On Monday, Microsoft's MSN division began beta testing an automated news service, called "MSN Newsbot" that looks and works like archrival Google's Google News service (which also is in beta).

MSN made the beta available to consumers in the U.K., France, Italy and Spain.

See the MSN Newsbot Page

And the Google News Page

The Newsbot technology was developed by the MSN Search team, according to Karen Redetzki, MSN product manager. Like Google News, which scours 4,500 online news sources for the latest stories and compiles them automatically, MSN Newsbot scans "over 4,000 news sources," according to the "About" page on the MSN service. MSN is working with online news aggregator Moreover Technologies and Microsoft's Research division on the new service.

But Redetzki claims the similarities between MSN Newsbot and other online news services end there. MSN Search has developed algorithms that determine which news stories to feature and in which order, based on the aggregated interests of MSN Newsbot customers.

However, this search algorithm has nothing to do with a new search engine under development by MSN Search. Nor is it related to the similarly named MSNBot, MSN's Web crawler that is expected to be part of that search engine, company officials say.

Microsoft's MSNBot began crawling the Web this summer, as noted by a number of Web site operators. But Microsoft has declined to say when MSNBot will enter official beta test and/or ship.

Read More About MSNBot Here

"There is not a direct connection," says an MSN spokeswoman. "MSN Newsbot is not a part of the MSNBot development work."

MSN officials declined to say when MSN plans to broaden the MSN Newsbot beta for other audiences, including the U.S. They also would not comment on when Microsoft plans to release the final version of the news service.