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Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) search dominance remains intact. According to a recent report from Hitwise, the firm garnered about 66% of Web searches in the US (for December). That's up from 63% in the same period a year ago.
How about Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT)? Well, things are not so good. Over the same period, the market share fell from 9.8% to 7%.
So what to do? As usual, Microsoft is spending more money.
That is, today the firm announced it is shelling out $1.2 billion for Fast Search & Transfer, ASA (OSL: FAST), which is a search company based in Norway.
On its face, the deal looks kind of pricey. After all, Fast lost $126 million over the past two quarters and has been undergoing some restructuring (the stock was also a dog in 2007).
Yet, keep in mind that Fast deals primarily with enterprise customers. No doubt, with the explosion of data, it's a big growth opportunity. And by all accounts, Fast has a top-notch offering.
What's more, the technology will be melded into Microsoft's Sharepoint franchise, which is a collaboration platform that is growing rapidly.
So while Microsoft continues to lag with consumer search, perhaps it has a chance to get the momentum with enterprise search, right? It does seem like a good bet -- and Microsoft has an extensive customer base to push it forward. What's more, the Fast platform may also seep into Microsoft's consumer efforts as well.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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