Does Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) really continue to believe that it can grab internet search market share away from giants like Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo!, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO)? The software company, which time and time again has said it intends to continue competing in the race for search market share, is about to release its latest effort -- Bing.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is aiming to get its web search tool on more screens -- both on PCs and mobile phones. Although Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) pretty much dominates that space already, Microsoft wants its brand power in as many areas as possible -- even if there is no money to be made.

Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) has just dealt Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) a huge blow at the worst possible time. The world's leading PC maker and largest seller in hot laptop PC category will be replacing Yahoo! with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s Live Search services starting next January.

It's been my experience that a majority of PC users use the default portal and search engine services that come installed on their PCs. Moving Yahoo! off the world's best-selling PC line won't do anything to help Yahoo! but will do everything to help Microsoft compete more head-on with Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). That little web browser toolbar many of us use is billion-dollar real estate, and Yahoo!'s is about to be booted off in favor of Microsoft's.

Microsoft said that the upcoming search partnership with the world's largest seller of PCs would deliver "a very high" volume of search queries. This is just what Microsoft needs to more effectively compete in the internet search arena with Google, but it won't mean serious competition with the search leader either. Still, more search revenue for Microsoft will definitely be seen as a good thing. Meanwhile, Yahoo! will be pondering options on where its future rests, but we'll probably get a better idea before 2009 once the company has its annual shareholders' meeting some time in July.

With Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) single-handedly ruling the online search world at this point in time, does Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) or Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) have any chance of ever making as much money in the search advertising game as Google? Some think that not even a company as mighty as Microsoft has a chance against Google. First-mover advantage is everything in some cases, and Google has it big-time in this case.

Is the end of installed software imminent? Not by a long shot, even though some predict that the "network will be the computer" and that this will end the days of locally-installed software. For corporate data center IT execs I've talked to, the thought of relying on a disconnected "network" to host IT services sends shudders down their spines. It's true however that some of the desktop computing experience is moving from software to the Internet. For example, I no longer use Microsoft Outlook at all -- and almost all my daily work is done from a web browser. But Microsoft Word and Excel are still vital apps.

Microsoft may be facing a major transition, however, as the cash cow of software will probably slow over time unless PC sales go hog wild for some reason. But what about Internet search?

Microsoft probably won't ever be able to catch Google, and maybe it should not try. But then what does the company do? Microsoft's www.live.com search engine is not growing -- it's faltering, actually -- and the company is obviously trying to get some kind of momentum going in the advertising-based Internet arena to compete against Google, which is making money hand over fist. As of this morning, it is being reported that Microsoft is even interested in buying DoubleClick, a leading web advertising firm. This time, though, the "me too" acquisition strategy may not even be enough for the software giant.

(Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 3-28-07.)

Ah. To believe that anything is possible. That's the ticket.

Shares of IAC/InteractiveCorp. (NASDAQ:IACI) have done well this year, up almost 15%. Odd for an internet stock, although the company also owns big TV commerce channel Home Shopping Network. Regardless, part of IAC's appeal is that it owns No. 5 search engine Ask.com.

According to Comscore, Ask.com has between 5% and 6% of the U.S. search engine user market. Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has over 45%, followed by Yahoo!, Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) with 28%, and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) with 12%.

It would appear that Google will hold its lead, at least until hell freezes over. Search is still critical to the strategies of Yahoo! and Microsoft.

Microsoft can't stumble in search. For the new Microsoft Live suite of products to work, its search function has to be more widely used. In fact, the company is making the case that it can close the ground between ifself and the two leaders to anyone who will listen: "We believe the search business is still in its infancy, and we're upping our game with cutting edge features like best of breed Local and Image search, along with practical tools that give people more control to help them better find what they're searching for," a company spokesperson told BetaNews.