MSN today debuted a beta version of its new MSN® Search service, providing consumers with more useful answers to their questions and more control over their search experience, which results in faster access to the information they are seeking online. The new MSN Search is designed to reduce the time and effort required by consumers to find information online by offering one of the largest, most up-to-date selections of information and a new class of powerful, customizable search tools.

The global beta version of MSN Search is available today for public use in the United States at http://beta.search.msn.com, and worldwide in 26 markets and 11 languages from local MSN Web sites.* The new MSN Search allows consumers to quickly receive relevant answers from a universe of more than 5 billion Web documents.

New and innovative features in MSN Search provide an enhanced search experience by providing relevant answers to direct questions -- such as "What is the second-longest coastline in the world?" -- within the search results. In addition, the Search Near Me feature automatically provides information and resources that are close to home, dramatically reducing the time needed to find geographically relevant information and eliminating the need to sift through thousands of links. Finally, searching for news, images or music is fully integrated into the new, streamlined search experience.