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Mary Jo Foley has a profit dig out today on a distribution deal between Microsoft and Dell for Live Search. Currently, Google’s search toolbar is preloaded on Dell PCs. Officials aren’t commenting, moreover Foley cites unnamed sources familiar with the manner of making saying the sum of two units tech giants “have signed a deal by way of which Dell determination be shipping starting anew PCs with the Live Search toolbar preinstalled.”

“My sources say that Microsoft has offered Dell sweet enough articles of agreement to entice the PC composer to take the place of its search-preload deal with Google with a comparable offering from Microsoft,” Foley reports.

Meanwhile, Qi Lu, Microsoft’session new Online Services Group president, told The Wall Street Journal that Microsoft’s ability to invest in Internet search was a key enticement. “In my interaction with Steve [Ballmer] the person thing that impressed and won me over is the make horizontal of commitment they are investing,” reported Lu, who left Yahoo, in what place he was charged with execution vice president in charge of search and advertising, in August.

Lu cited Microsoft’s investments in distribution deals specifically:

“They’re investing resources, they’re investing in our ability to distribute a product, investing in things that we can do to ensure we have at the highest quality of user actual trial, and that’s very, very important,” Lu said.

Microsoft has inked several significant distribution deals for Live Search with PC makers, in a invite to grow its place of traffic share.

In October, Google had 63.1 percent of the U.S. search market. Yahoo had 20.5 percent and Microsoft had 8.5 percent, according to comScore.

In March 2007, Microsoft cut a global deal with Lenovo to preinstall Live services, including search, on new PCs.

In June, Microsoft landed a North American distribution deal with Hewlett-Packard, set to begin in 2009.


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