Google launches new search capabilities

Google has unveiled a new range of tools that will allow web users to dig deeper in to their search results.

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By Claudine Beaumont
Last Updated: 7:16PM BST 12 May 2009  

Google has enhanced its search capabilities to make it easier for web users to find the information they're looking for Photo: PA

The new features were announced during Google’s annual Searchology event at its Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, California. Among the new tools that will be offered to users will be the ability to filter results by certain media, such as videos, or by certain content types, such as forum discussions or reviews.

Although many of these features have been part of Google’s advanced search capabilities for a some time, the new system will see them built straight in to the results page so they are visible to all web users and can be easily accessed.

Web users will also be able to filter search results more accurately by date, or have the results represented visually in a “wonder wheel” which shows the popularity of search terms and related topics.

“Search options is a further way to give users the power to customise the way they use Google,” said Juergen Galler, director of product management at Google. “We’re always thinking about what we can do to improve the search experience, and we think this launch is a good step to help users get quickly and easily to precisely the kind of information they seek.”

Google also appears intent to see off the challenge posed by a new computational search engine, Wolfram Alpha, which is able to mine a huge database of scientific and factual information to provide specific, accurate answers to questions, such as the GDP of Mexico.

Google’s take on so-called computational search is a new feature, dubbed Google Squared, which will be part of Google’s Labs testing centre before it is eventually rolled out across the whole search engine. Unlike Wolfram Alpha, it scans the entire web, rather than just a database, for its results.

Google Squared allows users to type in a specific query – such as London boroughs, or US Presidents – and receive a list of information that relates to that search term. For example, the list of London boroughs aims to list all boroughs alphabetically, along with links to relevant websites, information about borough population, and the leader of the council.

The results are presented in a grid format, and web users can remove columns of unwanted information, and instead add in another column and specify the category name. For example, in a search for US Presidents, they may wish to add in a column about the president’s pets or place of birth, and remove another column about their children or families.

A spokesman for Google said that Google Squared would be launched in the next few weeks, and that it would gain greater accuracy and relevance by recording which additional information users either deleted or added to their search results grid on any given search topic.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/google/5314450/Google-launches-new-search-capabilities.html