Search tools provide bigger choice

Search more pages, and your desktop

Google and Yahoo both expanded their search offerings in September, adding more indexed pages and a desktop search tool respectively. However, experts said that when choosing a search engine, enterprise users should focus on the usability and relevance of results, rather than the number of pages indexed. Yahoo's Desktop Search facility lets users search office applications, mail held in Outlook Express and Thunderbird, and a large number of other file types. In a move intended to increase the usefulness of results, search terms are highlighted in the returns text. Meanwhile Google, which celebrated its seventh anniversary last week, claimed that its newly expanded search index is now more than three times larger than that of any other search engine. In a posting on its site, Google said, "When it comes to search engines, index size is important." But others disagree. Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineWatch, said that search services should focus on relevance, not size. "I could say, 'I have five million pages,' but if you can't find what you are looking for, it does not matter," Sullivan argued, pointing out that a number of search engines have increased in size in the past and have provided less useful returns as a result. One search engine that is taking a new approach comes from Pure Profile, which has already signed up a number of blue-chip firms. Its reverse search engine lets users post requests, which vendors can then bid to fulfil.