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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (May 16, 2007) – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)
today announced its critical first steps toward a universal search
model that will offer users a more integrated and comprehensive way to
search for and view information online. The company also introduced an
updated homepage design and several new navigation features that make
it faster and easier for users to find the information they are
looking for.

“Our focus has always been making our users’ search experience as
simple and straightforward as possible,” said Marissa Mayer, vice
president of search products and user experience at Google. “The
ultimate goal of universal search is to break down the silos of
information that exist on the web and provide the very best answer
every time a user enters a query. While we still have a long way to
go, today’s announcements are a big step in that direction.”

Google’s vision for universal search is to ultimately search across
all its content sources, compare and rank all the information in real
time, and deliver a single, integrated set of search results that
offers users precisely what they are looking for. Beginning today, the
company will incorporate information from a variety of previously
separate sources – including videos, images, news, maps, books, and
websites – into a single set of results. At first, universal search
results may be subtle. Over time users will recognize additional types
of content integrated into their search results as the company
advances toward delivering a truly comprehensive search experience.

For example, a user searching for information on the Star Wars
character Darth Vader is likely interested in all the information
related to the character and the actor – not just web pages that
mention the movie. Google will now deliver a single set of blended
search results that include a humorous parody of the movie, images of
the Darth Vader character, news reports on the latest Lucas film, as
well as websites focused on the actor James Earl Jones – all ranked in
order of relevance to the query. Users no longer have to visit several
different Google search properties to find such a wide array of
information on the topic.

The Power of Google Technology
Google is also in the process of deploying a new technical
infrastructure that will enable the search engine to handle the
computationally intensive tasks required to produce universal search
results. The company is also releasing the first stage of an upgraded
ranking mechanism that automatically and objectively compares
different types of information. As always, Google™ search results are
ranked automatically by algorithms to deliver the best results to
users anywhere in the world.

“Google has continued to concentrate on improving the quality of
search,” said Udi Manber, vice president of engineering at Google.
“The level and speed of search innovation at Google has increased.
Most of this innovation addresses basic ranking algorithms and is
often not obvious to users. Users just see more accurate results, more
often, in more languages, which is our primary goal.”

New Navigation Features
New dynamically generated navigation links have been added above the
search results to suggest additional information that is relevant to a
user’s query. For example, a search for “python” will now generate
links to Google Blog Search™, Google Book Search™, Google Groups™, and
Google Code™, to let the user know there is additional information on
his or her query in each of those areas. As a result, users can find a
wider array of information on their topic, including data types they
might not have initially considered.

Google’s homepage and a number of applications have also been updated
with a new navigation bar to provide easier access to popular Google
products. Now, instead of having links above the Google.com homepage
search box, users will see a navigation bar on the top left side of
the page with various Google search properties and popular products
including Gmail™, Google Calendar™, Google Docs & Spreadsheets™, and
Picasa Web Albums™.

Experience the Experiments
Google also announced today a new experimental version of its popular
search service called Google Experimental™, available on Google Labs™.
This new test site provides users an opportunity to try out some of
the latest search experiments and innovations and provide Google with
feedback. One of the first experiments to be featured on the site
enables users to view their search results on a map or timeline. For
instance, when someone searches for “Albert Einstein” on Google
Experimental, they can choose to view the search results on a map that
shows locations mentioned within web pages about Albert Einstein or on
a timeline that illustrates the history of Albert Einstein’s life.
More information on Google Experimental search is available at Google
Labs at Google Labs.


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Taken from Google press release

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