Word around the blogosphere is that Microsoft is set to make some superficial changes to its web-search engine feature. Microsoft has bought the domain kumo.com, and it’s being reported that they’re keeping it in the same area as their Live search is held.

So what are they up to? Speculation over a rebrand is what seems to be the dominant opinion. If you’re unaware, Kumo is a Japanese word for “spider” as well as “cloud.”

Now, Microsoft is a bit of a distant third in the big-name search game, and while it’s unlikely that a rebrand will catapult them into second or first, a fresh face often has the ability to draw in some number of new users.

This speculation correlates with the fact that Microsoft is looking to improve on their search offering, as opposed to buying Yahoo. In fact, just last Friday Microsoft reported the hiring of a former Yahoo Search exec, who is likely to focus on revamping Microsoft’s search feature.