econman - 8:12 pm on Sep 28, 2005 (gmt 0)

In general, I think M$ will find it pretty difficult to compete with Google. Certainly, they haven't been very successful in the software market except in situatinos where they have been able to leverage their monopoly power. But, even if MSN doesn't succeed, it could create put some pressure on Google, to the benefit of web publishers.

Also, let's not forget that both Yahoo and M$ are shooting at Google. In general, the chances that the market will become more competitive increase as the number of significant players increases.