Updated: July 13, 2020 (February 11, 2008)
SidebarOnline Services Timeline
Although Microsoft founded MSN in 1995, its latest consumer online strategy can be traced back to 2003. This strategy has focused on building competitive, free Web sites and services in an effort to draw users, and building advertising platforms to help advertisers reach those users.
June 2003. MSNBot, a Microsoft technology that crawls Web pages for search indexing, is discovered by Web site owners. Microsoft acknowledges that it plans to build its own Web search engine, rather than continuing to rely on technology from Inktomi (which had been acquired by Yahoo in Dec. 2002).
July 2003. Yahoo acquires Overture, the main provider of search advertising on MSN Search. Publicly, Microsoft claims it will continue to stick with Overture/Yahoo, but it begins working on its own search advertising platform in late 2003.
Nov. 2004. Microsoft’s redesigned Web search engine, based on Microsoft search technology rather than technology from Inktomi/Yahoo, conducts its first public beta. This service launches as MSN Search in Jan. 2005 and is later renamed Windows Live Search, then Live Search.
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