Posted on: Friday, October 15, 2004

'Google-ing' now can search hard drive, too

By Michael Liedtke
Associated Press

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google Inc. yesterday became the first tech heavyweight to tackle the daunting task of uncluttering computers, introducing a program that quickly scours hard drives for documents, e-mails, instant messages and past Web searches.

With the free desktop program, Google hopes to build upon the popularity of its Internet-leading search engine.

The new product, available at desktop.google.com, ups the ante in Google's intensifying battle with software giant Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., which owns the world's second most popular search engine.

It also heralds a momentous step into a crucial realm — the challenge of managing the information glut that has accumulated during the past decade as society becomes more tethered to increasingly powerful computers.

"We think of this (program) as the photographic memory of your computer," said Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer Web products. "It's pretty comprehensive. If there's anything you once saw on your computer screen, we think you should be able to find it again quickly."

Although its desktop program can be used exclusively offline to probe hard drives, Google designed it to run in a browser so it will meld with its online search engine. Google.com visitors who have the new program installed on their computer will see a "desktop" tab above the search engine toolbar and all their search results will include a section devoted to the hard drive in addition to the Web.

For instance, a Google query for "Lakers" will return not only Web pages but also every e-mail, instant message or Word document on the searcher's computer that mentions the team.

The desktop search program could be the bridge to a day when Google begins offering consumers the option of storing some files directly on the company's own computer servers, said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch.

The program also provides Google with a powerful magnet to lure traffic from its chief online search rivals, Microsoft's MSN and Yahoo Inc..

A smattering of lesser-known companies, such as X1 Technologies of Pasadena, already offer desktop search programs. Google is the first company among high-tech's household names to try to make it easier for people to sift through the information mishmash on computer hard drives. It dispenses with the confinement of Microsoft's current model of files and folders.

Google's program trumps Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, which plans to deliver a desktop search tool by the end of the year. AOL and another search engine maker, Ask Jeeves, are reportedly close to entering the fray. Yahoo said yesterday that it "remains highly focused on evolving our products to empower users to manage all their digital content wherever it may reside."

Google is betting the program will expand its search engine audience and encourage even more online searches than it already processes — a pattern that would yield more advertising revenue, the company's main moneymaker.

Google's shares gained $1.10 to close at $142 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has surged by 67 percent since its initial public offering less than two months ago.