will pay Yahoo a traffic acquisition fee. More»

Coming changes designed to better understand questions, fine-tune answers

(NEWSER) - Google is in the middle of one of the biggest overhauls to its search engine in years, trying to fight off growing competition from Microsoft's Bing, Apple's Siri, Facebook, and others by incorporating more real-life language concepts, reports the Wall Street Journal . The changes will be implemented over the next few months and could change search-result rankings for millions of websites, but also provide Google with more opportunities for advertising and increase the time users spend on Google-owned pages. More»