| Microsoft Corp. and NBC have officially merged their financial Web sites, MoneyCentral.com and CNBC.com, about two months after announcing the partnership.
The new site, CNBC MoneyCentral, is to be part of MSN, Microsoft’s family of consumer-oriented online sites that also includes Slate and Hotmail.
Microsoft will operate the Web site out of offices in suburban Redmond, with editorial services split between Redmond and Fort Lee, N.J., where CNBC is based. The companies have said some layoffs would likely occur as a result of the merger.
Microsoft and General Electric Co.’s NBC unit already have a 50-50 partnership in MSNBC, a 6-year-old cable news channel and Web site.
Analysts have said NBC was likely interested in this partnership because its CNBC Web site had not been as successful in capturing Web users as expected.
Microsoft, on the other hand, is looking for a broader and deeper array of content on its MSN sites as it seeks to attract users to a broad array of planned paid services to be called HailStorm.
The new site will include stock quotes, news and other consumer-oriented financial information. | 
