• Reuters, Tuesday, July 26, 2011 12:23 PM

After investing millions in development and marketing, should Microsoft consider selling Bing? So suggests Robert Cyran in a Reuters opinion piece published last Friday. "Microsoft needs to concentrate on a different kind of search: finding a buyer for Bing, its online search business," Cyran writes. "The industry's distant No. 2 is a distraction for the software giant -- and one that costs shareholders dearly."

Microsoft's online services division, which includes Bing, lost $728 million in the second quarter -- and $2.6 billion over the past 12 months, according to Microsoft earnings released last week. "Facebook, or even Apple, might make a better home for Bing," according to Cyran. "And a sale would be a boon for Microsoft's investors."

Yet, as Cyran notes, "The company thinks search makes Microsoft's offerings in everything from mobile phones to business software more compelling," to which he adds, "Perhaps, but there's little evidence [of that] to date."

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