In the New York Times, John Markoff cites an anonymous source who received advance briefing from Microsoft, and says the software giant "is planning to introduce its long-awaited Internet search engine on Thursday."

Markoff reports that "Word of the introduction of the service, which will compete with Google and Yahoo, was leaked on Tuesday after the company began phoning reporters offering briefings for Wednesday."

Markoff missed one detail that Scarlet Pruitt of the IDG News Service includes in her InfoWorld story today: "The new search engine will go live on the company's MSN Web site, a representative for the company said."

Business Week's Ben Elgin is fuzzy on the timing of the announcement, reporting that "After more than a year of quiet work, Microsoft is expected to launch a test version of its first Internet search engine later this week."

Over at Eweek, Matt Hicks adds more detail, explaining that Microsoft will launch a "public beta" of the search engine, and goes on to say, "The beta will expand on MSN's technology preview of its new search engine that has been available through the MSN Sandbox site. MSN launched a second preview last month with a Web index of about 5 billion documents after conducting a smaller two-month test earlier in the summer."

Hicks notes what many of the stories include: that the new Microsoft search engine will eventually replace the Yahoo! technology used at MSN.com, and predicts the search engine pioneer will get the boot about a year from now.

Meanwhile, in the Wall Street Journal, Robert A. Guth's story does not cite a source, says Microsoft "will open to the public its service for searching the Internet" tomorrow, then seems to contradict himself when he writes that "Microsoft, which has been testing the service on a limited basis since June, has said it will start the public version of the service by year-end." I guess it all depends on what the meaning of "public" is.

SearchEngineWatch.com cuts through the Microsoft pre-announcement briefing hype (which it appears not to have received first hand) to ask, "What's the source of these rumors? MSN is briefing members of the press about the launch, and the news is leaking out. But exact details other than a release is planned are sparse."

Back in Silicon Valley, the San Francisco Chronicle did not publish a story on this subject today, while the San Jose Mercury News offers a bare-bones Associated Press wire service version which reports that Microsoft "will offer consumers a preview of its technology for searching the Internet, beginning Thursday."

Two things seem certain:

1. Microsoft has been successful in placing news stories about Thursday's announcement.

2. The varying details, or lack thereof, of the various stories paint a confusing picture reminiscent of the message that emerges from the end of a long line of children playing "Telephone."

Pity the poor investors who are trying to figure out whether to buy or short search engine company shares today.

Maybe this will help. At Scripting News, Dave Winer says: "Lots of rumors floating around about Microsoft's new supposed Google-killing search engine. Google stock is down as a result of the buzz, maybe. As you may know, I own 100 shares, bought just after the IPO at $100. I also was briefed on a new Microsoft service about a month ago. I can't talk about it now. I'm not selling my Google stock."

Links:

At Last, a Microsoft Search Tool by John Markoff, New York Times

Microsoft to launch new search engine technology by Scarlet Pruitt, IDG News Service

Google, Meet Microsoft by Ben Elgin, Business Week

MSN Search Beta Set to Launch by Matt Hicks, Eweek

MSN Search Technology To Debut (Again) This Week, SearchEngineWatch.com

Microsoft Is Set to Unveil Its Internet Search Service by Robert A. Guth, Wall Street Journal

Microsoft previews search tool by the Associated Press, in the San Jose Mercury News

Scripting News blog entry

Sandbox, Microsoft's site, link from the Eweek story.