MSN/Live Search received a substantial boost to its volume of queries after launching a game site that makes players use Live Search to gain points.

Microsoft Buys Its Way To More Searches

All that money IAC has spent on advertising about Ask.com and the algorithm hasn’t helped move the search engine’s market share. It turns out that people want free stuff, not billboards, and Microsoft is giving its users what they want.

Online measurement firm Compete found a big jump in search market share for the MSN/Live brand for June 2007. Microsoft’s search sites moved from 8.4 percent in May to 13.2 percent in June.

Their gain seems to be Google’s loss. Google picked up a hefty 62.7 percent of the market, down from 67 percent in May. Yahoo’s 19.6 percent represented a tiny drop from 19.7 percent in May, while Ask dropped from 3.5 to 3.3 percent.

Steve Ballmer and company can thank Live Search Club for the boost, according to Compete’s Steve Willis.

“We didn