Now with more cowbell

Microsoft's Live Search Webmaster Center unveiled a handful of new features to encourage more liberal use of the service.

An upgraded malware detection procedure "more efficiently" detects whether webpages on your server, or sites connected to your own, host malware. (Malware is typically defined as programs downloaded into a user's computer without his or her knowledge.) Should the tool locate any malware, infected sites or links will be flagged.

Clients can also download detailed reports of malware attacks on a suite of sites, supplemented with tips on fixing the issues.

Outbound links filtering lets users filter out links that point to malware-infected sites.

Finally, simplified authentication provides the option of using one authentication code for all sites listed in your Webmaster Center account. Multiple authentication codes will still be supported, and your last successful authentication method will become the default method for all sites.