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Google introduces faster shopping search service

“We are in a much better state to understand the intent of a user query ... We get such a high query volume on Google.” — Nitin Mangtani, Google product manager

Google Inc, seeking new ways to make money from its search technology, introduced a service that lets shoppers get faster results when they hunt for items at online stores.

The service, which Google will sell to companies for use on their sites, lets shoppers get search results in less than one second, said Nitin Mangtani, a lead product manager for Google. That compares with a delay of two or three seconds on some sites, he said.

Google, owner of the world’s largest search engine, is trying to branch out beyond search advertising — its main source of revenue.

The company is taking its search know-how and tailoring it to e-commerce, which entails sorting through cataloged products, Mangtani said. The new service will start at US$50,000 annually, which includes customer support.

“We are in a much better state to understand the intent of a user query,” he said. “We get such a high query volume on Google.”

The company already lets companies put a Google search box on their sites. By fine-tuning the service for retailers, Google aims to win more of those businesses as customers, Mangtani said.

The service will help shoppers with their searches by checking spelling and offering synonym suggestions. Google also can adjust the service’s capacity during heavier shopping times to ensure it runs smoothly.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is rolling out a revamped MSN home page that incorporates its new Bing search engine and easy access to trendy online services Twitter and Facebook.

“Now is the time to clean up the mess on the Web; people need less clutter and less hassle to find what matters most to them,” Microsoft corporate vice president Erik Jorgensen said in a blog post.

Microsoft hopes to enhance the popularity of MSN and drive traffic to Bing by weaving the search engine into home page features including shopping, travel, trends, people and “hot topics.”

MSN’s “smart design” includes news and entertainment from online sources such as MSNBC, Fox Sports, Hearst and Hulu.

The home page integrates links to social-networking community Facebook and wildly popular microblogging service Twitter.
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