If you pay attention to the search engine usage stats released each month, you might notice a general trend taking place:  Live Search (MSN) continues to lose market share to Google and Yahoo.  Even though Microsoft has invested heavily in its search technology, the results of that investment haven't materialized yet.  No one knows this more than Microsoft.

In fact, Erik Selberg of Live search has posted an honest and careful examination of just why his company's search engine continues to falter.

Selberg points out the differences in the Google approach to search engineering and Microsoft's by labeling Google enginers as "self-starters who are into big risk / big reward."  In what can almost be taken as jab at his employer, he continues with an analogous comparison of Live's attempt to mimic Google as akin to Beethoven remastering Mozart.  But, as he points out, the risk of messing things up that are already working might become a problem for Google.  So much, in fact, he's predicting a decline in Google innovation spurred by a fear of ruining a good thing.  Time will tell if he's right.

As for Yahoo, Selberg says, the tough position of being the middle-man (between Google and Microsoft) has led to Yahoo's "peanut butter" problems.

I agree with Selberg's analysis of Live's position:  right now it's all about Google.  Google has the brand and Google has the results.  Live is set as the default search engine in Internet Explorer but that doesn't mean people use it.  Those who know how simply change the default to something else and those who don't just navigate to their search engine of choice.

Regardless of who we're talking about, be it Google or Yahoo or Live or whoever… there's no one key to gaining share.  It's about brand.  It's about search results.  It's about features.  And it's about marketing.  Most web-browsing humans across the globe know what Google is.  Do they know what Live is?  Do they know what Ask.com is?

So you see.  It's not just us little guys that have to work on bringing people in.  Even the big players have to market themselves to users.