Microsoft executives briefing reporters on what appears to be yet another shift in the company’s Web strategy are indicating the software giant’s commitment to its Internet sites -- CarPoint specifically and HomeAdvisor vicariously -- may not be as strong as previously believed.

Microsoft President Steve Ballmer last week introduced former Silicon Graphics CEO Richard Belluzzo as the new chief of Microsoft’s money-losing Internet operations.

Belluzzo was quoted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as stating his goal was to bring profits to the Web side of the business, saying, "We will be intensely focused ... working to get a return on investment as quickly as possible."

From the same briefing, Ballmer was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying the company’s successful CarPoint site may be on the block, and possibly others. HomeAdvisor officials could not be reached for comment.

"I don't think helping people buy cars, while important to us, anyone would see as the fundamental mission of Microsoft," Ballmer said. "CarPoint is not tied to our core competency."

Although not specifically naming HomeAdvisor as potentially for sale, Belluzzo indicated Microsoft would shift its efforts and work to become a major provider of Internet software and services, developing more vehicles by which consumers and business can gain access to the Web.

The general Internet operation has "had a little more in the way of fits and starts and distractions than we ought to, (and) we’ve all resolved as a team that we’re gonna focus on fewer things," the Intelligencer reporter Ballmer as saying.

The Ballmer/Belluzzo news conference was greeted with curiosity in real estate circles, inevitably prompting conversation about whether Microsoft might spin off HomeAdvisor.

CarPoint, which helps consumers locate and purchase cars, had widely been considered a successful Internet site, though it reportedly has never turned a profit.

Likewise, in less than a year, HomeAdvisor has built itself into one of the four largest real estate listing sites on the Web and appeared as likely as any to eventually produce a positive cash flow. In the past, HomeAdvisor executives have confirmed the Web site’s negative cash flow but insisted Microsoft was "in the race for the long haul."

The largest of the Web aggregators is Homestore.com with its flagship REALTOR.com site. REALTOR.com says it has about 1.3 million listings, while HomeAdvisor, HomeSeekers.com and VISTAinfo all have claimed about 800,000 property ads.

Earlier this year Microsoft sold a substantial part of its Sidewalk site, featuring the arts and entertainment, to TicketMaster for some $240 million.

There also have been reports that it has attempted to sell its Expedia travel services site and its share in MSNBC, its television news operation.