Microsoft’s Bing search engine hasn’t put a dent in Google’s mastery of the market yet, but executive Yusuf Mehdi thinks it could do so soon, once the search ad partnership with Yahoo is completed.

Bing might even make some money eventually, he suggested in an interview today, once advertisers start to see it as a creditable alternative to Google.

But how long does it have to achieve those goals? Microsoft has lost more than $5 billion in its online business in the last four years. The company keeps saying it is a long-term project, but surely it has to see results soon.

Mehdi’s answer to that question in the clip below, and his thoughts on the delayed relaunch of the MSN portal,  from an interview at Bing’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington today.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp’s 10-month-old search engine Bing, which has struggled to make headway against Google, can be a viable runner-up and make money online eventually, according to one of its top executives.

The world’s biggest software company has lost more than $5 billion over the past four years trying to build an online business, but hopes to reverse that trend once it completes a search advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc.

“As soon as we close and implement the Yahoo deal, we have achieved a milestone: for advertisers, we are a credible No. 2,” Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of Microsoft’s online audience business, said in an interview on Tuesday.

“Really now, the goal is about share gain. If we grow share, we will grow our way into profitability, and we have confidence we can do that,” said Mehdi, who is charged with making Bing and the MSN portal a financial success.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp posted a bigger-than-expected 60 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of Windows 7, and said it expected business technology spending to recover this year.

The world’s biggest software maker said on Thursday that net profit came to $6.7 billion, or 74 cents per share, for its fiscal second quarter, versus $4.2 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts were expecting 59 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Microsoft’s stock rose 1 percent in after-hours trading, a relatively muted reaction that analysts attributed in part to a run-up in the stock following the launch of the Windows 7 operating system in October.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp posted a bigger-than-expected 60 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of Windows 7, and said it expected business technology spending to recover this year.

The world’s biggest software maker said on Thursday that net profit came to $6.7 billion, or 74 cents per share, for its fiscal second quarter, versus $4.2 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts were expecting 59 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Microsoft’s stock rose 1 percent in after-hours trading, a relatively muted reaction that analysts attributed in part to a run-up in the stock following the launch of the Windows 7 operating system in October.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp posted a bigger-than-expected 60 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of Windows 7, and said it expected business technology spending to recover this year.

The world’s biggest software maker said on Thursday that net profit came to $6.7 billion, or 74 cents per share, for its fiscal second quarter, versus $4.2 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts were expecting 59 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Microsoft’s stock rose 1 percent in after-hours trading, a relatively muted reaction that analysts attributed in part to a run-up in the stock following the launch of the Windows 7 operating system in October.

SEATTLE, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> posted a bigger-than-expected 60 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of Windows 7, and said it expected business technology spending to recover this year.

The world’s biggest software maker said on Thursday that net profit came to $6.7 billion, or 74 cents per share, for its fiscal second quarter, versus $4.2 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts were expecting 59 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Microsoft’s stock rose 1 percent in after-hours trading, a relatively muted reaction that analysts attributed in part to a run-up in the stock following the launch of the Windows 7 operating system in October.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is expected to report a strong jump in quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by the successful launch of Windows 7, but it may not be enough to satisfy demanding investors and push its stock higher.

IBM, Google Inc and Apple Inc have all beaten average Wall Street estimates this quarter, but saw their stocks fall or gain only slightly afterward as investors looked for more indications of strength.

For Microsoft, that could mean showing evidence that companies are starting to — or getting ready to — buy personal computers after holding off on technology spending in the turbulent economy.

“I think Microsoft probably did OK, but I want to hear the commentary looking forward on that area,” said Kim Caughey, analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, which holds Microsoft shares.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is expected to report a strong jump in quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by the successful launch of Windows 7, but it may not be enough to satisfy demanding investors and push its stock higher.

IBM, Google Inc and Apple Inc have all beaten average Wall Street estimates this quarter, but saw their stocks fall or gain only slightly afterward as investors looked for more indications of strength.

For Microsoft, that could mean showing evidence that companies are starting to — or getting ready to — buy personal computers after holding off on technology spending in the turbulent economy.

“I think Microsoft probably did OK, but I want to hear the commentary looking forward on that area,” said Kim Caughey, analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, which holds Microsoft shares.

SEATTLE, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> is expected to report a strong jump in quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by the successful launch of Windows 7, but it may not be enough to satisfy demanding investors and push its stock higher.

IBM <IBM.N>, Google Inc <GOOG.O> and Apple Inc <AAPL.O> have all beaten average Wall Street estimates this quarter, but saw their stocks fall or gain only slightly afterward as investors looked for more indications of strength.

For Microsoft, that could mean showing evidence that companies are starting to — or getting ready to — buy personal computers after holding off on technology spending in the turbulent economy.

“I think Microsoft probably did OK, but I want to hear the commentary looking forward on that area,” said Kim Caughey, analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, which holds Microsoft shares.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Bill Gates, the world’s richest man and a leading philanthropist, said on Sunday spending by rich countries aimed at combating climate change in developing nations could mean a dangerous cut in aid for health issues.

Gates, the Microsoft Corp co-founder whose $34 billion foundation is fighting malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases in developing countries, expressed concern about the amount of spending pledged at December’s Copenhagen global climate meeting.

Participants at the meeting agreed to a target of channeling $100 billion per year to developing countries to combat climate change by 2020. Gates said that amount represents more than three quarters of foreign aid currently given by the richest countries per year.

“I am concerned that some of this money will come from reducing other categories of foreign aid, especially health,” Gates wrote in a letter, released late on Sunday, describing the work of his foundation.