The Nasdaq Stock Market on Tuesday launched an index tracking Internet companies, and, as the guys at Read/WriteWeb reported earlier this week, Microsoft -- despite its multi-billion-dollar investments in online services and infrastructure -- was not included.

Here's how Nasdaq described the purpose of the new index:

"The Index is a new benchmark designed to track the performance of companies engaged in a broad range of internet-related services including internet access providers, internet search engines, web hosting, website design, and internet retail commerce. The NASDAQ Internet Index is comprised of securities of companies that are at the forefront of internet technology. They are leading innovators in providing faster internet access, creating more intuitive e-commerce experiences, and developing the second generation Web."

I think there are at least a couple of people in Redmond who would say they're working on some of that stuff. I called Nasdaq to ask why Microsoft was not included. Spokesman Wayne Lee said:

"If you use most industry classification codes, Microsoft is generally classified as a software company, not an Internet one, so, we refer to various sources when determining which companies are indeed Internet and subsequently eligible for inclusion in the Internet Index."

Update: The Index, which is up slightly today and is up 35 percent for the 10-months ended Oct. 31 (compared with 27.4 for the Nasdaq 100), contains several Northwest stocks including: AMZN, EXPE, CLWR, NILE, DSCM, RNWK, MCHX and INSP. Here's the whole list (Excel spreadsheet).