InternetMicrosoft to Keep Spending Big on Search

UPDATED: During its annual financial confab, Microsoft brass says the company has no plans to retreat from sizable -- and costly -- investment in online ads and search.

UPDATED: For large stockholders and analysts who would like Microsoft to slow down its spending on its as-yet-unprofitable portal and search businesses, the company has one message: No way. Company executives stood their ground despite repeated questions by analysts questioning Microsoft's huge investments in its money losing Online Services Business. At Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) annual financial analysts meeting Thursday, senior corporate executives from CEO Steve Ballmer on down the ranks said that continued investments in areas such as online advertising and search will continue, as well as spending on consumer technologies such as Windows Live. "If we're going to be in this game, we're going to have to ante up," Ballmer told the crowd of financial bigwigs attending the meeting, which Microsoft holds annually following its year-end results to provide a briefing for influential stock-pickers and analysts. RELATED ARTICLES Microsoft Veteran Takes Top Spot at Juniper Yahoo, Icahn Settle; Microsoft Out? Microsoft Dinged Despite Hefty Revenues Microsoft Still Courting Yahoo's Search Business? For more stories on this topic: Just in the area of online search, Microsoft needs to spend between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion in fiscal 2009 to help the company "reinvent" search, Ballmer said. That's because much media is not yet in digital form, and neither is most advertising. "All media are becoming digital... [ Read more on www.internetnews.com ]

InternetGoogle launches rival to Wikipedia (AFP)

AFP - Google has launched its own version of communally constructed online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which consistently ranks among the most visited websites in the world.

InternetMicrosoft CEO backs Web spending, "done" with Yahoo (Reuters)

Reuters - Chief Executive Steve Ballmer on Thursday defended Microsoft Corp's need to make heavy investments in its Internet businesses but said the company was "done," for now, with pursuing Yahoo Inc.