Microsoft: Microsoft Live Search: Search engine

II – 1.3 Microsoft Live Search: Search engine

Before November 2004 Microsoft was dependent on other companies technologies regarding their search engine. But after this period Microsoft developed his own product by itself.
Live search is an online web search engine available at http://www.live.com/ . It is a service which is in direct competition with other big search and worldwide well known engines such as Google(created in 1998), Yahoo(created in 1994) and Baidu(created in 2000).
Microsoft Live Search is the fourth most used search engine in the world after Google, Yahoo and Baidu.
What makes this search engine very interesting to study is that it is definitely not following his competitors for its distribution channels. Which actually is quite amazing because Microsoft has for reputation to be a follower regarding innovations on technology(except for the operating system).