Google Site Enhancements Emphasize Efficiency

Google Introduces Personalized Search Services; Site Enhancements Emphasize Efficiency

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - March 29, 2004 - Google Inc. today released three new innovative features that demonstrate the company's ongoing commitment to improving the search experience for users. The new offerings include a revolutionary search engine that uses user preferences to match search results to their interests, a service that delivers search results via email, and an enhanced interface for Google web sites worldwide.

Google Personalized Web Search and Google Web Alerts, both debuting on Google Labs, enable searchers to specify what interests them and to receive customized results based on those interests. Changes to the Google interface improve the speed and accessibility of Google's search offerings, further demonstrating the company's focus on providing the best search experience for users.

"Today, Google takes the first step in providing personal search results based on users' preferences," said Larry Page, co-founder and president, Products. "We can deliver search results tailored to your interests or promptly email you new information on any topic. In addition, Google has a cleaner new interface and easy access to the comprehensive Froogle product search."

Google's personalized search services

Google Personalized Web Search and Google Web Alerts deliver customized search results based on preferences that users specify.

Google Personalized Web Search uses personal preferences to deliver custom search results based on interests selected by users. Users can control the degree of personalization in their results using a slider, and see the results change dynamically as the degree of personalization changes. For example, music enthusiasts will see different relevant sites for a search on [bass] than people who indicate an interest in the outdoors. More information about both services can be found at http://labs.google.com.

Google Web Alerts are automatic updates for web users who want to stay current with topics that interest them. After specifying keywords they want to track, users can receive daily or weekly email with links to new web page results, plus top stories from Google News that are related to each query. For example, Google Web Alerts can be used to follow the progress of a favorite sports team or a business competitor, all without having to perform searches repeatedly.

Google interface enhancements

The Google homepages and search results pages worldwide have been modified to include links across the top of the search box, which directly connect users to other Google services including Froogle. These links provide a faster, simpler search experience. Also, with Froogle now available via the Google homepage, shoppers can directly search the web for products to buy.

Google search results pages also feature a cleaner look to better connect users to relevant information, additional Google search services and targeted advertising. As always, Google's sponsored links are clearly marked, so users can easily distinguish between advertisements and search results, which Google strives to make as objective and unbiased as possible.

Three additional search enhancements announced today include:

New Froogle home page and search results page - Froogle's simpler new design closely resembles the Google homepage and search results page. The new Froogle homepage also features links to recent popular product searches, such as [iPod cases] or [airzooka] instead of categories. These links enable users to see the variety of products that can be found via Froogle, from the most obscure to the most popular. Try a search on Froogle at http://froogle.google.com.

A new number range (numrange) advanced search command enables users to specify that results contain numbers in a range they set. Users can conduct a numrange search by specifying two numbers, separated by two periods, with no spaces. For example, a user looking for information about DVD players between $250 and $350 or technical information on high capacity batteries, can conduct a search for [DVD player $250..$350] or [50..1000 wh/kg battery].

Images now featured in Google News search results - Google News now displays thumbnail images of photos that relate to news stories. By including these photos, users receive more detail about any given event. Accessible from the Google homepage and at http://news.google.com, Google
News provides users with multiple viewpoints on numerous stories from more than 4,500 English-language news sources worldwide.

About Google Inc.

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program, which is the largest and fastest growing in the industry, provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

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