Microsoft Acquires Ciao to Launch E-shopping Search

Microsoft purchased Ciao for $486 million in an effort to use its e-commerce Internet search business. Ciao is a price comparison Web site based in London.

Microsoft Corp confirms the purchase of Web site ciao.com for 486 million. The company said that it will use the popular price comparison website for Internet searches.

The acquisition is the latest in a series in an effort to build more consumer-friendly Internet search results.

Microsoft's consumer and online business in Europe, John Mangelaars, said "We call it 'instant answers'," and added that the company is very serious to boost its Internet search results.

Google has 62 percent of the global search market and 79 percent in Europe. Microsoft only has 9 percent market share worldwide. The company is outranked by online auction site eBay.

The recent purchase follows those of Norwegian enterprise search company Fast for about 1.2 billion early this year.

Last year, jellyfish.com sold for an undisclosed sum. The Web site offers consumer shopping and online auction features.