Microsoft's declining share is important because the company has made search a key component of its push to catch up with Google in the multi-billion-dollar online advertising market.
Microsoft's online search has suffered a steady decline in market share over the last 12 months, while its biggest rival Google continues to grow.
The downward trend of Live Search, formerly called MSN Search, is reflected in figures released recently by three Web metrics firms: ComScore Networks, HitWise, and Nielsen/NetRatings. The site SearchEngineWatch plotted the monthly numbers for each of the top three search engines. With some hiccups, leader Google saw a steady increase in market share, and No. 2 Yahoo stayed about the same.
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