B&N.com, Microsoft in Multimillion-Dollar Deal.(barnesandnoble.com. Inc. signs deal with Microsoft Corp to be exclusive book retailer on the Microsoft Network)(Brief Article)

Agreement raises stakes in battle with Amazon

THE HIGH-STAKES RACE to sign strategic agreements with heavily trafficked Web sites continues: Barnesandnoble.com has announced a multimillion-dollar deal with the Microsoft Network to be the exclusive English-language bookseller on MSN.com and its global network of portal Web sites.

The new deal is the latest in a series of agreements by the major online booksellers aimed at channeling the millions of consumers who visit sites such as MSN.com toward their online storefronts. Ben Boyd, a spokesperson for B&N.com, told PW the deal is "multimillion-dollar and multiyear."

Boyd told PW that the agreement …