WSJ: Google Releases Free Desktop Search Software
SAN FRANCISCO -- In its first big post-IPO maneuver, Google Inc. (GOOG) Thursday is releasing free software that allows consumers to search for e-mails and files on their computers.
With the much-anticipated launch of its Desktop Search software, Google is addressing a chronic consumer headache and is extending its reach from the Web to consumers' hard drives. It moves Google more squarely into Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) turf, since the software giant has dominated anything to do with hard-drive based files and e-mail to date and plans its own competing product. But Desktop Search could also help boost Google's revenue, since the company anticipates the product will increase consumers' use of its ad-supported Web search site.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)
Google Desktop Search (which will be available for download at desktop.google.com ) lets users search within Microsoft Office and text files on their hard drives, e-mails, AOL instant messenger chats, and Web sites they have visited in the past. Once consumers install the software, it creates an index of their files to allow for speedy searches. When the user then conducts searches on Google's site, it shows results from their own files in a small box above the Web search results. Users can also conduct searches of just their own files when not connected to the Internet using an interface that looks like Google's Web site.
"Our goal for the application is to have it act like a photographic memory for your computer," said Marissa Mayer, director of consumer Web products at Google.
Such search software addresses a real consumer need. Microsoft's built-in e-mail and file search functions are notoriously sluggish and ineffective. Smaller companies have dabbled in desktop search for a long time but it remains a niche application. The entry of the most popular search site could accelerate its adoption.
Google claims it has solved the problem with most existing desktop search products - they tend to slow down a user's computer noticeably. Mayer says users shouldn't notice any performance difference when Desktop Search is installed.
"It has not slowed my computer down to any degree," said Danny Sullivan, editor of industry Web site Search Engine Watch, who has been testing the software this week. "It's finding the things I'm looking for very well," he added.
In a move that could quell possible privacy concerns, Google isn't requiring Desktop Search users to register any information with it and won't receive any information about a user's personal files or specific online activities from the software.
Unlike Google's Gmail e-mail service, Desktop Search won't carry any ads on its own. But Google executives believe the software will increase consumers' use of its Web search site, which does carry ads - and ads appear when users choose to search both the Web and their files at the same time.
Google Desktop Search currently falls short of some features of existing applications, for example, not offering searches within Adobe Acrobat documents. Google executives say they will add that and other improvements over time. The current version works only on Windows computers.
With Desktop Search, Google is beating its biggest Internet rivals to the punch. Microsoft has promised new desktop search software by the end of this year and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) has suggested it has similar plans.
Google推出免费桌面搜索软件
Google Inc. (GOOG)周四推出了一个免费软件，该软件将使消费者能够对自己电脑上的电子邮件和文件进行搜索，这是该公司在完成首次公开募股后的第一个大动作。
该软件的推出不但解决了长期困扰消费者的难题，而且使Google的触角从互联网延伸至消费者的硬盘驱动器上。这使Google能够与在该领域占据主导地位、且计划推出类似产品的微软公司(Microsoft Corp., MSFT)得以面对面展开竞争。Desktop Search软件的推出还将提振Google的收入，该公司预计该产品将提高消费者对其广告支持网站的访问量。
Google的Desktop Search将可以通过desktop.google.com网站下载，使用该软件的用户可以在硬盘、电子邮件、美国在线(AOL)聊天室以及曾访问过的网站上进行微软Office和文本文件的搜索。消费者一旦安装了这一软件，就会自动建立一个文件索引，从而方便用户进行快速搜索。当用户在Google的网站上进行搜索时，包含在其个人文件中的搜索结果也会出现在一个小的方框内，消费者也可以利用该软件，在不浏览互联网的情况下进行个人文件的搜索。
该软件的推出给Google的对手以沉重一击，微软承诺将在今年年底前推出此类搜索软件，雅虎公司(Yahoo Inc., YHOO)也曾经表示有类似计划。
