Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tokyo
The Economic Times

Google has identified social networking sites like Facebook as growing competitors in search, a company spokesman said on Monday.

Internet users are increasingly looking for answers to their search questions, not just a list of sites in response to a query.

They also expect something personal from the Internet _ and they're increasingly turning to it to answer more personal questions, which daycare to choose and what restaurant to go to, said Google Group Product Manager Ken Tokusei.

Social networking sites have a big advantage in this shift because information gleaned from them comes from friends, acquaintances, or at least an individual, and Tokusei said users tend to trust that information more.

``We haven't gotten to the point where results are seen as if they come from someone you know,'' said Tokusei.

The search giant has begun to offer tools for users to rate results and delete unrelated links, but it still has work to do, he said.

Google is also trying to better home in on the information requested in a search. Sites such as WolframAlpha, launched earlier this month, comb the Internet for data, analyze it and then provide specific answers to queries, rather than a list of sites.

Google can do something similar for some searches, providing price quotes for ``Sony stock'' or an answer to ``Tunisia capital.'' But these are followed by the familiar list of sites on which to dig further.

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