Portable Planet

Microsoft announced today that both Live.com and Live Search are being released from Beta in 47 global markets. We assume that they got off with time served due to good behavior and keeping shiv-related activity to a minimum. Now Live will be the official engine for MSN, which pulls in 465 million unique visitors a month. This may come as a surprise, but I believe that’s slightly less than the traffic we get here at Portable Planet.

“The launch of Live Search is a significant milestone for our services business, with our core search and monetization platform ready for prime time for MSN and Windows Live(TM) as well as for partners through syndication deals,” said Christopher Payne, corporate vice president of Live Search at Microsoft.

“We now have the base to weave search through our services in ways that bring value to customers. This is just the beginning. We look forward to continued investment in search to deliver services that bring new levels of control and personalization to the Web experience.”