AOL unveils expanded search, new partners

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Copernic's technology to enable members to search for information online and computer files from one place.

Desktop search has been gaining traction since late last year, with Microsoft, Google and Ask Jeeves jumping into the field. Yahoo announced its entry into the market with a test version of desktop search in January, and AOL, which began a beta late last year, is now formally announcing its entry. AOL said its desktop search offering is currently in beta and no specific launch date has been set.

AOL is also teaming with Fast Search & Transfer in an effort to expand its local search services and results. The idea is to provide users with more customized results based on their geographic locations. For example, a person living in Los Angeles may type "Italian restaurant" into the search box, and Los Angeles-based Italian restaurants would be the first to appear in the query results. Again, no release date for this feature has been set.

As part of that effort, AOL is making a push to attract local advertisers by offering them a means to get further insight into which geographic locations their customers are coming from. AOL, via its partnership with Ingenio, will allow advertisers to pay for their ads based on whether a prospective customer calls them by phone after viewing their advertisement, rather than paying AOL based on which customers click on their ads. Although advertisers can currently sign up for the Ingenio network, the ads will not be distributed across AOL properties until an undisclosed future date.

The U.S. local advertising market is estimated to be worth $100 billion, and other search companies, such as Yahoo and Google, ramped up their localized search efforts last fall.

Despite some of the preceding announcements from competitors, Campbell said AOL Search has not been late to the game with its offerings.

"We are in the local search game and have always been?and I would reject the notion we're late to desktop search," he said. "We released a (desktop search) beta within days of Google's release. We're not late to the party. Perhaps we're just underappreciated, and now that's changing as we change the focus of our audience."

Ingenio's Pay Per Call

I think they're using www.ingenio.com for Pay Per Call.

Ingenio's Pay Per Call

I think they're using www.ingenio.com for Pay Per Call.

[Prndll]

underappreciated......LOL

This is just too funny. Someone somewhere is just not using their heads.

There is NOTHING in this story that makes AOL attractive. There IS however things in it to make more people want to stay far far away from AOL.

Online information and computer files....lol
There is no differance between the two. They are the same thing.

The only thing in this story that actually caught my interest is the idea of a search yeilding results based on geographic location.

AOL is fast becoming spyware. The use of the AOL software will report every move you make. You are being tracked. This story is just an example.

[Prndll]

underappreciated......LOL

This is just too funny. Someone somewhere is just not using their heads.

There is NOTHING in this story that makes AOL attractive. There IS however things in it to make more people want to stay far far away from AOL.

Online information and computer files....lol
There is no differance between the two. They are the same thing.

The only thing in this story that actually caught my interest is the idea of a search yeilding results based on geographic location.

AOL is fast becoming spyware. The use of the AOL software will report every move you make. You are being tracked. This story is just an example.