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Search engines currently rely on sponsored links for most of their revenue. But visitors to Google and Yahoo actually spend most of their time doing things other than searching, such as email and instant messaging. In June 2005, search accounted for only 21% of Google visitor minutes. For Yahoo, it was a measly 2%. (Don't believe me? Click here for details.)

In order to capture more user eyeballs, and maybe even monetize them in the process, Google, MSN, and Yahoo are introducing all sorts of new services:

Maps

Google Maps launched in early 2005. Plug in a U.S. address, click on the Satellite button, and you'll get a bird's eye view. This summer, Google released Google Earth, a downloadable application that lets you zoom to any location on the globe, tilt and rotate the satellite view, and add notes to maps. Not to be outdone, Microsoft has introduced a similar service, Virtual Earth.

Google Maps and MS Virtual Earth can contain location errors, so use 'em both as a double-check. (VE identifies the Baptist church on the corner of my street as my house; Google correctly places my house in the middle of the block.) Also, the satellite images can be 2-3 years old. Some programmers have mashed the satellite images from Google Maps with other types of data so that you can see, for example, Nashville wireless hotspots or Chicago apartment rentals. For more info on that, visit Google Maps Mania.

Amazon's A9.com Maps takes a different approach. They have captured more than 30 million street-level images of businesses in many U.S. cities. Type in an address, then "walk" up and down the block. Here's the Italian Market.

Local Search

Again, Google got there first. Ask Jeeves and Yahoo soon followed. All 3 services allow you to enter the type of business in one box and the location in another. Looking for Citizens Bank locations in Pittsburgh? No problem.

MSN Search features a dorky Near Me button, which uses the city/state of your Internet Service Provider as the default location. You have to go to the Settings page to indicate your specific location.

Just as with maps, Amazon does local search differently. Their yellow pages also feature "Block View" images, which are searchable by type of business rather than by address. Check out Tower Records on Broad Street.

Mobile Search

I was slow to adopt these services. My fingers are too big for the teeny keys on my cell phone. And do I need reading glasses? (Nah, trick of the light.) And it costs $.10 for each query I type and every answer I receive. (That adds up on a librarian's salary.)

I think Google SMS is a bit more practical. It features white/yellow pages listings, driving directions, movie showtimes, weather conditions, and can handle short questions such as temperature human body. Yahoo Mobile offers local, image, and general Web search. The last two don't work too well on my phone.

MSN Mobile doesn't feature text messaging right now. Their blog says "We’ll be adding many more features like SMS and 'send to phone' in the coming months."

Desktop Search

Ever use the Windows search feature? Ever find anything using the Windows search feature? Thought so. Well, last Fall, Google released Google Desktop Search. Once you download and install it, GDS automatically indexes the documents on your hard disk. We're talking email messages, text files, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint presentations, PDF files, MP3s, images, audio and video clips, Web pages you've viewed, and AOL Instant Messenger chats. Also Microsoft Office files you open, create, or save on network drives. All of these are full text searchable. And it works!

Well this certainly was a shot across the bow of Microsoft. ("You don't need no stinkin' Windows.") So they scrambled to catch up, as did Ask Jeeves and Yahoo.

Search Shortcuts

I'm sure this has happened to you. You're trying to sleep, but questions are burning in your mind. What time is it in Mustang, Nepal? How many Euros can I buy with my dollars? Just how many people live in Sweden? How long's Bob Dylan been around?

Search engines want to give you a quick answer to these questions. They are called search shortcuts. They typically appear at the top of the results page, so you don't have to click on the hits. You'll have to read the help to figure out which search shortcuts are supported by Ask Jeeves, Google, MSN, and Yahoo.

Audio/Video Search

I understand why people aren't going to movie theaters anymore. But watching videos on a PC? Ugh. Only way I'd do that is if what I want to watch isn't on VHS or DVD.

Having said that, audio and video search is another area of growth for search engines -- and a way to charge people for stuff. Yahoo features both audio and video search. Yahoo Audio Search indexes interviews, sound effects, podcasts, and popular songs. (Sorry ... no freebies as far as songs are concerned. YAS only lists the fee-based services offering them for download.) Yahoo Video Search is pretty straightforward, but Google Video Search is not. It indexes content from San Francisco Bay-area TV stations, plus material submitted by other contributers. Some of the videos can be played; for others, you get stills plus a transcript. It's definitely a beta product.

Both Google and Yahoo are competing with AOL (remember them?) in this arena. AOL's Singingfish has been around for several years. I like it a lot. And AOL recently introduced a video search engine that indexes clips from AOL services, plus content picked up by Singingfish.

Listen to the Audio *

• Part 1 [10 minutes - 6.91 MB]
• Part 2 [8.5 minutes - 3.17 MB]
• Part 3 [9 minutes - 6.33 MB]

Questions?

Feel free to contact Dan at dgiancaterino@jenkinslaw.org if you have any questions or comments.