In May 2006, Amazon announced it would be replacing Google as a search results provider with Windows Live from Microsoft. Earlier today, Amazon announced it was, basically, replacing A9 with Windows Live.

Dave Utter from WebProNews wrote a good review of the revamped A9.com search engine.

“The partnership between Amazon.com and Microsoft for search services has led to a massive overhaul of the functionality for A9.com, the search engine operated by Amazon.”

In the piece, Dave notes that A9 has given up a number of once important features that overlapped with services Microsoft offers such as the A9 Toolbar, “… which should be uninstalled now”.

A9 has also sacrificed its hybrid Maps and Yellow Pages service that featured the ambitious BlockView project that displayed a street-level view of blocks from city street maps. In 2004 Amazon had hired students to spend the summer capturing images of every business storefront in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Manhattan, Denver, LA, Seattle, Portland and the Bay Area.

The move is good for both companies, giving A9 a deeper search database to pull from and Microsoft a high traffic partner to serve paid advertising to. As Dave notes in his piece though,

Considering the expense Amazon likely incurred in collecting BlockView photos, Microsoft must be paying handsomely for Amazon to shut this down.