MSN Search Links Up With Times Online

The British news site will have its search functions powered by MSN, as Microsoft finds placement in an area where Google and Yahoo have dominated.

A deal that will place the MSN brand on the Times Online web site will be in place until June 2006, Brand Republic reported. Exact terms were not disclosed, though the report said the deal was in the six-figure range.

Microsoft’s MSN.co.uk will be the search engine of choice for those making web queries from the Times Online site. MSN tracks queries from the Times via the Atlas service, a marketing firm that collects online metrics. Web searches from the Times redirect to a results page on MSN.co.uk.

In a statement, Stuart Anderson, search marketing manager at MSN UK, said: “As one of the UK’s leading news sites, Times Online is a perfect partner for MSN Search. Users will enjoy more precision and more relevance to their search queries.”

The arrangement is a good PR win for MSN Search. Placement deals like this one have generally went to Google or Yahoo. Microsoft has been talking up its relevance as recently as the just-ended PubCon in Las Vegas, where a Microsoft representative used unexpectedly direct language to compare MSN to Google. He claimed MSN’s results showed that quality gives better relevance than quantity.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.