Im getting MSN Beta now on MSN search

Looksmart is gone, replaced with Ink

[lgn1]

Im not sure if this is just a test mode, but im getting MSN Beta when I do a search on MSN.

All the 30 or 40 some looksmart listings are gone, and we are in the top 5 (other than the sponsored links), for our money keywords.

Im now getting more results from MSN that from Google.

So when do we stop calling MSN an alternative search engine, and promote it to its own category as with Yahoo and Google?

Big things are going to happen this year with MSN, and I see it replacing Google as the most popular search engine.

[redzone]

I ran searches in several verticals: travel, automotive, b2c, b2b, and still see LookSmart results in the "Web Directory" section....

[lgn1]

redzone, does the top of your page says MSN Beta.
I do get 2 or 3 looksmart listings for some verticals, but not the 40 something, just yesterday.

I wonder if this Beta is geograhically targeted,
Im from Canada but i am checking msn.com not msn.ca

[redzone]

I'm opening a fresh IE broswer at msn.com, and type phrases directly into their search input function..

I do not see any mention of Beta on the results page...

I do agree with you though, on MSN giving both Google and Yahoo a run, but it may not be this year... :) It has taken MSN so long to jump into the game. They just didn't put much importance on search, even though they control such a signifigant % of the "entry point" to the web, and browser dominance...

MSN was comfortable in farming out their search results to Overture/LS/Inktomi. Which was fine, but they definitely had the resources (financial/programming), to develop both their own Paid and Organic engines....

MSN getting serious about search guarantees us that Google and Yahoo will have to remain aggressive. Yahoo partnering with SBC was a marketing kudo in my book. It insures Yahoo that they are the start page for many broadband subscribers in the US...

If Google is not careful, they could end up like Inktomi in a few years.. Because he who controls the entry point to the web, controls search to a large extent... And the three that currently control the majority percentage are: MSN/AOL-TimeWarner/Yahoo-SBC in the US..