But at the time search wasn't really Microsoft's wheelhouse. That became immediately apparent to everyone who then immediately made the deliberate switch to Goo

But at the time search wasn't really Microsoft's wheelhouse. That became immediately apparent to everyone who then immediately made the deliberate switch to Google. Essentially giftwrapping public trust in Microsoft and handing it to Google. Microsoft shooting themselves in the foot was the best thing for Google at that time. Microsoft was prioritizing an unscalable revenue stream: advertising. Google was expanding the search market, and later came back for the advertising and browser markets once it had resources. Up until about the Google plus days Google never engaged in an endeavor with serious competition.