Google has set the cat among the pigeons with the release of its
Desktop Search tool, which keeps track of the contents of your PC.
Bobbie Johnson reports

Thursday October 21, 2004
The Guardian

For web search companies, accessing the contents of someone's computer
has long been the holy grail. For users, the appalling quality of
desktop search has been baffling: if you can search billions of pages
across the internet in a second, why do the in-built search functions
on your computer seem unable to find what you are looking for? That is
a question the giants of web search have all been racing to answer.
Last week, Google suggested it had the solution with the beta test
release of its Desktop Search tool, a downloadable widget that takes
the normal Google search spread and adds extra functionality to
examine the files inside your computer.

Installing and using the Desktop Search is simple: you can visit the
site and, if you agree with the terms and conditions and have 1GB of
free space, you can download the software in seconds. Installing is
easy, and an initial scan of your computer is done swiftly. Updates to
the database are made when your computer is not being used, so it
should not impinge upon your everyday work.

Google Desktop Search works brilliantly if you are a devotee of
Microsoft products - scanning Outlook emails, Office documents and all
the pages you have viewed through Internet Explorer, as well as
conversations on AOL Instant Messenger. Forgotten the site that last
week had a story about the world's longest sausage? Now you can find
it again with ease. Which friend messaged you with the address of a
hotel in Cardigan Bay? The information is just seconds away.

One of the most impressive things about Desktop Search is the way it
slides seamlessly into place alongside your regular web searches,
simply by adding another tab into the ream of Google search options.

But the beta version is only compatible with Windows XP and 2000, and
the only browser officially supported is Internet Explorer. Careful
users should not stretch the program to undiscovered territory in case
of bugs or security defects.

Another major problem is privacy. Sceptics will be concerned that the
software seems able to index password-protected files as well as those
inside your personal user area - particularly scary if you are sharing
the computer with friends or family. When pressed, Google is quick to
remind people that Desktop Search is not intended for public machines.

"This is not a bug, rather a feature," says Marissa Mayer, Google's
director of consumer web products. "Google Desktop Search is not
intended to be used on computers that are shared."

That could be a turn-off for many users, however, and some may be put
off by the privacy policy which says technical information will be
transmitted from your PC to Google.

Still, despite its flaws, Google's alacrity means it already has a
hand on the search crown - and competitors are hoping to carve out
their niche before they suffer too heavily.

A host of search products such as X1, Blinkx and Copernic are in the
market - but smaller rivals cannot compete. It is only when the likes
of AOL - due to launch a Desktop Search imminently as an addition to
its Browser Beta - joins the fray that the battle will really heat up.

"There are some very smart niche operators, and those that have the
best ideas will either create their own market or be picked up by the
bigger search companies," says Tony Macklin, director of product for
Ask Jeeves. "I guess search is entering a new era. Now you have to
provide additional tools to help users."

Yahoo, Google's biggest direct rival, has worked hard recently on
personalising searches, and there are strong rumours it is developing
a desktop search product that will hook into a range of Yahoo
services, including email, calendars and picture hosting.

Similarly, Ask Jeeves has unveiled a "near future" timetable for its
own desktop rummaging application.

Microsoft, for its part, is scrabbling to prevent the desktop search
moving on to browsers permanently. The upcoming Windows Future Storage
technology - aimed at making organising and searching data on a PC
easier - is being delayed until after the release of the new Longhorn
platform in 2006. However, MSN is said to be slating new desktop
search functions for release by the end of the year.

"Customers want search capabilities that help them access information
no matter where it resides," said a spokeswoman. On the other side of
the home computing divide, Apple's next system release - codenamed
Tiger - is planning to include an attempt at incorporating desktop
searchability.

Google's early move will give it a leg up in the battle to dominate
search, but observers feel it is more important as part of the
company's attempt to position itself as an all-round tool.

"Google is focusing on placing a desktop application on your computer
that makes your browser seem smarter," says John Battelle, co-founder
of Wired magazine. "Google isn't competing with Microsoft on the
browser front - that would be madness. It's competing with Microsoft
on its own terms and its own turf: by integrating the desktop into the
web-browsing experience."

The battle for desktop search is far from won, but Google's eyes are
already moving on to the next conflict.