Bottom line, IMO, if they integrate search into the OS they have the \"secret sauce\" and possibly the best chance to \"personalize\" search based on data collected by the OS. Personalizing search seems to be the new holy grail for search engines.
Like Bernard, I have \"security and privacy\" concerns but if it works what the heck! It does mean a one horse search race again as I\'m sure this would be the preferred method based solely on convenience. M$ has demonstrated over and over it can leverage its products using the OS. With search looking like a real revenue winner it makes sense for M$ to once again use the OS in the manner it did with browsers and Media players. The difference in this case is it will also lead to increased revenue.
We have a one horse race presently but if Yahoo! drops Google that is a big hit on it\'s overall usage. G\'s stranglehold is mainly a result of AOL and Yahoo! also using its index. Remove both or just one and G still has a commanding lead but it isn\'t a one horse race. Sure one horse has a big lead but the others then need to be at least considered, presently it\'s almost a waste of time.
IMO, with longhorn you\'ll see search integrated into all MS software. In software such as FrontPage and VisualStudio you\'ll likely see direct ties into paid Inclusion similar to how FP gives hosting suggestions for those looking for those services. I have seen a steady increase in SEO related addins (components) for FP.
As to it all being about the buck name one search site beyond DMOZ which isn\'t all about the buck and I\'ll show you the next caualty in the SE wars! Google goes about things a little differently and does seem to get the fact that monetizing the results at any cost is a stupid strategy. It seems to weigh the pros and cons of relevancy.
IMO, that\'s why Froogle is a separate site. A year from now that will be PFI. Their strategy seems to be the only one that is looking to protect the relevancy of regular results and the FTC\'s concerns. I also like that their feed is done in a way which makes it fairly easy for anyone to build it.
