The State of Search
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Your friendly neighborhood search engine--what could be more familiar? Lately, though, whether you search with Google, Yahoo!, MSN, or some other search engine, you'll find big changes in the works. Some of these will make your life easier, some will drive you crazy -- and some will give you advertising when and where you least expect it. Clint Dixon gives you the straight story on what users and webmasters can expect.
Ahhh, now here is a subject most will have some familiarity with. Internet users are aware of search engines and how they are an integral part of our daily lives. Whether used for shopping, comparison shopping, research, investigation, or, for some, making a living based on helping others solve the complex issues of search engine optimization and how to get listed in the search engines results listings.
Currently there are several major initiatives under way at your friendly search engine of choice, to make your life simpler by having new tools developed, such as desktop search appliances. Google, AOL, MSN, Yahoo!, and Amazon’s A9 all offer search tools that will explore not only the World Wide Web and return relevant results, but will now go the extra mile and search your hard drive. Lycos released its HotBot Desktop tool earlier this year, and Ask Jeeves acquired a desktop search technology in June from Tukaroo.
Is it really that new of an idea? It certainly raises issues of privacy for many already leery of having their computers usage monitored, tabulated, and made available to marketing firms, behavioral research groups, and more. The fears of consumers and the hype by search engine marketers that this "new" tool is needed in our lives have raised concerns of privacy invasion and intrusion deeper into our personal lives. However, this innovation that the search engines are touting has been on your computer for years. Windows offers its own search tool that will allow you to search not only your desktop, but networked computers and the World Wide Web. With the Windows search tool there was worry of intrusion, but those fears had for the most part been alleviated.
What Google, MSN, Yahoo, and the others are trying to do is add the monetary equation of the search tools offered in your operating system in a stand alone easy access desktop search tool. There is growing need for the major search engines to appear more relevant. One way they are doing this is via new offerings to make searching easier for you and your busy life. The new tool does not increase the relevancy of the results, however, and this is where all of them could do a much better job.
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