MSN Toolbar in Beta

Stepping up its competition with Google, MSN is launching an Internet Explorer (IE) toolbar with links to MSN services and a pop-up-window blocker. Available as a free download, the MSN Toolbar attaches itself to IE below the Address bar and features icons that link to various MSN services, many of which are already available (but not as prominently featured) in IE. The product aims to put more focus on MSN’s fast-growing advertising sales by driving more customers to MSN sites, perhaps at the expense of MSN’s subscription services. In particular, pop-up-window blocking is a major selling point of the MSN Premium and MSN Plus subscription services, but users of the MSN Toolbar get almost identical functionality for free.

A search pane in the MSN Toolbar lets users search the Web or a particular domain using MSN Search, or search within MSN sites such as Encarta, MSNBC, and MSN Money, all without having to navigate to these sites. Other icons in the Toolbar enable users to highlight all instances of a particular word on the currently displayed Web page, go directly to their Hotmail inbox or My MSN personalized home page, and launch the MSN Messenger instant messaging client. (Users without that client are directed to a page where they can download it.) Once installed, the MSN Toolbar will automatically update itself when new versions are released.