When Microsoft realized Google was making money hand over fist from selling advertising it made the company realize it could no longer take its position in the PC market for granted according to the Associated Press.
While some of Microsoft's recent moves have been the same as those made earlier by Google, including creating an online ad network, the company said it has no plans to simply follow Google's lead in decisions it makes. Executive Ray Ozzie, who replaced Bill Gates as top technology exec last year, said that online productivity applications such as Office Live have been in the planning stages for a while now and are not just a response to Google's plays in that field. Ozzie says Microsoft will not only offer PC software and online applications but also make mobile extensions of those available.

Regarding the search market, Ozzie says that search functionality will be available in a number of different vertical communities such as video gaming, a strategy that makes different search functions avialable where the online visitor is at the time. That was part of the logic behind Microsoft's recent acquisition of Medstory, a health search engine.