Google Updates Search Options

Google (News - Alert) Inc. is making some new features available to enhance the search functionality on its site and maintain its edge over competitors.

 

The new services are designed to aid Web surfers who can’t find what they need with their initial searches and assist others with more complex research.

 

One tool in particular, called Google Squared, will compile the work of other Web sites into a spreadsheet-style format, CNBC reports. Rather than showing a list of links, information will be organized in rows and columns. The experiment is slated to launch in Google Labs later this month. For instance, a search for "small dogs," will offer users a list of breeds, complete with pictures and descriptions about each.

 

But Google Squared tool isn’t quite perfect. During a preview of the service, the company showed that a listing of vegetables also showed an image of people playing squash, the racket sport.

 

Google also plans to give Web surfers more information under Web links in search results. In addition, the site will offer new options for users to confine results to a specific time period or category.

 

“As people get more sophisticated at search they are coming to us to solve more complex problems," the company said in a blog post. "To stay on top of this, we have spent a lot of time looking at how we can better understand the wide range of information that's on the web and quickly connect people to just the nuggets they need at that moment."

 

The new features come as Google recently launched a “SearchWiki” tool that lets users tailor search results.

 

Even though the company has laid off employees and closed its virtual world offering in an effort to boost profit margins during the recession, Google said its investment in research and development remains a priority.

 

"We are always striving for the ideal or perfect search engine," Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products said during a Webcast this week.

 

Google is the top search engine and has a U.S. market share of 63 percent, according to ComScore Inc. Yahoo follows with a market share of 20.5 percent and Microsoft (News - Alert) at 8.3 percent. Still other search engines, such as MSE360, are trying to compete for a slice of Google’s audience.