Microsoft’s online business continues to lose billions. I’ve long believed Microsoft needed to be in the ad-supported consumer web space, but I’m beginning to think my argument is running out of steam. Henry Blodget reiterates his opinion that Microsoft can’t make money there, got distracted trying to compete with Google and missed Apple’s resurgence, and would be better off focusing on mobile and tablets, which are real threats to its OS business. I figured Microsoft needed to be successful for a few reasons, both offensive and defensive. Google was its biggest threat in driving technology platforms and APIs, and search represented a valid alternative user interface. Plus, I reasoned that a lot of cloud-based enterprise services would be ad-supported, so Microsoft needed to learn the media/advertising business. Now, there are multiple important platforms – from Google, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft – whose APIs and usage conventions are driving consumer tech and  affecting enterprise IT. What do you think? Should Microsoft bail out of the consumer online business and re-focus?