Microsoft, the maker of the popular Web browser Internet Explorer, has released a free tool for users of Mozilla  Corp.'s open source rival browser Firefox that provides search engine suggestions for Live Search, the Redmond, Washington-based software maker's search service. By releasing the Live Search add-on for Firefox, which places a small text entry box for searching in the upper right of the browser window, Microsoft became the last of the three most popular search engine firms to provide Firefox users search bar support. Microsoft Product For Firefox Could Signal Increased Non-Internet Explorer Support The Microsoft release was a rare addition targeting users of Firefox and not its own Internet Explorer browser, and may signal an increased interest at the Redmond firm in supporting a Firefox user-base that has grown to control more than 20 percent of the browser market share. Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the most popular Web browser since 1998, has lost more than 10 percent of its market share since December 2007, while Mozilla's Firefox browser gained 27.3 percent during 2008, according to December 2008 data from Web traffic analysis company Net Applications. Although not as potentially beneficial to Microsoft as having the Live Search capability built-in to Firefox, some analysts saw the add-on as a sign of increased recognition of those using rival browsers at the world's biggest software maker. "We've officially integrated Live Search into Firefox by popular demand," said Microsoft Live Search program manager Beatrice Oltean and senior product manager Debapriya Ray in a jointly authored message posted Thursday on Microsoft's Live Search blog. Automatic Search Engine Term Suggestion Tool For Firefox Live Search Users The Live Search add-on for Firefox was made available Thursday to United States users, as well as those in Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, South Africa, Ireland and the Philippines. Microsoft did not release information on future expansion of the Live Search add-on for Firefox users in additional nations. Microsoft said the tool offered an easier and speedier method for Firefox users to perform searches using Live  Search. "The Live Search add-on for Firefox gives you auto-suggestions from Live Search right in the browser while you're typing your query," Oltean and Ray wrote in the Thursday message. Internet Explorer, the most used Web browser for more than a decade since surpassing Netscape in 1998, ended 2008 with a 68.15 percent share of the market, a drop of 10.4 percent from its December 2007 position and down 26.35 percent from its 2003 peak saturation point of 94.5 percent, according to Aliso Viejo, California-based Net Applications. Firefox's 27.3 percent increase during 2008 came about when Mozilla gained an additional 4.5 percent of the browser market over the year, and ended the year with users of its browser accounting for a 21.34 percent share, according to the Net Applications. Microsoft Woos Users Of Rival Browser Firefox With Live Search Plug-in The Microsoft add-on for Firefox released Thursday came as the Redmond company sought to bolster its Live Search market share under new online services group president Qi Lu, the former Yahoo search and advertising vice president Microsoft hired in December. "We're here to win, and my view on this is that to win in the search space, fundamentally you build on the strengths of your product," Lu said last month. Lu brings to Microsoft a history that has included some 39 U.S. patents. The platform driving the new Firefox add-on is a part of the broad Silk Road project Microsoft launched in November 2008 at WebmasterWorld's PubCon conference, using Microsoft's Live Search API (application programming interface.) The add-on offered advantages over those available from other search engine firms, according to Alessandro Catorcini who is the lead program manager for the Microsoft Live Search API team. "This release, while relatively small in scope, takes advantage of the work we've done as part of our Live Search API 2.0 which enables the richest and most flexible search API offered by any major search provider," Catorcini noted in a message posted Thursday on Port25, an open source Web site for Microsoft developers. Related Links:
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