Talking about efforts to revamp their MSN Search service, Microsoft executives point out that many people search the Web not for sites, per se, but rather for specific pieces of information, and answers to questions. That, they say, is the thinking behind the proposed Answerbot, one of three supplementary search services discussed during an MSN presentation at an online advertising conference earlier this year.

As explained at the time, the Answerbot service is still under development and much further away from launch than the other two services, Newsbot and Blogbot