SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. struck a deal with the world's
largest personal computer maker, Hewlett-Packard Co., to place a toolbar on new
PCs that leads to its Live Search engine, the companies said.
The deal is Microsoft's latest attempt to chip away at the
dominance of search leader Google Inc. The agreement, which takes effect next
January for new PCs in the United States and Canada, displaces a similar one HP
has with Yahoo Inc.
Under the agreement, Microsoft's search engine will also be
the default service on the Internet Explorer browser preloaded on new HP
computers. Microsoft did not disclose the terms of the agreement.
"This is the most significant distribution deal for Live
Search that Microsoft has ever done," said Kevin Johnson, president of
Microsoft's platform and services division.
Number-two PC maker Dell Inc. and Google have an agreement to
preinstall Web and desktop search software on Dell's consumer computers. It
expires in 2009.
A Dell spokesman said the company has not decided if it will
continue with Google after the current deal expires, but said it was "open to
alternative" partnerships.
Google continues to extend its lead in Web search. Research
firm comScore said Google's US Web search market share rose to a record 61.5
percent in April, while Yahoo's share declined to 20.4 percent and Microsoft's
slipped to 9.1 percent.
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has stepped up its efforts to catch
Google with a number of initiatives. Last month, it announced a new "cashback"
rewards program to encourage people to use its search engine to shop for items.
-Reuters
